Growing guinea fowl begins with the purchase of young. For this you need to carefully examine the appearance of chicks. Healthy chicks are mobile, actively react to the sound, have a smooth and soft fluff, a taut tummy, clean butts and wings, pressed against the body.
Buy chicks need in specialized poultry farms. This will be an excellent guarantee of origin, health and productivity of guinea fowl. When buying, you need to require and carefully read the veterinary certificate. It will be marked all the information about the purchased bird.
If you purchase older chicks, you will need to use a special container for transportation. If transportation is long, then you need to take care of feed and water.
Conditions of detention
Normal growth and development of chicks is possible only under the condition that there is always clean air in the aviary. To do this, run in the upper part of the wall ventilation holes.
Regardless of the type of floor, cover it with litter. The most common variant of litter remains sawdust. You can use sand or chopped straw. When installing cages all its elements must be firmly fixed. There should be no protruding ends of the mesh, wire or screed. Speaking parts can injure the bird.
For wall insulation using mineral wool or rolled heat insulator. Insulate the ceiling with expanded clay or coal talc. The aviary should be equipped with drinkers and feeders.
Making trough
In the manufacture of feeders, it is necessary that it meets the following requirements:
- Feed should not be blown away by wind, so that the feeder should be equipped with sides.
- The presence of the roof protects birds from snow.
- Design the feeder so that large birds could not get to food.
- The larger the area of the feeder, the greater the number of birds you can feed.
- It is better to hang the feeder on the south side, so that frozen food thaws faster on sunny days.
- From the ground the feeder should be placed high (not lower than 1.5 m). This will protect the food from rodents.
Disinfection
For the disinfection of the house, which should be carried out once a day, it is worth using the following preparations:
Chlorine turpentine is suitable for air disinfection. To obtain this composition use turpentine and bleach, taken in a ratio of 1: 4.
The exothermic reaction from the given composition in the air evaporates the particles of both components. For 1 m2 of air, you must take 0.5 ml of turpentine and 2 g of lime. Perform such disinfection provided ventilation is turned on once a day.
Light and thermal conditions
Indoors, the optimum temperature is at least 14 degrees Celsius. For daily hens, the duration of daylight hours should be 24 hours. After 3 weeks, the daylight should be gradually reduced by 1 hour. By the age of 5 months it will be 8 hours.
When the chicks will be half a year, then the light mode will increase again. Every 7 days to cover the house for one hour more. Stop at the 14 hour daylight hours. Next, cover the house for 17 hours. Adjust the light mode depending on the natural environment.
If you breed guinea fowl to obtain hatching eggs, then the light mode will be slightly different. Light the room no longer than 15 hours. Youngsters add hours only after they grow up and get stronger. It occurs at the age of 7 months.
Tips for buying guinea fowls
Growing guinea fowl begins with the purchase of young stock (unless of course you decide to breed guinea fowl in an incubator). During the purchase you need to carefully look at the appearance. Healthy chicks are more mobile, they actively react to the sound (you need to knock on the box), they have smooth and soft down, the tummy is tucked up, the wings are pressed against the body, the butts are clean. Healthy chicks stand firmly and confidently on their feet.
Required temperature
The first three days the temperature is set within 35 degrees. The first days I always carefully observe the young. If the chicks are going to a heap, you need to add heat, I screw in an infrared light bulb, and when the little ones are lying, having opened the beaks, spreading their wings, then the heating should be reduced.
With the growth of young stock, the temperature in the room decreases. From 4 to 10 days, the temperature drops to 30 degrees, then from 11 to 20 days, the temperature is set to within 27 degrees. By the age of one month, the temperature drops to 20 degrees.
Content
For normal growth and development of guinea fowls, it is necessary to provide clean air. For this you need to do at the top of the wall ventilation holes.
And sure keep guinea fowl clean. The first week of maintenance, I change the litter twice a day, and when the paper is removed from the grid, cleaning is made easier. Through the holes of the grate, the litter falls down onto the pallet, and from the pallet all litter is removed easily, without disturbing the chicks. Keeping a bird in such a cage is very convenient and less time is needed to take care of the chicks, while the bird always remains clean, well fed, and has access to clean water.
I feed the poultry of the first day of life with complete feed for broiler chickens. If the feed is coarse, it needs to be crushed, in such a case we have a crusher, and if there is none, then it can be grinded on a coffee grinder.
Guinea fowls grow rapidly and they need to include more protein in their diet. As a protein, I feed chicks from 3 days with cottage cheese. From 7th day I give mash on the basis of sour milk. Greens must be given from 3 days of life. On day 5, you need to put additional feeders with chalk, shallow shell, gravel.
The first days of life need to feed the chicks 8 times a day, and by the age of one month, reduce feeding to 5 times, by 2 months of age we still reduce to 3 times.
At the age of one month, I begin to give mash, to which I add meat waste, finely chopped fish, baker's yeast, and peas. Only you need to add not all at once, but in turn. These products contain a lot of protein, which contributes to rapid growth and good health.
From three weeks of age, we put the chicks in a room with an aviary. With good sunny weather we release youngsters for a walk. Feeding chicks can also be on the street. In the aviary you need to put a trough, a trough, a canopy is made from the sun.
It must always be remembered that the chicks do not tolerate damp easily and are afraid of drafts.
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How to breed guinea fowls: growing in cells and rooms
The content of guinea fowls produced in cells or on the floor in the premises. In the cages, the area is used more rationally, and when kept on the floors, small outings are held at the house, where the bird is exposed to sunlight and breathes fresh air, which favorably affects its health. Casserole eggs are nutritious, tasty, exceptionally light and transportable. To obtain them in large quantities, it is advisable to apply the cellular content and care for guinea fowls.
Both pullets and over-grown (two-year-old) birds are used as cell layers. Five to six month old pullets grown on the brodergauz floor are credited after being in a summer camp or in an acclimatizer. For cell content, pullets of late conclusions should be taken, as well as females, which, with good fatness, do not have special breeding value. These pullets, after deworming, are transferred to the cellular workshop and seated in groups of 5-6 heads in standard battery cells.
The first few days, the birds are very worried, they eat little, they react violently to the appearance of the poultry house, they constantly scream. After some time, guinea fowls get used to unusual conditions and begin to eat large amounts of food, dramatically increasing the live weight. About 3-4 weeks after planting into the cells, with a gradually increasing (up to 14-15 hours) light day, the guinea fowl begins egg-laying.
Those who are in the cesarok cells should not be disturbed: transplant to other cells, conduct testing. Guinea fowl with cell content is very shy, and if they try to catch them, they begin to run in cages and beat against the bars. This leads to bruises, traumatic injuries, yolk peritonitis, and often death to birds.
With the cellular content of guinea fowls get the usual food used for cellular laying hens. It should be noted that guinea fowl with cell content often suffer from beriberi group B. The lack of these vitamins quickly leads to paralysis of the limbs in birds. Perfectly well-fed guinea fowl "sit on their feet" and are unable to move around the cage. A radical way to fight against avitaminosis is to force-feed the birds for several days 15-20 g of fresh baker's yeast. Usually, in 4–5 days, sick guinea fowls rise to their feet and subsequently show no signs of beriberi. To prevent diseases, it is necessary to increase in the diet of birds the B vitamins by about 50%.
From young guinea fowls, placed in cages at 5 months of age, you can get about 150 eggs per hen on average for 365 days, while around 150 birds are demolished during the same period. The best pullets lay 180 eggs and more.
An important condition for breeding guinea fowls - cleanliness in the cage or room where the birds are grown. Dirt, dampness, untidy inventory, neglected landings reduce bird egg production and increase its waste. Guinea fowls can be kept with other poultry. At the same time, they hold independently, quickly taming the pugnacious individuals of other species. Domestic guinea fowls are kept in groups of 5 to 50 heads with a sexual ratio of 1: 4–1: 6 in rooms protected from wind, snow and rain, at an indoor temperature not lower than -10 ° C. In calm weather in winter, they can be let out for a walk of 1-2 hours.
On the first day, the cesarcata are in a state of "drowsiness", they reluctantly peck on food and swallow slowly. They drink too slowly. The diet for them is almost the same as for chickens, but the need for feed they have is somewhat different.
In the first days of growing, they give cesarean wet crumbly mash, and then gradually accustom them to dry food. It should be borne in mind that in the first 2-3 days they eat little. Youngsters with empty goiter are fed with an eye dropper with a mixture of chicken yolk and milk.
The first 10 days of the royal hen are fed every two hours, starting at 6 am and before dark. Then the intervals between feeding increase up to 3 hours, by the 30-day age they pass to 3 meals a day. Chickens eat food quickly and restlessly, so it is recommended to give it in small portions to flat-bottom feeders with high edges to prevent its loss.
During grazing, when breeding guinea fowls, birds always keep in groups of 20-30 and sometimes 50 heads each, which is headed by a leader. It is not recommended to move the young stock in the process of growing, as this may disrupt the established community. Guinea fowls are strongly attached to the owner, soar on his shoulders, take food from his hands.
For breeding and caring for guinea fowl on the plot, you can make a small portable house. Twice a year it is necessary to whiten with freshly lime. Dry and clean straw, soft shavings, sawdust, sand are used as bedding.
For the cultivation of guinea fowls (both young and adult birds), a portable cell is suitable. This is a cage in case it is not possible to give a bird a free range. The cage can be attributed to a meadow with grass or stubble.
The cellular content of guinea fowls is advantageous: the capacity of the room increases, the young, moving less, increases the live weight faster and at the same time consumes less feed per unit of time. It is more convenient to observe and care for the bird in the cages.
As can be seen in the photo, when breeding guinea fowls for adult birds, a warm room is prepared for the winter:
Litter (sawdust, straw, peat) is laid on the floor with a layer of 10-15 cm, roosts are nailed - bars with a cross section of 4-5 cm with a distance of 35-38 cm between the slats at a height of 40-45 cm.
Adult guinea fowls usually contain up to 2 years. Prolonged breeding of the same bird in small groups leads to closely related mating - there are malformations in guinea fowls, viability and egg production are reduced.
Depending on the production purpose of guinea fowers, a certain system of keeping birds is chosen. To obtain food eggs, it is recommended to raise young stock in chickens and on ramps up to 170–180 days, after which the males are slaughtered, and the pullets are placed in battery cells and kept there for the first breeding season, i.e. another 9–10 months. By the end of this period, birds usually start to molt.
If the farm expects to use guinea fowls only for meat production, the content of adult and young birds should be different. With the semi-extensive method of keeping birds in the winter, they are placed in light buildings with tanning beds, and in summer - under canopies with fenced paddocks. They practice herding of guinea fowls in the meadows, harvested fields, vegetable gardens and forest edges.
Chicken steaks are grown in broilers or in poultry with small tanning beds on deep bedding, using a full-fledged diet for 70-80 days. When the young growth reaches a live weight of not less than 800 g and of good fatness, it can be slaughtered and sold in semi-gutted or gutted form.
Repair guineas grow up in the usual manner. It is not recommended to use existing types of cell batteries.
Peculiarities of guinea fowl maintenance
For the maintenance of adult guinea fowls in winter, they select a site located on an elevated place or with a slight bias, where rain and melt waters do not stagnate. The best will be well drained forest glades, with sandy subsoil. Guinea fowl are very fond of the sun, so it is desirable that the territory had a slope to the south, south-east or south-west. Place guinea fowls near water bodies should not be.
Guine fowls are kept separately from other farm animals and birds, young animals are isolated from adults.
For the winter maintenance of guinea fowls, it is enough to have light poultry houses or buildings of the type of colonial houses, with walls of boards, slab, but not of plywood. The roof in the houses is shed. The following conditions need to be created for guinea fowls: the height of the front wall is about 2.2 m, the rear is 1.7 m, the depth of the building is 3-6 m, the length is arbitrary. Ground floor or boardwalk. Draft, rainwater and snow in the houses are unacceptable. In the front wall of each house there are 1-2 windows. It is better to have guinea fowls in winter in stationary board houses. On the runs in front of the houses, they lay on the snow with a layer of straw 15-20 cm wide and 3-4 m wide. Birds spend all day on this bedding. On it put troughs and drinkers.
In the houses perch are arranged, on the same level, about 50 cm above the floor, the same as for chickens. Their size is 3-3.5 x 6 cm. The distance between the adjacent perches of 35 cm. At 1 m length they are placed on 6-7 adult guinea fowls.
The density of landing in the winter in the room - 6-7 goals per 1 m2 floor. 2–3 birds per 1 m2 of solarium
When keeping birds in the winter in a light building near them, it is necessary to have a heated house for storing and preparing feed and heating water. In the summer camp, guinea fowls are open around the clock almost all day and night. When caring for guinea fowls to protect the birds from wind and rain on the runs, install lean-to canopies. The territory of the paddocks is surrounded with a 1.5 m high wire mesh. They make wickets and gates for the entry of cars. 6-7 thousand birds are placed on a single walk, approximately 1 m2 of walking area per head.Before placing the guinea fowl for the winter, they disinfect all the rooms, walking areas, inventory. In the northern regions with a pronounced continental climate, birds are transferred to winter camps during October, after cessation of egg-laying.
Young animals of different dates of hatching cannot be combined into a common herd, and even more so with adult birds, until the youngest of them reach 5 months of age.
Since guinea fowls do not breed during the winter period, it is possible to keep birds of different colors, different populations and lines from the end of egg-laying until the beginning of a new breeding season in the same flock.
To breed guinea fowls as the correct technology suggests, feeding and watering the birds is best on the run. Only in case of rain or snowy weather, as well as during strong winds or great frosts, are the feeders and drinkers put in the houses. As a rule, even with rather severe frosts, guinea fowls constantly walk, entering the premises during the day only with a sharp wind. However, with long and heavy frosts, guinea fowls go for a walk only a few times a day. You should not force them out.
They feed guinea fowls three times a day. In the morning they are given dry feed or wet mash, in the middle of the day and in the evening - dry grain mixture, whole grain. It is very useful to germinate wheat or barley before sprouting. The composition of the diet is introduced well cooked silage, grass and pine flour.
Примерно за месяц до начала племенного сезона увеличивают нормы кормления цесарок и доводят содержание протеина в рационе до 17—18%, чтобы подготовить птиц к яйцекладке.
К моменту перевода птиц в летние лагеря, т. е. за 1—2 недели до начала яйцекладки, цесарки бывают хорошо упитанными, причем имеют живую массу выше, чем у самцов, на 150—300 г. Средняя живая масса их достигает 1 8 кг. После перевода цесарок из зимнего лагеря проводят тщательную уборку и дезинфекцию помещений, инвентаря и выгулов. Выгулы перепахивают, засевают многолетними травами и оставляют свободными до следующей зимы.
Далее описано, как ухаживать за цесарками летом.
How to care for guinea fries in the summer
In summer, guinea fowls are placed on forest edges and clearings with dense grass and single groups of trees and shrubs. Swampy, alkaline areas where rainwater stagnates are unsuitable.
It should be remembered that the paddocks perform only the role of tanning beds and cannot provide birds with green fodder. Therefore, fresh greens need to be delivered daily to the farm. Guinea fowls are grouped by age, population, color of plumage and contain in batches up to 6-8 thousand heads on one range. The density of planting does not exceed 1 head per 1 m2. On the side of the prevailing winds, they build lean-to canopies without a front wall. Under the sheds set perches. At a distance of 6-8 m from the canopies set up feeders and drinkers. If the farm has a mobile feeder, the feeders are set in two lines. Drinking bowls are better to connect to the summer water supply. In addition to feeding troughs and drinking bowls, ash and sand baths are installed on the runs - deep enough boxes filled with a mixture of fine sand and ash, with the addition of a small amount of pyrethrum to protect birds from ectoparasites. Guinea fowl do not need a nest.They feed the birds 4 times a day (at 7 o'clock in the morning, 11, 3 o'clock in the afternoon and 7-8 o'clock in the evening) with a dry and wet grain mixture, mixed fodder, chopped greens and whole grains.
Minerals and other additives during feeding with the content of guinea fowers are used the same as for chickens. Crushed shell and large river sand should be at the disposal of birds all the time, as guinea fowls emit a large amount of calcium salts from the shell.
The maximum intensity of egg-laying occurs at the end of June, after which the number of eggs laid begins to gradually decrease. The high productivity of a well-chosen group of birds is quite sustainable. So, in May they usually take down 20 eggs each, in June - 28-30 eggs each, in July - 20-22, in August - 14-18 eggs each, in September - 10-12 eggs, and in October - 1 -2 Eggs obtained at the beginning and at the very end of the breeding season are used as food. In the first 12-14 days after the beginning of the breeding season, they are mostly unfertilized.
In order to keep guinea fowls in the manner recommended by experienced poultry farmers, it is possible to equip fenced paddocks, they are suitable for the entire breeding season. At the same time, green fodder birds get smoothly, sometimes they prefer to release guinea fowls in the evenings to graze in meadows or fields. After the birds have mastered the terrain, they go as far as 2-3 km. According to numerous observations, guinea fowls do not rake the beds in the gardens and do not spoil the cultivated plants. They mainly look for insects, worms, mollusks and small rodents. In the harvested fields, the birds carefully select the remaining grain and fall and destroy the weeds. Sometimes they are so saturated in the field that they do not eat the evening dacha feed.
There are no grounds for fear of giving free foraging to guinea fowls, as all birds return to their camp before dark and are placed under perches on sheds. Birds of prey, foxes, stray dogs and cats can hardly catch guinea fowls that run extremely fast. Like flock birds, they always keep in groups. If one or more guinea fowls accidentally lagged behind their herd, they run with a loud cry, trying to catch up with the rest of the birds.
This video shows the features of the content of chicken hen on home farms:
With traditional food use the following diet:
- the first 20 days - millet 2 g, crushed barley 1.5 g, oats 1 g, wheat flour 4.5 g, bran 1 g, cottage cheese 1 g, reverse 5 g, greens 3 g, meat and bone meal 0.5 g, yeast 0.2 g, ground shell 0.25 g, chickens are fed 5 times a day,
- 20-40 days - bran 10 g, barley 8 g, oats 7 g, millet 5 g, wheat flour 7 g, cottage cheese 5 g, reverse 7.5 g, greens 8 g, meat and bone meal 1 g, shell and yeast 0 , 5 g, feeding feed is carried out 4 times a day,
- 40-60 days - greens 20 g, bran 18 g, grain mixture 25 g, wheat flour 10 g, cottage cheese 10 g, shell and yeast 1 g each, transfer the chickens to 3 meals a day,
- 60-80 days - greens, wheat flour, bran 25 g each, 10 g grain mixture, cottage cheese 3 g, shells and yeast 1.5 g each, meat and bone meal 3 g, food is distributed 3 times a day, this mode is maintained and adult feeding.
When mixed feeding give a portion of greens, but the grain mixture, mineral and protein supplements replace the combined feed. Succulent feed is administered in the morning and daytime. Dry mixes are used during evening feeding. From the grain mixture and skimmed youngsters make mash.
When the czar is one month old, they are transferred to aviaries. They must be dry and clean. The floor is covered with shavings, sawdust or hay. Do not allow penetration inside precipitation. The air in the aviary must constantly change, but the livestock must be protected from drafts. In case of violation of sanitary requirements, the chicks can hurt, despite a good innate immunity.
They can develop the same diseases as in chickens:
- mycoplasmosis - organs of the respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract,
- trichomoniasis - foamy diarrhea develops in birds, white scurf appears on the mucous membrane of the oral cavity, the gastrointestinal tract becomes inflamed, feed consumption is difficult, the bird drinks a lot of water,
- pullorosis, pasteurellosis - white or yellow stools, lack of appetite, coordination is disturbed, individuals are rejected.
As a preventive measure against diseases, the herd is fed with antibiotics and anthelmintic drugs. They resort to such measures if, along with guinea fowls, on the farmsteads they contain another agricultural bird. Usually, with the observance of the quality conditions of keeping the guinea fowl, they are very rarely ill. Antibiotics are not used. Certain cases of disease are fixed, individuals are rejected.
Breeding guinea fowls is recommended for beginner poultry farmers. Birds do not require high costs and any special conditions of detention. They consume 30% less feed than chickens. They rarely get sick. When free-range, they are able to independently produce food. The adults themselves regulate its portion. There is no need to carry out calculations each time to determine the rate of nutrition.
