What does a guinea fowl look like: description and characteristics of a bird, 6 breeds for home breeding

Guinea fowl differ from other types of poultry in terms of body composition and appearance. Despite the fact that it was domesticated relatively recently, breeds have already been bred for industrial and domestic breeding. Consider what adult, young guinea fowls look like, their productive characteristics, as well as a description, advantages and disadvantages of several bird breeds.

What a guinea fowl looks like

Birds are different from members of the chicken family, so it can be easy to tell them apart. The differences relate to physique, plumage, development and behavior.

Adult bird

The common guinea fowl can be recognized by its characteristic oval body, located horizontally, and dark gray plumage with small white specks. Males and females are colored the same. The bird has a featherless neck and head. On a small head there is a hard crest and earrings, a vocal sac under the throat. The legs of the guinea fowl are high, thin, without spurs.

Like their wild relatives, domestic guinea fowls can fly and run fast. Especially willing to fly and run young at the age of 1-1.5 months. Adult birds are calmer.

The skin of guinea fowl is thin, the meat is darker than that of a chicken. After cooking, the meat becomes lighter. The weight of birds at the age of 1 year is 1.8 kg for males and 1.5 kg for females. You can distinguish a male from a female by the head: they have horny processes of various shapes and fleshy beards. A characteristic feature of this species of birds is that females lay their eggs in a common rather than individual nest.

Young growth

The body of little caesars is covered with yellow fluff, with brown spots and stripes on the back and head. By the age of one month, chickens are covered with plumage, characteristic of adult birds. They grow up to 5 months at the speed of egg breeds. Then the growth of males stops, and the growth of females continues. By the beginning of the first oviposition, they weigh more than males, after it, by the time of molting, the size and weight of males begin to prevail.

Guinea fowl chickens are mobile and active, from 3-5 days of life they gather in flocks and move in groups, and not singly.

Productivity

Females begin to rush at 8-8.5 months. For a 5-6-month period, the egg productivity of each is 80-90 eggs of 45 g each. The size and weight of the eggs varies depending on the age of the laying hen and the time of year. The largest eggs are laid by 2-year-old guinea fowls, as well as all birds in the summer, the smallest ones are carried by young laying hens.

Other characteristics: fertility is at the level of 86%, 52-55% of chicks are hatched. Females of many breeds do not incubate chicks, in most cases, incubators are used for breeding. Eggs contain more dry substances, vitamins, they taste better than chicken ones, they are not allergenic. Stored up to six months.

Young birds almost do not die, like adult birds, 95-99% of the livestock survive. At 2 months, guinea fowls weigh 0.8 kg, 3.2-3.4 kg of feed per 1 kg of weight gain. Birds are slaughtered no earlier than 5 months. After this age, growth does not stop, therefore, in order to obtain large carcasses and better quality meat, birds can be left for further feeding or selection for breeding stock.

Popular breeds of guinea fowl for home breeding

In a home poultry house, you can breed and grow guinea fowl of various breeds, both meat and egg. They have different characteristics.

Speckled gray guinea fowl (French)

This is the most common breed, most of the birds in private farms belong to it. Mottled gray breed of meat and egg direction. Birds reach a weight of 1.7 kg, the number of eggs is 90 pcs. The body of the birds is harmoniously developed, oblong, oval, the plumage is gray with white specks.

Pros and consunpretentiousness;stable egg production;a high percentage of slaughter yield of meat, it has a taste of game;you can easily buy young stock and eggs.low propensity to incubate;strong urge to fly.

Due to the undemanding nature of the speckled gray breed, even a beginner can grow it.

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White Siberian Guinea Fowl

Plumage color - pure white, light skin and legs. The main advantage of the breed over other breeds of domestic guinea fowl is high egg production, each female lays almost a quarter more eggs than females of other varieties. Their average weight is 50 g.

Pros and consfast growth;cold tolerance;calm character, livability with other birds;large weight (2 kg adults, young at 3 months - 0.9 kg);high fertility of eggs;nutritious but not fatty meat.a large percentage of the death of crown princes (up to 67%);fearfulness, birds get used to new conditions and places for a long time;the instinct of incubation is not manifested.

Due to cold hardiness, this breed can be kept in regions with a cold climate. She is often chosen by Siberian poultry farmers.

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Suede guinea fowls

Randomly obtained as a result of mutations that occurred with gray-speckled guinea fowls. The plumage is light gray with white specks. The legs, skin and beak are darker than those of the Siberian or White-breasted breed. Males after 2 months of life are colored lighter than females, on this basis they can be distinguished by sex.

Pros and consadaptation to the Russian climate;good egg production;hatchability of chicks in an incubator - 70%;carcass with light skin.light weight - 1.6 kg;late maturation, and hence the start of oviposition.

Feature of the breed - laying hens can carry eggs with yellow and brownish shells.

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Blue guinea fowls

The breed is named because of the gray-blue plumage with white specks.

Pros and consrecord egg production - up to 150 eggs per year;can tolerate frost;unpretentiousness;young and adults do not get sick;grow quickly, like broilers, adults weigh 2-2.5 kg;omnivores;egg fertility - 86%.shy, scream when frightened, after a strong fright, egg laying may stop for a while;may not return home if they fly far away (to avoid flying, you need to clip your wings);during free grazing, they lay eggs where they have to, they need to be looked for.

In terms of prevalence and productive characteristics, blue guinea fowls are in second place after gray-speckled ones.

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Zagorsk white-breasted guinea fowl

The breed was bred in Russia from representatives of the gray-speckled varieties. Zagorsk guinea fowls are larger and heavier. The plumage is heterogeneous: the back, wings, belly are light gray with a bluish tinge and white specks. The inside of the neck and chest are white. The skin tone is darker in the dyed areas, lighter where the white feathers are.

Pros and consrapid growth, at 70 days the cesareans weigh 1 kg;adults weigh 2-2.5 kg;egg production - 150 pcs.;hatchability - up to 80%;survival - 68%.small eggs;noisiness.

Zagorskaya breed is considered promising, many poultry farmers choose it for growing in private farms.

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White Volga Guinea Fowl

The ancestors of the breed are a white Siberian variety. Birds with white plumage and high productivity were used for breeding. The color of the white Volga breed is cream or white, the presence of dark feathers is allowed.

Pros and consunpretentiousness in content;the bird is not selective in nutrition;strong immunity;weight - 1.85 kg;the meat is soft, with good taste, growth does not require a large amount of feed;light color of carcasses.small egg production;small eggs;it is difficult to determine the sex of the young.I like it I don't like itFinal ranking tableSpeckled gray guinea fowl (French)White Siberian breed of guinea fowlSuede guinea fowlblue guinea fowlZagorsk white-breasted guinea fowlWhite Volga guinea fowl

The Volga White breed is a suitable choice for experienced poultry farmers and for beginners. Birds are undemanding and productive.

When choosing a breed, you need to decide why to grow guinea fowl - for meat or eggs. You also need to pay attention not only to the size and precocity, but also to the ability to get used to climatic conditions. In households, the peculiarity of this type of bird is widely used - they willingly eat insects, bugs, larvae, among which garden pests often come across. It is known that guinea fowl eat Colorado beetles with pleasure, without touching the plants.Such a skill can be used to destroy pests without resorting to the treatment of plantings with chemicals.

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