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Poultry farmers eyeing guinea fowl, would like to understand which breed is better to take and how these breeds differ from each other. First, you need to, in general, figure out where the individual species are and where the breeds of guinea fowl are, since on the Internet you can even find a vulture under the label “breed.” guinea fowl, although this bird is not important for productive breeding.
First of all, you need to understand the species so that you don’t get confused later when buying guinea fowl or eggs from an advertisement.
Types of guinea fowl with photos
What guinea fowl have in common is that they all come from a single ancient land mass: Africa and the nearby island of Madagascar. Since these species are not productive and information about them is needed only for informational purposes, there is no point in giving a detailed description.
According to modern classification, all guinea fowl belong to the guinea fowl family, which is divided into four genera:
- vultures;
- dark;
- crested;
- guinea fowl.
There is only one species in the vulture genus.
Vulture
Lives in semi-desert regions of Africa. The bird is beautiful, but not domesticated.
The genus of dark guinea fowl includes two species: the white-bellied dark guinea fowl and the black dark guinea fowl.
White-bellied dark
Inhabitant of West African subtropical forests. As tempting as it may be to think that she is the origin of the white-breasted domestic breed, this is not the case. This species is also not domesticated. Due to habitat destruction, it is included in the Red Book.
Black dark
Lives in the jungles of Central Africa. Even little is known about the lifestyle of this bird, not to mention the fact that it was kept at home.
The genus of tufted guinea fowl also includes two species: the smooth-crested guinea fowl and the long-crested guinea fowl.
Smooth-crested
Somewhat similar to the domestic one, but has dark plumage and smooth, bare skin on the head and neck. Instead of a comb-like growth, the crested guinea fowl has feathers on its head that resemble the comb of a rooster. The bird lives in Central Africa in the primary forest. Behavior and lifestyle are poorly studied. Not domesticated.
Chubataya
It lives south of the Sahara in semi-savannas and open forests. The bird has slightly greenish plumage, shimmering with an emerald sheen, and a black crest on its head, looking as if a guinea fowl had just been given a good beating for it. This species is also not domesticated.
The guinea fowl genus includes only one species: the common guinea fowl.
In the wild, it is distributed south of the Sahara Desert and in Madagascar. It was this species that was domesticated and gave rise to all domestic breeds.
Guinea fowl breeds
Since domestication, guinea fowl have been bred primarily for meat. Most breeds retain the size and weight of their wild ancestor, but broiler breeds of guinea fowl are twice the weight of wild birds.
Broiler guinea fowl was little known in the USSR. For some reason these birds were generally little known there. Today, broilers are gaining their position in the CIS. As a meat breed, the French broiler guinea fowl is the most profitable.
French broiler
A very large breed, the male of which can reach 3.5 kg of live weight. Even broiler breeds of guinea fowl grow slowly compared to chickens, so at 3 months French broilers reach only 1 kg of weight.
In France, the most expensive guinea fowl carcasses weigh 0.5 kg.
The color of the bird is similar to the wild form, but the head is brighter. Being meat oriented, this breed has good egg production characteristics: 140 – 150 eggs per year. Moreover, the eggs are among the largest and reach a weight of 50 g.
For breeding on an industrial scale, this bird is kept on deep litter, 400 guinea fowl in one room. Theoretically, birds are placed at a rate of 15 birds per square meter. That is, the same amount of space is given to guinea fowls as broiler chickens.
On the one hand, this is correct, since the guinea fowl only looks very large due to the large number of feathers; the body of the bird itself does not exceed the size of a chicken. On the other hand, active protests have begun against such housing today, since such crowded housing not only causes stress in birds, but also contributes to outbreaks of diseases on farms.
In the private sector, these considerations are often irrelevant. Even broiler breeds of poultry of private owners walk around the yard, and only come into the premises to spend the night. In this case, the standards of 25x25 cm per bird are quite normal.
Volzhskaya white
The first breed of guinea fowl bred in Russia, more precisely, back in the Soviet Union. Registered in 1986. The breed was bred to produce guinea fowl meat on an industrial scale and is perfectly suited for life on poultry farms.
If it were not for the dark eyes and red color of the earrings, the birds could be safely recorded as albinos.They have white plumage, light beaks and paws, and a white and pink carcass. This color is more commercially profitable than dark color, since dark carcasses look unappetizing and not everyone will decide to buy a “black chicken”. The white guinea fowl carcass is much more aesthetically attractive.
Birds of the Volga breed gain weight well and are classified as broilers. At 3 months, the young already weigh 1.2 kg. The weight of adults is 1.8 - 2.2 kg.
The egg-laying season of this breed lasts 8 months and during this time the female can lay 150 eggs weighing 45 g. The safety of hatched chicks in birds of this breed is more than 90%.
Mottled gray
Once the most numerous guinea fowl on the territory of the Union, bred for meat. With the advent of new breeds, the number of speckled grays began to decline.
The weight of an adult female does not exceed two kilograms. Males are slightly lighter and weigh about 1.6 kg. At 2 months, guinea fowl weigh 0.8 - 0.9 kg. Representatives of this breed are sent for slaughter at 5 months, when the meat has not yet become tough and the carcass is already fully formed.
Puberty in the breed occurs no earlier than 8 months. Birds usually begin to lay eggs in the spring at the age of 10±1 months. During the season, females of this breed can lay up to 90 eggs.
Speckled grays incubate reluctantly and only after two years. But if the speckled one decided to become a hen, she will be an excellent mother.
The hatchability of speckled gray chicks is 60%. At the same time, the young animals are hatched strong enough that it is possible to save 100% of the chickens using high-quality feed and creating good living conditions for the young animals.
Blue
The photo does not convey all the beauty of the plumage of this breed. In reality, the bird actually has blue feathers with small white specks.When moving, the feathers move, and the guinea fowl shimmers with a pearly sheen. This is the most beautiful breed available. And it’s worth having one not even for meat, but for decorating the yard.
But in terms of productive characteristics, this breed is not at all bad. The birds are quite large. The female weighs 2 - 2.5 kg, the guinea pig 1.5 - 2 kg. They lay from 120 to 150 eggs per year. The eggs are not the smallest size, weighing 40 - 45 g.
The hatchability of blues is even better than that of speckled ones: 70%. But the survival rate of chickens is much worse: 52%. At 2.5 months, guinea fowl of this breed weigh on average 0.5 kg.
White Siberian
To obtain the Siberian breed, gray speckled ones were used, crossing them with other breeds. The birds were bred for cold regions and are characterized by good frost resistance. Due to its cold resistance, this breed is especially popular in Omsk.
When breeding the Siberian breed, breeders increased not only frost resistance, but also egg production. The productivity of these guinea fowl is 25% higher than that of the original speckled gray breed. On average, females lay 110 eggs weighing 50 g, that is, in terms of egg production they are second only to French broilers, and only in the number of eggs laid during the laying period.
But in terms of weight, the “Siberians” are significantly inferior to the French ones. The weight of the Siberian breed does not exceed 2 kg.
Reviews of some breeds of guinea fowl
Conclusion
When choosing a breed used for meat production, you need to pay attention to growth rate, carcass weight and, to a lesser extent, egg production. If you do not plan to breed birds for sale for meat, then 40 guinea fowl from one female, bred in an incubator, will last the family for a long time. And considering that 5-6 females are needed for one male, then after raising all the chickens, there will be enough guinea chicken meat for a year.
