Breeding technology of guinea fowl

Pearl pheasant, also known as guinea pheasant, pheasant, guinea bird, etc., originated from Africa. China first introduced guinea fowl from the Soviet Union in 1956 and raised successfully, but it has been raised as an ornamental bird for more than 30 years, and large-scale breeding began in 1992. After continuous exploration and summary of experience, the breeding technology began to mature in 2012. Let's take a look at the guinea fowl breeding technology.

Breed classification of guinea fowl

The guinea fowl are mainly divided into three types: big guinea fowl, feathered guinea fowl and gray-crowned guinea fowl. The big guinea fowl is distributed in Somalia and Tanzania, characterized by only a few feathers with white spots on its back, and the crested guinea fowl is distributed in the tropical forests of Africa. Grey-crowned guinea fowl, including two types with blue and red beards, have been bred, and many breeds have been bred, such as gray guinea fowl, white guinea fowl, lavender guinea fowl and the hybrids between them. Among them, the grey guinea fowl is the largest breed, and the guinea fowl usually referred to in our country mainly refers to the grey guinea fowl type, such as the French Issa guinea fowl.

Morphological characteristics of guinea fowl

The pearl chicken has a small head, a body length of 50 to 55 cm, a yellowish beak at the front and red at the back, a red meat beard at the bottom, a lavender face, no hair around the eyes, a slender neck, blue-brown feathers and white spots in the dense part. Male and female guinea fowl have the same feathers, the general male individual is slightly larger than the female, the leg is higher, the male crown is higher, the meat beard is also slightly larger, and the call of the sexually mature male is short and excited. The appearance is like a female peacock, the head is very small, the face is lavender, the beak is strong and pointed, the beak tip is yellowish, the back part is red, and there is a heart-shaped fleshy droop around the lower part of the beak. There is no hair around the eyes and a circle of white markings extends to the upper part of the neck. The neck is slender and covered with purplish blue needle-like feathers. The feet are short, red in hours and grayish black in adulthood. Walk fast. The whole body has gray feathers and regular round white spots, shaped like pearls, so it has the laudatory name of "guinea fowl".

Breeding value of guinea fowl

1. Guinea fowl has delicate meat, rich nutrition and delicious taste. Compared with ordinary broilers, the contents of protein and amino acids are high, while the contents of fat and cholesterol are very low. It is a kind of special bird with game.

2. The guinea fowl has high slaughtering rate, many edible parts, slender bones, small head and neck, well-developed chest and leg muscles, and the body is approximately oval. The guinea fowl with a live weight of 1700 grams has a slaughter weight of 1544 grams, accounting for 91% of the live weight, and a semi-clean chamber of 1415 grams, accounting for 83% of the live weight, which shows that its slaughtering rate and meat yield are relatively high.

3. Pearl hens begin to lay at the age of 28 weeks. In one laying period, they can lay about 160 eggs and provide about 110 chicks. Each breeder hen consumes about 40 kilograms of feed during the whole laying process. The best slaughtering time of commercial broiler guinea fowl is 12-13 weeks old, the live weight can reach 1300-1500 grams, and the meat-to-feed ratio is 2.7 to 2.9.

4. Guinea fowl has good adaptability, strong disease resistance, simple equipment and house requirements, rough feeding resistance and easy feeding, so it has the advantages of low investment, fast turnover and high benefit. In addition, guinea fowls are of moderate size, neither as big as turkeys that need to be split up for sale, nor as small as quails. It is not only suitable for ordinary families to eat, but also a high-end meat and poultry on the banquet.

The living habits of guinea fowl

The main results are as follows: 1. Adult guinea fowl like dry and dislike, high temperature resistance, cold resistance and disease resistance. It can still live at-20-40 ℃. However, if the temperature of the chick after coming out of the shell is slightly lower, it is easy to catch cold, diarrhea or death.

2. Guinea fowls usually live together in groups of 30 to 50, never separate. They still like group activities after domestication, and they also flee and hide in groups when they are frightened, so guinea fowls are suitable for raising in large groups. In addition, guinea fowl has a strong homing property. When they return to their nests in the evening, they often go back to their houses, and occasionally they can return to the group to return to their nests.

3. The adult weight of guinea fowl is 2.2 ~ 2.5 kg, 1.2 kg at 12 weeks and 1.9 kg at 28 weeks. The female guinea fowl began to lay at the age of 28-30 weeks. 165-195 breeding eggs were obtained in 35 weeks of laying. The eggs weighed 42-50 grams, with brown shell and a few spots.

4. The guinea fowl still retains the characteristics of wild birds and likes to climb high and perch, and its activities can be seen at night. In particular, chicks have greater activity, often drilling everywhere and causing death. Enough attention should be paid to this habit in feeding.

5. The guinea fowl is mild-tempered, timid and alert. Any abnormal or noisy environment can cause the whole flock to panic. The hen makes a shrill cry, and the flock will have a chain reaction and crow one after another. If the red drinking fountain is replaced with a yellow drinking fountain, the chickens will be afraid to go near the drinking fountain for a long time.

6. Guinea fowl have a wide range of eating habits, such as cereals, bran, cakes, fishbone meal, grasses, vegetables, fruits and so on.

7. Pearl chickens are good at flying, love climbing and good activities, have strong wings and have a certain leap ability at the age of 1 day. You can walk almost constantly throughout the day, and you like to climb high places at rest or at night.

8. When the guinea fowl is scattered on the soil ground, it will often dig out a pit on the ground to provide itself with sand bath conditions. when taking a sand bath, the sand will be scattered evenly between the feathers and the skin.

9. The shrill sound of the guinea fowl with rhythm and coherence is actually a major feature, which interferes greatly with people's rest, but it also has several effects. First, the strong sound at night can serve as an alarm. Second, once the sound is reduced or the sound intensity is reduced, it may be a sign of disease.

Artificial hatching of guinea fowl

Pearl chicken eggs are required to be fresh and have a shelf life of no more than 10 days. the eggs weigh about 45 to 50 grams and are not too round, too long or deformed. The hatching period of breeding eggs of guinea fowl is 26-28 days, 0,23 days in the incubator, and then in the hatching machine. Other hatching techniques are basically the same as those of ordinary chickens, but the hatching temperature should be higher. The incubator temperature is 38.1 ℃, the hatching machine temperature is 37.6 ℃, the incubator humidity is 55%, and the incubator humidity is 70% and 80%.

Feed formula of guinea fowl

1. Out-of-shell chicks: corn 50%, wheat flour 3%, wheat bran 2%, bean cake 31%, fish meal 12%, bone meal 1.1%, salt 0.4%, additives (trace elements, multivitamins, amino acids, growth factors, antibiotic drugs, etc.) 0.5%.

2. 4-8 weeks old: 55% of corn, 6% of wheat flour, 4% of wheat bran, 2% of grass meal, 22% of bean cake, 8% of fish meal, 1.6% of bone meal, 0.5% of shell meal, 0.4% of salt, 0.5% of additives (trace elements, multivitamins, amino acids, growth-promoting factors, antibiotics, etc.).

3. 8-12 weeks old: corn 54%, wheat flour 8%, wheat bran 6%, grass meal 4%, bean cake 18%, fish meal 6%, bone meal 1.5%, shell powder 1.5%, salt 0.5%, additives (trace elements, multivitamins, amino acids, growth promoters, antibiotic drugs, etc.) 0.5%.

4. 12-25 weeks old: 52% corn, 8% wheat flour, 14% wheat bran, 6% grass meal, 12% bean cake, 4% fish meal, 1.5% bone meal, 1.5% shell meal, 0.5% salt, additives (trace elements, multivitamins, amino acids, growth-promoting factors, antibiotic drugs, etc.).

Nestling facilities of guinea fowl

1. Building a nursery: the chicks of the same size and breed should be raised in the nursery, and the male and female chicks should be raised in columns, and if possible, they can be raised in separate sheds. Good sealing performance of the nursery is required to facilitate the heat preservation of the henhouse. The nursery can be covered with cement floor and can be drained, which is beneficial to the cleaning, washing and disinfection of the chicken house. A disinfection pool should be set up at the door of the chicken house, and the shoes before entering the house should be disinfected before entering.

2. Scattered cultivation on the ground: in winter and spring, bedding grass with a thickness of 5cm to 7cm should be laid, and in summer the ground should be covered with sandy soil and a thin layer of bedding grass. Bedding grass should be clean, dry, mildew-free and about 10 cm long. Mat grass after a brooding should be cleared out of the house and compost together with feces, can not be used again.

3. Flat raising of the net surface: when using the floor net, the net surface can be made of iron wire or wood or bamboo, the spacing of the net (or mesh size) should be appropriate, it is generally 1.2 centimeters apart or 1.2 centimeters square of the mesh, the height of the mesh surface is 60 centimeters to 70 centimeters, the whole mesh surface is active, so that after the chickens turn out, open the net surface to clear the stool and clean the chicken coop.

4. Cage raising chicks: when raising chicks in cages, the sinks and food troughs should be equipped and placed evenly according to the number of chickens. High insulation umbrella for heating. In the place where the house area is small and the electricity is convenient, laminated electrothermal brooding cages can be used to raise chicks. Each cage has four layers, and a total of 1200,1600 chicks can be raised.

Brooding management of guinea fowl

1. Brooding density: the breeding area of guinea fowl should be increased with the growth of chicks, with 60 guinea chickens per square meter at the age of 1 week, 30 birds per square meter at the age of 2 weeks, and only 20 birds per square meter at the age of 3 weeks.

2. Brooding temperature: within 3 weeks of brooding, whether the temperature in the henhouse is suitable or not is the key to the success or failure of brooding work, neither too high nor too low. Chicks fresh out of their shells have to live under an umbrella of 35-38 ℃, and then drop by about 3 ℃ per week. Whether the temperature of the chicken house is suitable to observe the performance of the chicken flock, too cold, the chicken flock together, too hot, the chicken gasps, the spirit is lively under the suitable temperature, the performance is comfortable.

3. Humidity of brooding: the indoor temperature of chicks is high, which often leads to low humidity and dry air. Chicks lose too much water and affect their health and dehydration in serious cases. When the humidity of the nursery is low, water can be sprinkled on the ground. The relative humidity of 60% to 65% is maintained in the incubation room, which can be measured by hanging a dry-wet bulb thermometer indoors. In the later stage of brooding, the requirement of humidity is not strict, just keep the normal humidity.

4. Ventilation and lighting: only natural ventilation devices are needed. General doors, windows and roof caps are sufficient to meet the ventilation needs of chicks. Chicks need a certain amount of light time and intensity. In a closed chicken house, it takes 23 hours for 1-2-day-old chicks, 20 hours for 3-7 days old, 16 hours for 2-week-old chicks, 12 hours for 3-week-old male chicks and 14 hours for female chicks. Light intensity: 3 watts per square meter at the age of 10 days and 2 watts per square meter at the age of 11-21 days. Attention should be paid to making the light of the whole house uniform.

5. Feed water: 24 hours after the chicken comes out of its shell, the chick can drink 5% glucose water first, and then feed it to the soft, cool and dry crushed rice or corn meal after 2 hours, and feed it to the formula after 1 or 2 days. At the age of 1 week, they were fed 6 times every day and night, 6 times at 2 weeks old, and 4 times at 3 weeks old. After eating, you can freely drink drinking water with good quality and a water temperature of 20-25 ℃. The number and length of long troughs and sinks used during the breeding period are determined according to the number of chickens raised. In principle, the length of each chicken is 2.5 cm in trough and 0.6 cm in tank.

6. Observe the flock of chickens: during the period of brooding, we should often enter the chicken house, observe the spirit, diet, feces and other conditions of the flock, find out the cause in time, confirm the disease, isolate, treat or eliminate the flock in time, depending on the specific situation, the flock can be prevented by targeted administration. In order to prevent beak addiction and reduce flying ability, the beak can be cut off and the last joint of the left or right wing can be cut off within 10 days of age.

Management of breeding period of Pearl Chicken

1. Breeding chicken coop: the closed chicken coop is adopted in the place where the temperature difference of the four seasons is large, and the chicken coop can be cement floor, which should be convenient for washing and disinfection. The breeding henhouse should be equipped with natural ventilation and mechanical ventilation. All transparent parts should have shading curtains and barbed wire at the entrance. Breeding chickens can be raised separately on the ground, laying grass on the ground when it is cold and sand when it is hot, or using full floor net, 2ax 3 floor net or 1pm 2 floor net, and the rest of the ground is covered with grass. When free-range on the ground, there should be a high shelf in the chicken house for chickens to perch.

2. Feeding density: 15 eggs per square meter in the early stage of breeding and 15 birds per square meter in the later stage of breeding. In the early stage of breeding, the breeding chickens can occupy the floor of the chicken coop 1ax 3, and then gradually increase the occupation area with the growth of the chicken until it occupies the whole chicken house. The above-mentioned feeding density refers to the standard when the temperature is 2025 ℃ and the relative humidity is 65% and 70%. At ordinary times, according to the temperature and humidity in the house, the feeding density can be reduced and increased appropriately.

3. Light management: adult cocks and hens should be raised separately and given different light. The light was kept for 8 hours for 9 hours in the early stage of breeding, and gradually increased to 14 hours in the later stage of breeding. The light intensity is 0.5 to 1.0 watts per square meter, and the light time of the rooster is earlier than that of the hen, because the guinea rooster matures more than one month later than the hen, and increasing light in advance can accelerate the sexual maturity of the rooster.

5. Restricted feeding: restricted feeding is quantitative feeding according to different weeks of age, so that the weight of chickens can meet the standard, so that they can not be fed too much, resulting in overweight, prematurity, premature birth, premature senility, and can not feed too little. as a result, it can not reach the standard body weight, mature late and start laying late, affecting egg production. When the weight exceeds the standard weight, the amount of feed can be reduced or not increased as appropriate, and when there is more overweight, it can be fed every other day.

6. Disease prevention: staff should try to keep quiet when entering the henhouse every day, and carefully observe the spirit, diet, defecation and other abnormal conditions of guinea fowl. Daily cleaning of water and trough, timely cleaning of feces and replacement of bedding materials in the house, and strive to maintain good hygiene in the house is very important for the prevention of chicken diseases. During the breeding period, guinea fowls are prone to intestinal diseases, coccidiosis, candidiasis, trichomoniasis, etc., and preventive medication should be taken in accordance with the doctor's advice. When adult chickens are transferred to the laying henhouse, they should be carried out under dim light at night.

Management of laying period of Pearl Chicken

1. After the new guinea fowl is transferred to the adult chicken house, the transitional feed can be used at the age of about 22 weeks or mid-March, and the pre-breeding feed can also be mixed with the feed during the laying period, and the amount of vitamins can be increased by 30%. When the laying rate reaches about 10%, it will be converted into pre-laying feed and later egg-laying feed around the end of August.

2. The feed of the new guinea fowl should be relatively stable during the laying period, and the feed formula or main raw materials should not be changed frequently, and there should be a transition period of 5-7 days, so that the digestive system of the guinea fowl can adapt well. The quality of egg-laying pearl chicken feed must be guaranteed, moldy and deteriorating raw materials can not be used, and the storage time is too long to use as much as possible.

3. During the laying period of the new guinea fowl, especially before the age of 45 weeks, the flock should be fully fed, and only adequate nutrition can ensure a high laying rate. Generally, during the laying period, the full price feed is fed about 90 grams per day, feeding 3 times for 4 times, the first feeding should be carried out within 2 hours after turning on the light in the morning, the last feeding should be carried out about 3 hours before turning off the lights in the evening, and can be fed twice before noon.

4. When feeding the new guinea fowl, the feed in the trough should be distributed evenly as far as possible, and the feed should be evenly distributed once half an hour after each feeding. The feeding condition after the last feeding should be checked before the next feeding. If there is a local feed accumulation in the trough, the number of chickens, the mental state of the chickens and the deformation of the cage should be checked. If no abnormality is found, the feed should be evenly distributed to other places for chickens to feed.

5. The guinea fowl during the laying period are generally fed with dry powder, and only when a small amount of crushed powder is found in the trough about 1 hour after feeding can be wet with a small amount of water to stimulate feeding. The color, smell and particle size of the feed will affect the intake, so keep it as stable as possible. At the same time, make a good feeding record, including the type of feed, production unit and date, total feed quantity of the day, average feed intake of the day, etc.

Disease prevention and treatment of guinea fowl

1. Newcastle disease

[symptoms] chickens often have a sudden attack, with loose feathers, neck shrinkage, drooping wings, blue or purple meat cones, open mouth breathing or breathing difficulties, often making a special "grunt" sound, crop is full of smelly liquid, inverted lift often flows out of the mouth, dysentery, yellow-green or gray-white foul-smelling thin feces appear, some diseased chickens have neurological symptoms such as leg wing paralysis, walking or standing instability. Head and neck leaned back or twisted to one side, and finally paralyzed to death. Postmortem examination showed glandular stomach, small intestine and other mucosal and serous bleeding.

[prevention and treatment] when Newcastle disease occurs, the drug treatment is ineffective, on the contrary, it will be delayed. 3 days before the onset of Newcastle disease, the anti-Newcastle disease serum can be tried to have a certain effect. The diseased chickens in the middle and later stages should be eliminated, buried deeply or treated at high temperature. Only a small number of infected chickens or other uninfected chickens can be urgently vaccinated with Ⅰ or Ⅱ attenuated vaccine. After the occurrence of the disease, the sale of chickens and the entry and exit of personnel should be prohibited. Chicken sheds and appliances can be sprayed with 0.2-0.4% bromogeramine solution, and the means of transport can be sterilized with 1-2% caustic soda solution. At ordinary times, taking comprehensive prevention and control measures is the key to prevent the disease. Newcastle disease oil vaccine can be injected at 12-day-old, 40-day-old and 120-day-old. Newly introduced chickens must be raised separately for more than 2 weeks and vaccinated on time, and the sanitary disinfection of the chicken house should be strengthened at ordinary times.

2. Infectious bursal disease

[symptoms] there was no obvious seasonality in the occurrence of infectious bursal disease, and chickens at the age of 3 to 5 weeks were susceptible. The sick chicken was depressed in spirit, increased in drinking water, greatly decreased in appetite, dishevelled feathers, lethargy with closed eyes, white watery feces, feces stained with feathers around the anus, wobbly gait, trembling, weakness and death, and emaciated and slow-growing undead chickens. Autopsy showed that the bursa of Fabricius was highly swollen at the initial stage and atrophied at the later stage, with edema, bleeding and creamy mucous secretion. There are bleeding spots in the mucosa at the junction of glandular stomach and myogastric stomach.

[prevention and treatment] the fundamental measure to prevent the disease is to strengthen feeding management and carry out timely vaccination according to the requirements of the immunization procedure. The attenuated vaccine of bursa of Fabricius can be inoculated once at the age of 18 days and 28 days respectively, and the breeder chickens can be injected with oil vaccine of bursa of Fabricius once at 18-20 weeks of age. When this disease occurs, you can try the high immune serum of bursa of Fabricius or the injection of high immune yolk antibody, and you can also use traditional Chinese medicine preparations such as "Guan sac Powder". At the same time, strengthen the care of sick chickens, add a variety of vitamins and so on.