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<b>Guinea fowls</b><br>have a long history of domestication. Their young ones (keets) are very small at birth. They eat lice, worms, ants, spiders, weed seeds, and ticks while on free range but they can also eat chicken feed. Guinea fowls prefer warm, fairly dry, open habitats with scattered shrubs
Guinea fowls
have a long history of domestication. Their young ones (keets) are very small at birth. They eat lice, worms, ants, spiders, weed seeds, and ticks while on free range but they can also eat chicken feed. Guinea fowls prefer warm, fairly dry, open habitats with scattered shrubs and trees. Once the breeding season is over, guinea fowls form flocks of 25 birds which feed and roost communally. Their flight is explosive but short-lived. Gliding enables them to cover extra distance.
They are hardy travellers on the ground and can cover 10 or more kilometres a day. They have a loud, harsh call when disturbed and make good watchdogs when kept with domestic fowls. Guinea fowls do best in a free range situation. They are too noisy for an urban location but are good foragers in gardens and orchards, clearing up grasshoppers and other pests.
Diet
Guinea fowls are omnivorous and eat seeds, fruits, frogs, lizards, spiders and worms. They also eat ticks that disturb cattle.
Breeding
The nest is well concealed. It may be a simple, unlined scrape. The incubation period is 26 to 28 days. The eggs have very hard shells and when the chicks hatch, the eggs tend to shatter rather than split in two as the case with domestic hens. The mortality of keets can be high, particularly if they become chilled. In a domestication, they may benefit from some artificial heat source. The life span of guinea fowls in the wild can be up to twelve years.
have a long history of domestication. Their young ones (keets) are very small at birth. They eat lice, worms, ants, spiders, weed seeds, and ticks while on free range but they can also eat chicken feed. Guinea fowls prefer warm, fairly dry, open habitats with scattered shrubs and trees. Once the breeding season is over, guinea fowls form flocks of 25 birds which feed and roost communally. Their flight is explosive but short-lived. Gliding enables them to cover extra distance.
They are hardy travellers on the ground and can cover 10 or more kilometres a day. They have a loud, harsh call when disturbed and make good watchdogs when kept with domestic fowls. Guinea fowls do best in a free range situation. They are too noisy for an urban location but are good foragers in gardens and orchards, clearing up grasshoppers and other pests.
Diet
Guinea fowls are omnivorous and eat seeds, fruits, frogs, lizards, spiders and worms. They also eat ticks that disturb cattle.
Breeding
The nest is well concealed. It may be a simple, unlined scrape. The incubation period is 26 to 28 days. The eggs have very hard shells and when the chicks hatch, the eggs tend to shatter rather than split in two as the case with domestic hens. The mortality of keets can be high, particularly if they become chilled. In a domestication, they may benefit from some artificial heat source. The life span of guinea fowls in the wild can be up to twelve years.