Біологічні особливості цесарок та вимоги до їх утримання

Abstract

This article reveals the biological features of guinea fowl and methods of keeping them. Guinea fowl are raised and bred to produce dietary meat, high-quality eggs, and to control pests of crops: snails, insects, including the Colorado potato beetle. The main direction of growing guinea fowl is meat, in terms of meat yield guinea fowl are not inferior to chickens. The taste of guinea fowl resembles game, but it is more tender, juicy and not fibrous. Guinea fowl have a horizontally placed oval body, short neck, large head with a strong growth in the crest, short, lowered tail. Guinea fowl are unpretentious, easily acclimatized to any natural and climatic conditions. The disadvantages of this species of bird include a poorly developed hatching instinct and aggression during capture. With age, the aggression of guinea fowl increases. This bird is also known to make unpleasant shrill sounds, which is why they are sometimes refused to breed. When keeping guinea fowl, it should be borne in mind that domestic guinea fowl inherited from the wild the ability to fly well. They are mobile, timid, reluctant to go to the nest and often lay eggs in hidden, cozy places. After isolating males from the herd, females are able to lay fertilized eggs for more than 10 days. This species of birds is quite well acclimatized and shows a fairly high egg productivity in different methods of cultivation. There are several ways to keep guinea fowl. The most common walking method, which involves keeping guinea fowl during the day on pasture, and at night — indoors. Keeping on the floor (on deep litter) is used when it is not possible to give the bird exercise. The cage method allows to increase the efficiency of production area, reduce feed costs by 15%, to mechanize the care and maintenance of poultry houses.