Almost every farm contains chickens, but royal birds or guinea fowls can be found much less often, since breeders consider them exotic individuals that require special conditions for keeping. However, in reality everything is somewhat different, and subject to a number of rules, chickens and guinea fowls can even be kept in the same room or aviary.
Can chickens and guinea fowls be kept together?
Many farmers have the opinion that guinea fowls are free and semi-wild birds that need space, so they cannot be kept with chickens. There are fears that guinea fowls and roosters will constantly arrange fights. In addition, cocky hens will not remain on the sidelines. As a result, constant stress can negatively affect the fertility of birds.
Given these risks, breeders are wary of keeping these birds together. However, with the right approach, it is possible to provide birds with a rather pleasant cohabitation, since they both belong to the order of chickens, require almost the same conditions and food, but only if the chickens are raised for meat. This is due to several factors:
- Guinea fowls and chickens have different periods of egg production and molting, in which they require a slightly different feeding. To obtain fertilized eggs and hatch young guinea fowl, it is necessary to keep in a sufficiently large aviary or on a walk. Chickens mate perfectly even in a cramped chicken coop.
- Chickens can peck eggs not only their own, but also guinea fowls, and they, in turn, can destroy chicken nests. In many cases, biting develops.
- Large guinea fowls can displace their smaller counterparts from the feeders and drinkers. In addition, they need to fly, so the perches are made at different lengths. We must not forget that guinea fowls scream loudly and can scare chickens, which will reduce their egg production.
If it is not possible to organize separate poultry houses for different species of birds, the common room should be divided by partitions. A plus can be drawn from this. The fact is that guinea fowls have a poorly developed instinct for incubating eggs. So, they can be placed on a brooding hen, which will treat the guinea fowl chickens in the same way as their own. Only in rare cases can young cockerels arrange fights, in which the Caesar chicks will also have to participate.
It is better to choose meat birds for cohabitation, since they have better stress resistance and a calmer disposition.
Distinctive characteristics of birds
Guinea fowls differ from chickens in a number of parameters. To organize a comfortable cohabitation for these individuals, you will need to take these differences into account. They are presented in the following table:
Parameter | Chickens | Guinea fowl |
Body structure | The body often forms a rounded rectangle, more compact. The tail is directed upward or forward, covered with large tail feathers. The back is wide, straight or slightly concave. The head is in proportion to the body and covered with short feathers. On the head there is a leaf-shaped or nut-shaped comb, which is poorly developed in females. The neck is in proportion to the body with thick plumage. | The body is elongated, with a short tail and always drooping tail. The back is wide, and the chest protrudes forward from the age of one month. The head is small and often has bright plumage; a horny process is observed on the crown of the head. The neck is long and covered with sparse underwear. |
Beak and earrings | The beak is small and slightly bent downward. Males have earrings on their heads, while females have them poorly expressed. | The beak is large and massive, bent down, and on both sides there are skin outgrowths of a bright color. The earrings are poorly expressed and small in size. |
Limbs | More massive. In meat breeds of chickens, they are widely spaced. Their hock is also well developed. The claws of females are small and short, while that of roosters is large. | Thin and elongated. Guinea fowls run fast, have well-developed hock. The nails at the ends of the phalanges are long and strong. |
Egg production | The laying hen produces eggs in both winter and summer seasons. Egg production decreases only during the molting period. Puberty occurs at 4-6 months, but meat breeds are late-maturing - they reach sexual maturity at 8 months. Laying hens can bring more than 300 eggs weighing 45-80 g per year. Lays eggs in the nest. The incubation period lasts 21 days. | It is observed only in warm weather - the laying season lasts from March to October. Puberty occurs at 6-8 months. In the best case, the female carries 100 eggs per season, weighing 43-50 g. Eggs are laid on the ground. The incubation period lasts 28 days. |
Weight gain | Chicks are born with yellow underpants. Representatives of broiler breeds are gaining muscle mass the fastest. At the age of one month, they can weigh 1.5 kg, and in another month - 2 kg. Then they begin to gain weight more slowly. | The weight of newborn chickens is 30 g. They are light brown in color and grow actively. By the age of one month, guinea fowl chickens gain 1 kg in weight, and after another 2-3 months - 1.5-2 kg. |
Need for feed | For 1 kg of growth, chickens need 2.8 kg of feed. | For 1 kg of growth, the bird needs 3.2 kg of feed. |
Meat | The chicken has a pale pink color. It is juicier and softer and has no game flavor. | Has a white or red tint. Guinea fowl is more fibrous and tastes like game. Contains a lot of iron, therefore it is especially recommended for use with low hemoglobin. |
Behavior | More domesticated, do not try to fly, do not make a lot of noise in the presence of a person, do not make attempts to escape from the yard. | Freedom-loving birds that love to fly and can leave the yard at the first opportunity to graze for a walk. However, they often return to their native nest, especially if they are accustomed to feeding at the same time. |
How to avoid fraud in the chicken coop?
Despite the differences in behavior and temperament, chickens and guinea fowls generally get along well with each other. However, the most active roosters often try to dominate and show aggression towards the Caesars.
To avoid having to deal with private fights between males, experienced breeders recommend keeping guinea fowl and chickens in the same room since childhood. Thus, they will get used to each other from the very beginning, practically will not arrange showdowns and fights.
To maintain a peaceful atmosphere in the chicken coop, the most cocky individuals should be removed from it. Without the most aggressive representatives, the rest of the birds will stop behaving defiantly and get along with their fellows.
Before settling a hen house with different types of birds, it is worth adding several guinea fowls to the chickens and observing their behavior. If there are no serious conflicts, and the birds get along well with each other, you can increase the number of guinea fowls.
How to organize the premises?
In order for the birds to feel comfortable in the neighborhood of each other, it is necessary to properly organize the room. To do this, you must take into account the following rules:
- The size of the house must be calculated correctly so that the birds are not crowded. Of course, the room should be as spacious as possible. When placing guinea fowls in a hen house, one should proceed from the calculation of 2-3 individuals per 1 sq. m of floor.
- Establish a sufficient number of perches for birds to rest on and nests for incubating eggs. A lack of them can lead to conflicts between birds.
- Create an aviary with a large walking area. It should be fenced off with a net at least 2 m high so that the guinea fowls cannot jump over them and run away from the yard.
- Place several baths of sand or ash indoors, as birds love to swim and dig in the ground. In addition, it is an excellent prophylaxis against dangerous parasites.
- Provide birds with free access to clean water and feed. The optimal number of drinkers and feeders should be calculated based on the number of heads on the farm.
It is necessary to maintain cleanliness in the room, and also to clean all equipment from dirt daily. However, this is not enough to prevent disease. For this, the room must be regularly disinfected using suitable means. It is important that they contain a minimum of toxins and do not disturb the microflora in the house. Here are the most popular remedies:
- Formalin... The disinfecting solution contains formaldehyde (40%), water (52%) and methyl alcohol (8%). After processing the premises with Formalin, all pathogenic microorganisms die. When disinfecting, you must follow the instructions on the package, be sure to wear a gas mask. The birds should be launched into the room a few days after treatment, since the solution has a specific smell and can harm both birds and people.
- Bleaching powder... It actively destroys bacteria and prevents their growth. For disinfection, sprinkle with bleach on the floor and bedding.
- Hydrochloric acid... It is used as an alternative to special disinfectants. It is poured into a glass vessel with a wide neck and potassium permanganate is added at the rate of 5: 1. The container is placed in the house for 30 minutes, and then the room is ventilated.
- Crystallized iodine granules... This is the safest method, so disinfection can be carried out in the presence of birds. For 20 sq. m premises apply 10 g of the substance. In a separate container, iodine must be mixed with 1 g of aluminum shavings and pour 1.5 ml of water. After the actions taken, a chemical process will begin, as a result of which brown steam will be generated. The container must be kept indoors for 30 minutes, and after that it must be ventilated.
Experienced breeders recommend disinfecting the premises every 2 months, regardless of whether the birds are sick or not. In practice, many farmers carry out processing 1-2 times a year.
How to feed the birds?
Guinea fowls and chickens should be fed with cereals, wet mash, fortified supplements, herbs or special compound feed. In any case, their diet should be complete and varied so that they receive all the elements necessary for life.
These include:
- Protein... Necessary material for the structure of body cells, as well as the main component of the egg. The feed must be rich in proteins of plant and animal origin. The former include rapeseed, soy, cake, sunflower meal, legumes, and the latter, bone meal, fish waste, shellfish, earthworms.
Despite all the benefits of proteins for birds, an excess of them should not be allowed, since it will lead to a decrease in immunity and the development of various diseases.
- Fats... This is the basis of the energy reserve of birds. They are deposited in the subcutaneous layer and are also used in egg formation. Fats are found in corn and oat grains.
- Carbohydrates... They are necessary for the functioning of all organs and muscles of birds, so they must get the right amount of starch, sugars and fiber from food. Poultry should receive most of the carbohydrates from juicy feed - potatoes, fodder beets, carrots, pumpkins. Whole grains should also be present in the diet of birds, since their shells contain fiber.
- Vitamins... Birds must definitely receive vitamins of groups B, A and D. In case of their lack, they start to get sick. So, in the diet of birds, green herbs, fish oil, yeast, silage, pine flour, etc. should be present.
- Minerals... The main building block for the skeleton of a bird and egg shells. Poultry can obtain these substances from chalk, gravel, bone meal, wood ash or lime, crushed shells, river sand, table salt.
What to include in your daily diet?
In order for birds to receive all these elements, their daily diet must contain:
- Wheat... Allows you to get the necessary calories of metabolic energy. The optimal proportion of wheat in the grain mixture is at least 70%, however, if desired, up to 30-40% of wheat can be replaced with corn.
- Barley... It is recognized as the best grain feed for all farm animals, but chickens and guinea fowls are reluctant to eat it due to the sharp ends of the grain shell. The optimum proportion in the grain mixture is 10%.
- Oats... It is valued for its high protein content, but has one drawback - it contains excessive amounts of fiber. To digest oats, birds spend a lot of energy, therefore, it should not be more than 10% in the grain mixture.
- Oil-bearing crops... These include cakes, meal, soybeans, sunflower, etc. They are valued for the content of vegetable fat. Their share in the daily diet is no more than 5-8%.
- Fish, bone meal... Saturate the body of birds with essential minerals. Their share in compound feed is 3-5%.
Thus, the approximate composition of compound feed for birds is as follows:
- wheat - 70% (can be partially replaced with corn);
- barley - 10%;
- oats - 10%;
- cake, meal, oil-containing crops - 5%;
- meat and bone meal, chalk or shell - 5%.
Winter and summer menu
In summer, greens should be included in the diet of birds - grass, clover, plant tops. Here's an example of their daily menu:
- grain - 50 g;
- flour mixture - 50 g;
- vitamin hay flour - 10 g;
- juicy solid feed - 10-15 g;
- bone meal - 2 g;
- mineral additives and salt - 5.5 g
For a large number of living creatures, manually chopping greens will be tedious, so it is better to make a grass chopper out of scrap materials.
In winter, however, preference should be given to needles, hay, herbal granules. Juicy feed will need to be replaced with wet mash and potatoes. In addition, it is necessary to increase the proportion of protein feed, since birds can no longer eat worms and other insects. Here is an example of a daily diet:
- grain - 50 g;
- mash - 30 g;
- boiled potatoes - 100 g;
- cakes and meal - 7 g;
- dried nettle or hay flour - 10 g;
- curdled milk or dairy products - 100 g;
- bone meal - 2 g;
- mineral additives and salt - 5.5 g
In cold weather, wet mash should be cooked in warm water or heated up so that the bird can eat warm food.
Correction of nutrition depending on the age of the bird
The diet of chickens and guinea fowls must be adjusted as they grow up:
Feed / Age | 1-3 days | 4-10 days | 11-20 days | 21-50 days | 51-90 days |
Boiled eggs | 20 g | — | — | — | — |
Cottage cheese | 40 g | — | — | — | — |
Millet | 20 g | 15 g | 20 g | 20 g | 7 g |
Chopped wheat | 20 g | 65 g | 25 g | — | 30 g |
Barley without shell | — | — | 9.5 g | 14 g | 15 g |
Peas | — | — | 10 g | 16 g | 10 g |
Fish flour | — | 12 g | 12.5 g | 7.5 g | 5 g |
Meat and bone meal | — | 8 g | 7.6 g | 11.2 g | 6.5 g |
Salt | — | — | 0.2 g | 0.5 g | 0.5 g |
The optimal serving size for an adult bird is 100-130 g feed. In this case, it is advisable to supplement the diet with fresh herbs or vegetable tops (50-70 g).
Feeding mode
As a rule, birds are fed 2-3 times a day, but with free range they can be fed only in the evening. In the morning and at lunchtime, it is advisable to give wet mash, but in the evening - grain mixtures. It is advisable to feed the birds at the same time, and at regular intervals.
Wing clipping
Guinea fowls are flying birds, so you need to clip their wings to prevent them from flying over the hedge. It is worth doing this in the first days of their life. It is better to clip wings in the evening, and it is recommended that all young animals be subjected to this procedure at once. If it is carried out in an individual, it must be temporarily deposited in a separate cage.
In guinea fowls, it is necessary to trim the tip of the hand to the joint with sharp scissors. Further, the cut site must be treated with any antiseptic - iodine, brilliant green or hydrogen peroxide.
To prevent the guinea fowl from flying, it is enough to cut the tip of one of its wings.
Shared walking rules
Chickens are unpretentious in terms of walking, but guinea fowls are capricious in this matter.Lack of walking causes them real stress, as they love freedom and fresh air. So, they need to provide walking in any climatic conditions, since they tolerate cold well and can walk even at temperatures down to -30 degrees.
The walking area should be spacious and fenced to prevent the bird from escaping. If possible, it is worth organizing a covered shed where birds can hide from the sun and rain. In addition, the entire area must be cleared of branches, twigs, foliage and other debris so that the birds do not get hurt.
While walking, guinea fowls often gather in a separate flock and leave the chickens.
Guinea fowl and rooster hybrid
If birds of different species live in the same room, the breeder needs to be prepared for the appearance of hybrids. In most cases, hybridization occurs due to mating of a guinea fowl and a rooster, but backcrossing is observed in isolated cases.
It is interesting that the first hybrid from a female guinea fowl and a rooster was bred in the mid-80s of the 20th century in VNITIP, Sergiev Posad. Even then it was established that the hybrid offspring is completely sterile. The fact is that a hybrid bird does not have gonads and even at autopsy it can be difficult to determine its sex.
Meanwhile, hybrids have good health and good immunity, so they endure various diseases. Such specimens are outwardly similar to guinea fowls - there are no comb and earrings on their head, and the body is rather large and massive. However, they do have chicken feathers.
In order to prevent the appearance of hybrids, the life of chickens and guinea fowls in the same room should not be left to chance. It is necessary to constantly monitor the birds and adjust the nuances of their cohabitation.
Pros and cons of keeping chickens and guinea fowls together
If you keep chickens and guinea fowls in the same room, you can get the following benefits:
- Reduce time and effort to feed birds. If the birds are raised for meat, then they need the same diet. So, both chickens and guinea fowls need to be fed with grain, wet mash, vegetables, herbs, vitamin and mineral complexes.
- Create the same conditions of detention. If you plan to breed both types of birds for meat, you do not need to spend time organizing two separate rooms, since you need to create the same conditions for them. Birds rest together on perches, use the same nests, need cleanliness, and a comfortable temperature and humidity level. In addition, you need to remember about good lighting and heating, and also keep the bedding dry and clean.
- Solve the problem of incubating guinea fowl eggs. The fact is that they have an underdeveloped maternal instinct, so the farmer can put their eggs under a brooding hen, which does an excellent job with such duties.
Having analyzed the advantages of such cohabitation, it is also necessary to take into account some disadvantages:
- Guinea fowls are freedom-loving birds, therefore, they require space and walking for comfortable development. They do not tolerate tightness and cellular content. Chickens, on the other hand, can be kept in a cramped room or even in a closed house they tolerate the lack of walking.
- For reproduction, guinea fowls need an aviary or a walk, but chickens can remove young animals even in a cramped room.
- Female guinea fowls and roosters can mate, resulting in infertile young animals.
If you compensate for these disadvantages, birds can be kept together, deriving only benefit from such a neighborhood. In order for the birds to initially become friends with each other and not arrange fights, they should be kept together from the very beginning. In this case, you need to remember about trimming the wings of guinea fowls so that in the future they do not fly away and create disorder in the chicken coop.