Feeding guinea fowl is an important step in raising birds. It is the nutrition that determines the health of animals, their productive indicators. If guinea fowl are grown for the further sale of carcasses, you need to know how to feed them properly in order to increase weight.
What is fed guinea fowl?
The nutrition of guinea fowls must be balanced. Guinea fowl is fed three times a day. About 32 kilograms of compound feed, 2 kilograms of mineral feed, 4 kilograms of animal food, 12 kilograms of fresh herbs and 4 kilograms of root crops are consumed per individual during the year. Free walking allows you to reduce performance by 1/3.
Animals should receive the most nutritious and healthy food rich in vitamins - they will make up for the energy loss of the body.
Fresh greens
With free walking, the farmer may not worry about enough green grass in the diet of guinea fowls - they can independently find everything they need. In the case of cell content, you will have to collect herbs manually. And you can grind the grass with a homemade grinder, which you can read about self-construction here.
About 40-60 grams of crushed grass, which may include such plants, per 1 adult per day are:
- legumes - 10 g;
- nettle - 20 g;
- dandelion leaves - 10 g;
- quinoa - 10-15 g;
- cabbage leaves - 10 g;
- ragweed - 10 g;
- tops - 10 g.
These values are approximate, and their adjustment is permissible depending on the vegetation characteristic of the area. It must be understood that guinea fowl cannot be fed exclusively with grass, grain mixtures must be present in their diet.
Guinea fowl is considered to be human helpers. They are able to learn how to collect Colorado beetles in the garden, thereby eating properly and saving a person from pests.
Grain and Mixtures
During the feeding of birds with green vegetation, the amount of grain feed consumed by them is allowed to be reduced. So for 1 adult guinea fowl there are so many ingredients:
- millet - 4 g;
- crushed wheat - 5-10 g;
- crushed barley - 5-10 g;
- chopped corn - 10 g.
Mineral supplements
To make the birds feel good and fully develop in the usual diet, it is desirable to include mineral supplements - they help strengthen bone tissue.
Mineral mixtures for birds per day are given in such quantities:
- fine gravel - 3-6 g;
- table salt - 0.3-6 g;
- crushed shell - 5 g;
- feed yeast - 3-4 g;
- coarse river sand - 5-10 g;
- fish oil - 3 g;
- meat and bone meal - 10 g;
- wood ash - 10-15 g;
- crushed chalk - 5 g.
This will be quite enough for the bird, while it does not have to eat the full amount of the serving. The poultry breeder can either mix all the ingredients or sprinkle them in separate containers, but all birds must have access to them at any time.
Food waste
Feeding birds with food waste is considered an excellent option to diversify the bird menu and at the same time replace grain feed. As in winter and summer, guinea fowls can be fed boiled vegetables: they eat well the remains of soups and other liquid dishes, the main thing is that they do not contain spices. They also feed on cereals, dairy products, and the remains of fish and meat dishes.
Such food waste can be used as a supplement to wet mash mats, which will replace half the grain. 1 bird accounts for 30-40 grams of such food per day.
Roots
In the summer, guinea fowls must be fed with root crops, which are previously grated raw, boiled or crushed. For feeding birds, it is best to use vegetables such as carrots and potatoes, since the other root vegetables are not eaten with such pleasure. During day 1, an adult can eat about 20-30 grams of such foods.
Factory feed
Factory poultry feeds and basic dietary supplements can be an excellent solution to a balanced bird diet, if the farmer does not have time to independently choose different products. Feed is usually given dry. It is important to choose the right mixture, giving preference only to high-quality products. There are several options for popular feeds - they are described below.
"Ryabushka"
On the market there are several options for bird feed, called "Ryabushka": full and premix, which provides for mixing the additive with the main food. Complete feed is intended for feeding birds that are 4 months old. They are also allowed to feed birds during active masonry.
Manufacturers claim that Ryabushka has a positive effect on the body of the bird, as evidenced by such factors:
- improving the digestibility and assimilation of nutrients from the diet;
- increased egg production;
- strengthening the body's defenses;
- obtaining larger eggshells;
- improving the appearance of feathers;
- improving the reproductive abilities of guinea fowl and the hatching qualities of eggs.
It also becomes noticeable that the taste of guinea fowl meat that feeds on Ryabushka improves significantly. Such high results can be obtained due to the balanced composition of the product containing vegetable protein, phosphorus, iodine, calcium, copper, manganese, cobalt and various vitamins that the poultry needs: A, E, H, K3, B1-B6, B12, D3.
It is permissible to start feeding the bird, giving it 80 grams per day, divided into 2 meals.
Premix "Ryabushka" - a dry mixture containing useful ingredients that are added simply to the food. It will not be possible to replace the usual food with a premix, but it is permissible to supplement it with useful components. The composition of the powder contains the same components as in full-feed, but in this case the feed antibiotic and the milling and cereal store go to them. For guinea fowl per day, 1.2-1.5 grams of the mixture for 1 individual is taken.
Felucen
Guinea fowl are often fed with the Felucen feed supplement, combined with the main feed. It is a dry powder used to add to grain mixes or wet mixers. For guinea fowl, 55-60 grams of powder per 1 kilogram of food is enough.
The feed contains the following components:
- carbohydrates;
- vitamins: A, D, K, C, H, group B;
- Minerals: phosphorus, iodine, manganese, calcium, zinc, sodium chloride, selenium, cobalt.
It is not necessary to additionally process the powder before use. But if you use this additive for guinea fowl, chalk and salt components are necessarily excluded from the diet.
When using the Felucen feed, the condition of the birds improves significantly. Farmers note the following benefits of feeding the birds with the supplement:
- reducing the likelihood of developing anemia and various deformities of young animals;
- improving the incubation quality of eggs;
- increasing the strength of the eggshell, the skeleton of the guinea fowl;
- normalization of digestive processes;
- increase the protective functions of the bird's body.
The additive is introduced into the diet gradually. Initially, birds are given 1/7 of the daily dose, then adjusted to the recommended norm within a week.
Mixwit
Miskvit is a powdered supplement, endowed with calcium, iodine, iron, selenium, copper, manganese, zinc, vitamins D3, A, E, groups B, H, K. This supplement works the same as the previous ones. Giving the Miskvit to the birds, they note that the animal’s bone system is strengthened, the consumption of the main feed used is reduced, the strength of the eggshell and the nutritional value of the egg products themselves are increased.
You can get the most effective results if you add an additive at the rate of 1.2 grams per bird per day to the main grain feed of guinea fowl.
A balanced diet is the first condition for growing guinea fowl, because along with food, the bird's body is supplied with the necessary vitamins, micro and macro elements. Guinea fowl are not considered to be very demanding birds, but this does not mean that you can feed them with anything.
Feeding rules
There are no special rules for feeding guinea fowl. As with other poultry, it is important to choose high-quality and fresh feed. Wet mixers should be prepared exclusively before feeding the animals. The same applies to cereals cooked in milk.
It is permissible to feed the chicks kept on a paddock with pasture three times a day, because all the rest of the time they are able to feed themselves. When closed, newborn chicks need to be fed up to 12 times a day, gradually reducing the frequency of feeding to 6, then up to 4 times.
What can not feed guinea fowl?
Poultry farmers, especially beginners, should be aware that it is categorically undesirable to feed the birds spoiled vegetables, stale greens and poor-quality feed. This can lead to serious problems with the gastrointestinal tract in birds.
The diet of little guinea fowl
The period when the guinea fowl is not even a month old is considered the most important and responsible. At this age, birds often suffer from various diseases, therefore, it is important to ensure that they consume high-quality feed, clean fresh water. They need a balanced diet.
The food of guinea fowl passes according to a certain scheme, depending on age:
- 1st day starts with a boiled chopped egg. It is allowed to mix bread or wheat porridge soaked in milk. Allowed to give all the ingredients separately. Before serving, you need to grind the bread thoroughly so that the chicks do not choke.
From time to time, babies are sometimes fed compound feed intended for broiler chickens. If the feed is large, you need to grind it. It is allowed to add vitamins to the water, which increase the body's resistance to illnesses of newborn guinea fowls.
- From the 3rd day fresh cottage cheese is introduced into the diet of the chicks. It contains a large amount of protein, which plays an important role in the growth and development of chicks. Eggs no longer give. Be sure to include some greens, cereals from barley, millet and corn on the menu during this period.
- 5th day It starts with the fact that the farmer brings a container with chalk, crushed shell, gravel to the house. Birds eat the same way, but during this period they are allowed to give a little more greenery and grain. Vitamins are still added to the water.
- On the 7th day a mash made from boiled potatoes, beets, grated carrots, based on sour milk is introduced into the diet. At this time, the birds need a lot of greenery, therefore it is necessary to increase the dose of green food, giving guinea fowl cabbage, clover, lettuce, dandelion, nettle.
- On the 21st day young animals begin to be released on a walk so that they independently seek food. In poultry houses they are fed with wet mash of vegetables and cereal porridges.
From the first days of life, it is necessary to feed the chicks every 2 hours, 8 times a day. By the age of 1 month, the number of feedings is reduced to 5 times. There should always be clean water in the container, which is changed as often as possible. Chicks are very active, due to the fact that they run and chase dust, because of this, the drinker is quickly contaminated.
How to feed guinea fowl from a month old?
When the guards are 30 days old they become adults. The farmer transfers animals completely to adult bird feed. During this period, guinea fowls are fed no more than 3 times a day. In the morning they are fed a mash with the addition of juicy food and moist porridge where cereals are present. In the evening, the birds have enough dry grain, saturating the body all night until the morning.
Grain or vegetable mixers with meat waste, yeast, chopped peas or fish may be present in the poultry diet. These products contain a lot of protein, because at the same time they do not give. Typically, birds are fed a single product.
If the bird eats feed, 150 grams of it and 50 grams of greenery are given to her per day. In addition, they should eat chalk, crushed shell. When animals are fed simple domestic food, a monthly bird should eat foods in such quantities per day:
- salt - 0.3-1 g;
- cereals - 90 g;
- fish oil - 3 g;
- greens - 30-50 g;
- fish or meat meal - 15 g;
- yeast - 6 g;
- root crops - 20-30 g;
- Hay - 15 g.
What should be the diet for an adult?
Adult guinea fowl - birds, undemanding to feed. 130-150 grams of factory feed and 30-50 grams of greens per day are enough for them. It is permissible to replace grain feed with boiled potatoes and cereals. Birds need to be fed with animal feed, for these reasons it is advisable to include in the diet the remains of meat, fish or dairy products. In the summer, they can graze on the lawn. Crushed shell or chalk must be given even to adult birds, because they always need calcium.
An example of a weekly diet of guinea fowls is presented in the table:
Stern | Age 21-40 days | Age 41-60 days | Age 61-80 days |
Crushed shell | 0.5 g | 1 g | 1.5 g |
Wheat bran | 10 g | 18 g | 25 g |
Baking yeast | 0.5 g | 1 g | 1.5 g |
Oats | 7 g | 5 g | 5 g |
Greenery | 8 g | 20 g | 20 g |
Barley | 8 g | 12 g | 5 g |
Reverse | 7.5 g | — | — |
Millet | 5 g | 7 g | — |
Fresh cottage cheese | 5 g | 5 g | 2.5 g |
Wheat flour | 7 g | 10 g | 20 g |
Meat and bone meal | 1 g | 2 g | 3 g |
We recommend watching a video in which an experienced farmer talks about feeding his guinea fowl:
Adults wake up early and eat up leftovers from yesterday's meal for breakfast. Feed the birds 4 times a day. Animals prefer mishmash, which contains grass, boiled potatoes and various cereals. Experienced farmers recommend preparing such feeds in milk or meat broth - this favorably affects birds.
The birds also need protein, but in this case it is necessary to monitor the portions so that there is no overabundance - this can lead to diseases. It is especially important to monitor animals in rainy and cold weather, otherwise they may suffer from problems associated with the gastrointestinal tract. To avoid this, in the breeding season, once a day, baker's yeast is added to the diet of guinea fowls, which contribute to moisture.
Watering birds with a solution of manganese will not hurt. In the summer, birds like to eat bugs and worms. Such birds will become a real find for those involved in the cultivation of potatoes - guinea fowls exterminate Colorado beetles. It is permissible to give these insects to birds with bread, and then feed them in their pure form, only then let them out to the garden for independent hunting.
If guinea fowl help get rid of beetles, you should not treat potatoes with toxic chemicals. In the harvest season, birds are fed watermelons, zucchini, melons. They prefer any vegetables.
Feeding in the winter
In winter, the feeding of guinea fowls is somewhat different from feeding in the summer. In winter, it is very difficult to get green grass and snails somewhere, but replacing these ingredients is perfectly acceptable with succulent feed, meat waste, etc.
Instead of grass, birds are given fresh cabbage, beets, and carrots in crushed form. They will be happy to feast on vegetable waste, sprouted wheat and oats. These ingredients must be present in the diet of birds, since it is cereal grass that is the main food of birds.
The table shows the ingredients for feeding guinea fowls, the volume is calculated per 1 adult:
Product | amount |
Oats | 20 g |
Salt | 0.3 g |
Barley | 20 g |
Fish fat | 3 g |
Corn | 21 g |
Crushed shell | 3 g |
Wheat bran | 20 g |
Yeast | 6 g |
Fish flour | 5 g |
Spruce needles | 15 g |
Carrot | 20 g |
Hay clover | 25 g |
There is no need to grind the grass, just bind the plants by making a broom and hanging it within the reach of birds. Next, you just need to throw out the rough inedible stems.
Provide guinea fowl vegetable protein will allow bean fruits. Usually birds are given cheap soy, but they are replaced with peas, beans, or lentils. Before use, they need to be crushed and mixed. Guinea fowls require the same rate as hens. One adult laying hen weighing 1.5 kilograms takes 100-120 grams of grain feed. Broiler guinea fowl weighing about 3 pounds give about 1200 grams of feed.
In winter, “summer” products are replaced by:
- dairy whey;
- meat or bone meal or fish meal;
- cottage cheese;
- chopped meat trimmings;
- fish offal.
It is not recommended to give fishmeal or fish offal to birds, which will subsequently go to slaughter, because these products contribute to the fact that poultry meat acquires a distinct fish smell.
In winter, vitamins must be present in the feed. Usually they are part of the factory feed. It will be possible to provide birds with calcium by introducing crushed shells into the diet. It is acceptable to mix a little feed chalk into the feed. It is also necessary to put sand guards for guinea fowls, from where birds peck pebbles, then bathe in it.
Feeding poultry for fattening
Birds from 4 months after birth for feeding are fed with dough from flour and steamed roots. They need to ensure free walking in the pasture. Some breeders are convinced that it does not make sense to specifically feed guinea fowls, because by this age, with appropriate maintenance and feeding, they are already gaining enough mass, therefore they are sent for slaughter.
Only with proper feeding and care for guinea fowls, animals will always be healthy, develop well and gain weight. There are several options for feeding birds, depending solely on age and time of year. In summer, they can consume greens to the maximum, and in winter they are provided with other food.
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Ukraine. City: Kryvyi Rih
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