30 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



January 20, 1906. 



THE GUINEA FOWL. 



The following article on the Guinea fowl appeared 

 in the Journal of the Board of Ar/riculture, London, 

 for December last. Considerable numbers of these birds 

 are kept in the West Indies, and it is likely that this 

 information will prove of value, as it contains some 

 very useful hints as to the best methods of dealing 

 with Guinea fowl : — 



The Guinea fowl is more generally kept for ornament 

 than as a utility fowl, and its merits for the latter purpose 

 are apt to be lost sight of. It is, however, one of the most 

 active foragers of all birds that can be kept on a farm, and 

 the cost of keeping it, compared with other kinds of poultry, 

 is small. The gross profits which it yields may not be as 

 large as those from fowls, ducks, or turkeys, but the net 

 profits are not unsatisfactor}', as it is largely self-supporting. 



It is particularly hardy, and generally sleciis in the trees 

 about a farmyard rather than in a house. In this way it is 

 free from restraint, and is able to spend the eaily hours of 

 the morning in foraging for food. There is no better gleaner 

 than the Guinea fowl, and it will wander as much as a mile 

 from home, but as it is chiefly insectivorous, it does scarcely 

 any damage to crops, and the benefits which it confers by 

 ridding the fields of insect pests undoubtedly outweigh any 

 slifht injury caused in this way. It is well able to take care 

 of itself, and there is little danger of its being killed by 

 a fo.\-, while its homing instinct is well developed, and it may 

 be relied upon to come home to roost at night. The Guinea 

 fowl, therefore, requires little of the care and special manage- 

 ment that must nece.ssarily be given to other domestic 

 pjoultry, as, if given free range, it will during the summer 

 tind almost all the food it requires. 



EGG LAYING. 



Guinea fowls do not lay in the winter, but 

 spring, summer, and autmnn they lay 

 Starting, as a 



intermission daily for perhaps a month, and if the eggs are 

 removed from the nest as they are laid the hens will continue 

 for perhaps three months without becoming broody. If they 

 remain in the nest and want to sit, it is only necessary to 

 take away the nest-eggs and break up the nest, and within 

 a week the hen will start to lay again in another place. Even 

 the tamest birds seem to dislike laying indoors, and it is 

 almost impossible to induce them to lay in hand-made nests. 

 Thej' prefer to make their own nests in secluded places, 

 where they are well screened from view by bushes or weeds. 

 (So cleverly is the ne.st concealed that it is sometimes difficult 

 to find, but when leaving the nest the hen utters a long and 

 peculiar cry, which is not heard at any other time, and by 

 tills means the whereabouts of the nest can be located. 



It has been stated that the Guinea cock is monogamous, 

 but this is not strictly correct — though in order to secure 

 fertile eggs it is best to keep equal numbers of cocks and 

 hens. If there are many eggs in a nest at the time it is 

 discovered, they should be taken away a few at a time, for 



during 



a, number of eggs. 



general rule, in April, they lay without 



eggs 



whilst the Guinea hen may not be able to count, she can see 

 the difference in the nest if, say, a dozen eggs are taken away 

 at once and only one or two left as nest-eggs. But if the 

 number is gradually reduced from a dozen or a .score to one 

 or two, the difference is not detected, and the hen does not 

 forsake the nest. The hen will desert the nest, however, if 

 it is considerably disturbed, or if the surrounding weeds or 

 bushes are trampled. 



The eggs are about two-thirds the size of tlie ordinary 

 hen's egg, but of excellent flavour. It is important, however, 

 that they should be fresh, as contact with the earth or grass 

 in a nest will after some days give them a most objectionable 

 taste ; it is therefore necessary to gather the eggs daily. 



HATCHING. 



The eggs take from twenty-si.x to twenty-eight days 

 to hatch, and as it is desirable to have the chicks hatched 

 as early in the year as possible, it is advisable to -set 

 the eggs under ordinary hens. If the Guinea hen hatches 

 her first nest of eggs she will not lay again for the season, 

 but she may be kept laying to September, or later, by 

 ])reventing her from hatching. It is then too late to hatch 

 Guinea eggs, for late-hatched chicks will seldom live through 

 the winter, and even if they should survive they remain 

 small and of little use for marketing in February or !March, 

 which is the season for Guinea fowls. A barn-door hen of 

 average size can hatch about twenfj- eggs, and when the 

 chicks are hatched their foster-motlier cares for them in 

 a more satisfactory manner than the Guinea hen would, for 

 the common hen is more tractable, and can be kept with her 

 brood in a limited space. 



CARE 01' THE CHICKS. 



The chicks leave the shell very soon after the appearance 

 of tlie first chip, and almost immediately they are inclined 

 to stray. In this way some may be lost unless a close 

 nest-box is provided. For the same reason it is necessary 

 to attach a closely-wired run to the coop, in which the chicks 

 are put after they are hatched. For rearing the chicks 

 a combined coop and run has been found most convenient. 

 This may be cheaply made of boards and wire netting 

 about 5 feet long, 2i feet wide, and 2 feet high. 

 This should be divided into two parts, making a coop 

 or sleejjing compartment 2-^ feet by 2 feet, and a run of 

 2i- feet by 3 feet. The sides of the run may lie of i-inch 

 wire netting, the sides of the coop being closely boarded. 

 A slatted partition should divide the two sections, the 

 whole being covered by a span roof of thin boards. 



FEEDING THE CHICKS. 



The chicks may be left in the nest until they are 

 about twenty-four hours old, and they can then be 

 removed to the coop and fed for the first time. Owing to 

 their liability to stray, the chicks must be kept within the 

 confines of the coop and run until they become accustomed 

 to the mother's call, but afterwards they may be given more 

 liberty. AVhen newly hatched the cliicks may be fed on 

 any patent chicken meal, moistened with milk and raw 

 whipped eggs. They should also get green food from the 

 start, and the best kind is chopped onions or leeks, but 

 lettuce, dandelion, etc., may also be used to advantage. 

 When the chicks are a few days older plainer foods may be 

 freely used, and one of the most wholesome is coarse oatmeal 

 fed dry. This may be varied by the occasional use of boiled 

 rice, raw rice meal, hemp seed, millet seed, etc. At a later 

 stage, say, when three or four weeks old, some middlings 

 and fine barley-meal may be added to the mash. Grit of 

 fine quality must be regularly supplied from the time the 

 chicks leave the shell. 



