Guinea fowl are relatives of chickens and turkeys. They are not yet very common in poultry farms, but the excellent taste of meat and egg production of birds, as well as the breeding of new productive breeds, suggest the high profitability of their breeding. How to distinguish a female guinea fowl from a male is a question asked by those who first kept a bird on their own farm.
Why know the difference?
Guinea fowl are calm, shy birds with excellent egg production. An adult lays 120 eggs per year, their weight is up to 50 grams.Bird meat is tender, dietary, quickly prepared, and has excellent taste characteristics. The birds are large, adult females weigh about 2 kilograms, males - up to 1.8 kilograms.
Since these birds are polygamous, the number of males in the guinea fowl population is significantly smaller than females. There are 5-6 females per male. This ratio of birds allows you to get the largest number of fertilized eggs and make the activity profitable. The fertilization rate exceeds 75%; guinea fowl survive well during incubation hatching.
When choosing chicks, they prefer strong, active babies with sparkling eyes. You can buy adult individuals and wait for the eggs to be laid, but it should be borne in mind that these birds are shy; if a bird leaves the nest out of fear, it cannot be forced to sit back, so the eggs are taken from under the hen and the chicks are hatched in an incubator. Buying an adult flock will cost much more for a novice poultry farmer.
It is possible to distinguish birds by external features, habits, voice and physiological (genital) differences. Since day-old chicks are the same in size and color, it is possible to determine the sex of the baby only after examining the cloaca. This must be done carefully so as not to scare or injure the chick. Frightened, the chick pinches the cloaca, then examination will cause him pain.
Differences in physiological structure
Hatched chicks weigh no more than 30 grams and are covered with brown down. They have no external gender differences. Healthy chicks have clean fluff, strong legs and sparkling, curious eyes.
In order to properly form a livestock, you should learn to distinguish a rooster from a chicken when purchasing. To do this you should:
- Take the chick firmly and carefully and turn it over on its back, placing it on the palm of your hand;
- calm the baby by stroking the back, then lightly press the lower abdomen so that the cloaca protrudes;
- carefully examine the cloaca; the tubercle that appears indicates that the chick is male;
- the smooth cloaca without a tubercle belongs to the female.
To clearly see the differences in the absence of experience, you should compare chicks of different sexes. Manipulations with birds should be performed with hands wearing sterile gloves to avoid introducing infection into the cloaca. If you lack knowledge, it is better to entrust this to specialists or a person with extensive experience. It is more convenient to look at chicks when purchasing together with an assistant.
If chicks are purchased from a breeder who values their reputation, there is no need to worry; beginners will be helped to choose chicks and given comprehensive advice on their rearing, nutrition and maintenance, and given documents.
You should be especially careful when buying chicks at the market. It is necessary to choose carefully so that there are not more males than females. The older the guinea fowl, the easier it is to determine its sex using this method.
The difference between a female and a male in appearance
Grown-up birds can be easily distinguished from each other by differences in appearance. The female guinea fowl is always larger than the male. A guinea fowl at 5 months weighs 1 kilogram, body length is about 45 centimeters, height is up to 50 centimeters. Caesar weighs 0.8-0.85 kilograms, length - up to 40 centimeters. When the stock of young animals is mixed, it becomes easy to distinguish their sex by size.After 8 months of age, the bird is considered sexually mature, the females begin to lay eggs. Grown-up birds are distinguished not only by size.
The guinea fowl's head is significantly smaller than that of the guinea fowl, despite the large size of the body. Girls have shorter necks and hold their heads straight when walking; males, who have longer necks, bend their heads forward.
The sex of guinea fowl can be determined by looking closely at the shape of the beak. The Caesar's is large, wide, with a base covered with bright red skin, strongly protruding nostrils, and large growths around. The cere in males is bright red and protrudes strongly, forming a noticeable tubercle.
The guinea fowl has a more elegant “nose”. It is smaller, thinner and longer, with less intense coloring (pink, reddish or orange). The nostrils are neat, inconspicuous, the growths around the beak are insignificant, the cere is smaller.
The comb of boys is larger than that of guinea fowls, and slightly curves towards the back. The guinea fowl has a smaller crest, without bends. Earrings are located under the guinea fowl's beak. By their location it is easy to distinguish a male from a female at sexual maturity. The Caesar is the owner of large bright earrings, as if slightly turned outward. They are bright red. The size and color of the earrings are a sign of the male’s status among his relatives; the brighter and larger they are, the more attractive the Caesar is to females.
The guinea fowl has smaller earrings, they hang parallel to the cheeks without protruding, and they are pink, orange or reddish. With age, birds' earrings become coarser, lose color intensity, and it becomes difficult to distinguish birds by this characteristic. The girl grows feathers faster, the female is darker in color than the male.
How to distinguish the sex of birds by behavioral characteristics
Guesars are aggressive birds. If there are 3-4 males in a flock, they will certainly start a fight, so families of 1 male and 5-6 females should be divided and kept in separate enclosures.
Important: guinea fowl easily get along with other birds (chickens, ducks).
Guesars love to spread their tail, this is how they attract females. This is especially noticeable during the mating season. The head and tail of females are always lowered, they do not show aggression, they are peaceful and timid. The female looks calm; the males, with their heads held high and protruding forward, are always ready to argue for her or their place in the pack.
Differences in sounds made
Sexual differences in guinea fowl are noticeable in the birds' voice. Guinea fowl are noisy birds; they love to “talk” to each other. Their voice is loud, the male makes drawn-out sounds with periodic crackling. Females have a more melodious voice, they make the sound “uh-ah” on a high note without crackling.
It is not difficult to breed guinea fowl; they easily get along in the house and are large in size. Maintenance does not require significant costs, but the cost of meat is high, due to the rarity of birds in farmsteads. Cafes and restaurants purchase exotic birds, ensuring profitability for the business. All investments quickly pay off, farms acquire new regular customers, and delicious nutritious dishes appear on the tables.
