Guinea fowl fertility, hatchability and embryonic mortality in an intensively managed farm in Ashanti Region of Ghana

Abstract

A study was conducted to investigate the reproductive performance of Guinea fowls on a commercial farm in the Ashanti region of Ghana. This study reported for the first time in Ghana, the reproductive performance of Guinea fowls reared under an intensive production system. The birds were intensively reared on deep litter with a mating ratio of one male to ten females for the production of day-old keets. Eggs were collected daily
and stored for seven days at temperatures between 16 – 20º Celsius and selected for incubation in an automated Petersime incubator. Data on incubated Guinea fowl eggs for the period 2011 – 2018 were obtained from the hatchery unit records and analyzed using Graph Pad Prism version 5.00 for Windows. The percentage overall fertility, total hatchability, fertile hatchability, embryonic mortality, viable keets and non-viable keets were 50.7 ± 13, 30.5 ± 14, 50.4 ± 15, 22 ± 10, 91.7 ± 5.4 and 8.3 ± 6.3 % respectively. Fertility and fertility hatchability were low on this farm, while embryonic mortality was high. The study recommends a change in the mating ratio to one male Guinea fowl to four females, improvement of hygienic  conditions in egg processing, regular fumigation of the farm and improved incubator management.

Keywords: Guinea fowl, Fertility, Hatchability, Embryonic mortality, Ghana