Effects of sex and strain on docility and some performance traits of local guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) in Ghana

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of sex and strain of bird on cage docility score and Heterophil/Lymphocyte (H/L) index score of local guinea fowl strain in Ghana and to evaluate the relationship between docility and performance traits (weight gain, feed intake). Seventy-nine (79) guinea fowls comprising Pearl (37 males and 20 females), Lavendar (6 males and 5 females) and White (5 males and 6 females) local guinea fowls at age 10 months were used. The birds were tested for cage docility and H/L index scores (an index for temperament/docility) in a Completely Randomised Design experiment. The data were analysed and significant differences among means were separated using the LSD procedures of SAS. Average cage docility score was 2.13, meaning birds studied were generally flighty (non-docile). Males and females’ docility score were 2.2 and 2.1 respectively indicating both sexes were flighty. Sex and strain of bird had no significant effect (p>0.05) on docility score of birds. According to H/L index scores of docility, sex had no significant effect on docility (p>0.05). However, the strain of bird had significant (p = 0.0002) effect on H/L index scores. The cumulative effect of sex and strain had significant effect (p<0.05) on docility. The study revealed 64.6%, 19.9%, 14.2% and 1.3% of the birds were flighty, restless, docile and aggressive respectively. Among the three strains, the Lavendar had the lowest H/L index score of docility (0.09±0.003). The H/L index score positively correlated with the cage docility score (p=0.023). There was no significant effect (p>0.05) of docility on feed intake and weight gain of the guinea fowls. In conclusion, local guinea fowl strains in Ghana are still non-docile and there-fore the docility traits must be given a consideration in developing the breeding objective for breed improvement of the bird.