How to bring guinea fowl in a home incubator

Guinea fowl today is very much appreciated in agriculture. Despite the fact that she is the closest relative of domestic chickens, she has less fatty and more nutritious meat, smaller eggs, but more durable. Eggs are better transported, not allergenic for children and much tastier than chicken. Guinea fowl are also bred for the sake of fluff and feathers. They are unpretentious and very hardy. Abroad, these birds are valued more and are 2-3 times more expensive than chickens. In our article we will discuss the features of the breeding of guinea fowl in an incubator.

Pros and cons of incubating eggs

If you decide to breed birds in the household, then first you need to determine the exact goals, what exactly you will need them for. Here are some directions for what these birds can be used for:

• home consumption;
• meat and egg food consumption;
• breeding of young stock for the purpose of implementation;
• production of eggs for sale.

The process of incubation of guinea fowl in an incubator has both advantages and disadvantages. For example, the main advantage is, of course, constant provision of fresh eggs and quality meat. But the matter is not simple, but rather troublesome.Eggs require constant control (depending on the type of incubator): temperature, timely turning, humidity, parameters of embryo development. Even with a super modern incubator, attention to the pledged material will need to be paid at least 1.5-2 hours per day. In addition, it is necessary to prepare the necessary food for the young, to make the house in compliance with all parameters.

Incubation allows you to breed more young guinea fowl, as these birds are one of the worst parents, who often forget about their offspring, leave it to the mercy.With the help of the incubation of guinea fowls, it is possible to achieve the survival of 70-75% of the pledged material. Nevertheless, it should be said that no matter how much effort you spend on incubating and breeding young stock, it is still profitable and economically beneficial, even if it is produced only for household purposes.

If you apply a business approach and calculate all costs when scaling up the process, you will notice that costs will not increase as much as profit.

Selection of eggs for incubation

Guinea fowl, while ensuring optimal living conditions for it, can be carried 6 months a year. Maintaining a constant temperature and prolonged daylight can extend this period. up to 9 months.

To receive fertilized eggs, it is necessary to maintain a family consisting of 4 females and 1 male. The selection of material for laying in the incubator is one of the main steps. Preparing for it is to strengthen the feeding of females, which must begin in 3 weeks.

Their diet should consist of mash with the addition of meat waste, finely chopped fish, cottage cheese. Blend should be mixed with sour milk or whey.

Here are the eggs you need to select for the bookmark:

• the correct form;
• with a clean shell;
• smooth;
• intact;
• average weight;
• without marble coloring.

Dirty eggs are unsuitable for incubation, since the dirt will destroy the shell and clog pores, which will interfere with normal breathing and the development of chicks. Uneven, rough material can give weak, unviable young growth. Too small eggs will result in low hatchability, too large - to the appearance of chicks with deviations. Marble eggs of posterity will not give at all.

Below are recommendations on the required mass of the selected incubation material for breeding guinea fowl with different goals:

• for reproduction of birds - 38-50 g;
• for eggs for food and young for meat - 36-52 g.

Duration of collection - a week. Optimal collection time - until 6 pm You can make a fence every 2-3 hours. In this case, you must follow some rules:

1. Every time, before picking up the incubation material from the nests, it is important to wash your hands.
2. Eggs need to be taken with two fingers at opposite ends.

Material storage should be carried out in a room where the light does not penetrate, with a temperature of +10 ° C and a humidity level not higher than 80%, with a blunt end to the top no longer than 8 days.

Egg laying

The temperature in the room in which the incubator operates should not exceed +18 ° C. The incubation material, several hours before the bookmark, is entered into this room for adaptation and warming up to room temperature. It is also desirable to process the shell with a quartz lamp for 5 minutes with either an iodine or manganese solution. This will allow it to be sanitized. Its integrity is checked with an ovoscope.

When ovoskopirovaniya egg should look like this:

• uniform shell, without bulges, seals, thinning;
• well visible airbag placed at the blunt end;
• the yolk resides in the center or slightly closer to the blunt end;
• when turning, the yolk reacts slowly.

The incubator warms up to a temperature of +38 ° C several days before the bookmark, and is also disinfected. At the same time you need to check whether it works correctly. In the incubation apparatus, the eggs are loaded horizontally in an incubator with a manual overturn, and with a blunt end upwards - in an apparatus with an automatic overturn. If you have to carry out a coup manually, the shell from different sides should be marked for better orientation.

Incubation Mode Table

Guinea fowls require a certain mode of incubation. Their embryos are quite demanding on the parameters inside the incubator and sharply react to their violations.

In order to carry out the successful withdrawal of hens in the incubator, use the following table of the recommended incubation mode:

With a manual egg turning system, it should be turned 5-6 times a day. At the same time it is necessary to observe silence, to avoid beats and sharp sounds.

Verification and control of germ development

For the entire time of incubation, verification and control over the development of the guinea fowl germ should be carried out at least 4 times.

It is important to remove an unusable egg with a frozen embryo in time to prevent the development of rotting, cracking of the shell and release of the infected mass to the outside.

The first time after laying the check is carried out on the 8th day - it is then that the first period of the embryo development ends. With the help of an ovoskop, defects of the shell, changes in the air chamber, the state of the yolk, the presence of blood clots or other foreign inclusions will be noticeable.

If during the first ovoscopic examination no changes are detected, then most likely fertilization did not take place - it is better to remove such eggs in time from the incubator.

At the first translucence after a bookmark, it is necessary to evaluate the development of the blood system of the embryo.

The egg should look like this:

• clearly visible blood vessels approaching the sharp end;
• the embryo is not visible;
• the egg is translucent pink.

In a satisfactory condition, the vessels are viewed not too well, slightly penetrating the middle of the shell. With this condition, there is a chance that the fetus will still return to normal.

Finding the embryo close to the shell indicates its poor development. The egg at the same time will have a pale color, and the vessels are practically not visible and absent in the sharp part.

The second ovoskopirovaniya after laying in the cesarok spend on the 15th day, after the completion of the second stage of development. Discard material where blood spots are visible on an orange background.

The third control using ovoskop carried out after 24 days. At this time, it is clearly seen where the embryo froze, and where it continues to develop successfully. All eggs with dead embryos are removed from the incubator. After the first spit, the eggs should be sprayed with water from a spray bottle to increase the humidity.

When to expect young

Of course, you are interested in the question of how many days the guinea fowl are hatching in the incubator - if the correct mode is observed, they should appear on the 27-28th day.

A good performance is considered if the czar is no less than 60%. The biggest indicator will be 75%. After hatching, the chicks are kept in the incubator for some time to dry out. Then they are placed in trays specifically designed for young animals.

Beginner's mistakes

The most frequent mistakes of newcomers in the incubation of birds at home are:

1. Incorrect temperature determination due to the location of the thermometer is not in the right place - it must be on a level with the eggs.
2. Overheating eggs, due to which the underdeveloped chicks may hatch ahead of time.
3. Underheated incubation material, which affects late brood and the birth of chicks with anomalies, or a decrease in the percentage of hatching.
4. Lack of moisture. Guinea fowl are very fond of humidity, so this indicator should be closely monitored. If necessary, trays with water should be delivered to the incubator and spray incubated material.
5. Long gaps between egg turningwhich leads to the fact that the embryo dries to the shell.

As you can see, the withdrawal of the chick in the incubator is not a particular hassle. The main thing is to maintain temperature and humidity levels clearly, have good access to air and follow the recommendations for the regime at each of the 4 stages of hatching.