How profitable is the cultivation of guinea fowls as a business

Guinea fowls, close relatives of poultry were once very popular. They were served at the royal table and bred just for decorative purposes. Now they are again gaining popularity thanks to their dietary meat and eggs. Breeding guinea fowls as a business is gaining momentum among farmers, as poultry is very unpretentious in terms of feed and living conditions, unlike turkeys and gives better eggs than domestic chicken.

Breeding guinea fowls

Guinea fowl are also called royal or pearl barley chickens. All because of their unusual appearance. The body of the bird has an elongated oval shape. The head is small with growths and earrings on it. Guinea fowl wings are very strong. Thanks to them, they can cover distances of more than 10 meters at a time. For this reason, pens are built with a mesh roof or trimmed feathers on the wings to avoid escape.

Over the past 50 years, a huge number of guinea fowl breeds that differ in body weight and color have been bred. Mostly individuals of the natural wild color prevail – gray with white dots at the end of the feather. The highest egg production is observed in white and light gray representatives.

A distinctive feature of pearl barley is that they are slightly susceptible to many diseases of poultry.Unlike turkeys, they do not need to be drunk with antibiotics and immunostimulants from the first days of life, which significantly reduces the cost of growing and improves the quality of meat and egg products.

There are also no special requirements for the content of guinea fowls. They can easily tolerate severe frosts and heat, but do not like dampness and drafts. It is for this reason that the shed for keeping guinea fowls should have a dressing room, well-insulated floors and

It is best to keep birds in an aviary. This way you can significantly reduce feed costs. In addition to pasture, steamed compound feeds and vegetable waste are given in the morning before walking and at night. You should not give guinea fowls sour and moldy food, otherwise the birds may die. He also copes with pests of crops. For eating insects, chicks begin to prepare from a month old. First, chopped insects are introduced into the feed, and then they are given whole. Unlike chicken, guinea fowls carefully collect Colorado beetles and slugs from plants and do not rake the beds in paws.

Benefits of breeding guinea fowls as a business

In order to figure out whether it is profitable to breed guinea fowls in the role of business, you need to know the good and bad sides of their maintenance, feeding and reproduction. The advantages of breeding pearl barley are:

1. Lack of competition in the market.Due to the fact that guinea fowls are not so common on farmland, it will not be so difficult to find a market.
2. The high cost of production. Due to the fact that guinea fowl meat is high in protein, it is very nutritious. It is also worth noting that the fat content in the carcass does not exceed 1%, which means that this dietary product can be used in the diet of young children, diabetics and people who monitor their health and weight.
3. Eggs must be stored for a long time without damage to their qualities. Guinea fowl eggs are stored at room temperature for 150 days, and this does not worsen their condition. Also, due to the dense shell, it becomes impossible to infect the contents of the egg with salmonellosis.
4. Birds are not picky about the diet and can eat pasture. To significantly reduce feed costs, it is recommended to give guinea fowls free walking or to plant an aviary with annual herbs.
5. Guinea fowl have no predisposition to other diseases, unlike other poultry, so they can be kept with other birds in one indoors or paddock. There is also no need to spend money on antibiotics and probiotics for chicks.
6. Birds are not aggressive, which also simplifies their maintenance with other species. In the event of aggression by other representatives of the birds, they can fight back.
7. They tolerate summer heat and winter frosts well.They can be released on a walk even in winter, which breeders of turkeys, ducks, and indolets cannot afford.
8. Guinea fowl has a good increase in body weight with a minimum amount of feed. Females and males are ready for slaughter for 4-6 months already.
9. Subject to the presence of lighting in the shed, the period of egg laying may last for a month. For this, evenings in the barn include a lamp for 3-4 hours.
10. You can use fluff and feather for making pillows, feather-beds and other downy products.

If you have a business – taking all these points into account, breeding guinea fowl is a pretty profitable business. Since the consumer market is not overfilled with meat and egg products of guinea fowls, it will not be difficult to find consumers. It is also worth noting that you can establish a business even with a minimum starting capital. The main thing is to get healthy young animals.

Disadvantages of the guinea fowl breeding business

Birds are very susceptible to stress

Despite the fact that the business built on breeding guinea fowl is quite profitable, there are also drawbacks to it. The main thing is the psychological instability of birds.

Due to stress, the egg production of females can significantly decrease. The reason may be the appearance of an outsider of a person, an animal, or simply thunder.Since pearl barley chickens are very shy, then natural hatching is not suitable for them. Frightened, the female throws the clutch. To increase the number of livestock, you have to use incubators.

Also, the non-marketed appearance of carcasses can be attributed to the disadvantages. Due to the lack of subcutaneous fat and the increased content of hemoglobin in the muscles, the carcasses look bluish. Color is normalized by heat treatment.

Business Features

Like any farm, a guinea fowl breeding business needs to be registered. There are three options:

1. SP – individual entrepreneur. Suitable for people who will be single-handedly engaged in doing business. 6% is deducted from the revenue to the treasury.
2. LPH is a private subsidiary farm. The option is great for small farms whose products are used for personal purposes, and surpluses are sold. In this case, the sale of products is possible only to individuals. For registration, you do not need any documents other than papers confirming ownership of the land.
3. OJSC (open joint-stock company) or LLC (limited liability company). Option for large farming enterprises (one thousand livestock and more), where the owners are two or more people. To register, you will need to collect a large number of securities and registered capital.

Registration of all documents for opening a business will take time and money. Also, do not do without the approval of the SES.To do this, the place for keeping guinea fowls must comply with sanitary standards. This also applies to feed and water. Poultry products must pass quality and sanitary checks. You will also need a business plan that will help to adjust costs.

Purchase of guinea fowls for starting a business

In order for the farm to bring good income, you need to take care of the quality of the young stock or eggs for incubation. This has its difficulties. If it is planned to breed chicks using an incubator, then when buying eggs it is impossible to determine the percentage of females and males in the brood. Their population will have to be regulated after hatching. There should be no more than five females per male.

It is worth paying attention to the appearance of the eggs. Do not take in breeding eggs with a double yolk, weight less than 39 grams, contamination or deviations from the shape of the shell. Chicks hatching from such eggs can be sick and non-viable.

At what age to buy chicks

Young animals are most often bought at the age of 24 hours. There may be problems transporting the chicks. Therefore, it is better to choose breeders who are as close as possible to their farm. It is profitable to buy livestock on private farms.

The cost of one chick ranges from 150 to 200 rubles, and an adult is not less than 2000. Layers will cost more – about 2500-2700 rubles. When buying, you need to know that the females retain their egg production for up to two years, and then these indicators decrease.If the starting capital is small and every ruble counts, then it is worth stopping at the purchase of eggs. One egg will cost 90-110 rubles.