Tropical Animal Health and Production (2021) 53: 89
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-020-02510-4
REGULAR ARTICLES
Comparison of early growth and survivability in indigenous guinea
fowls from Northern Ghana
Kurukulasuriya Mariesta Jayaroshini Ahiagbe1 & Esinam Nancy Amuzu-Aweh2 & Patrick Bonney1 &
John Kormla Nyameasem1 & Franklin Kodzo Avornyo1 & Christopher Adenyo3 & Kwame Owusu Amoah1 &
Augustine Naazie2 & Boniface Baboreka Kayang2
Received: 24 July 2020 /Accepted: 3 December 2020 /Published online: 7 January 2021
# The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. part of Springer Nature 2021
Abstract
Three guinea fowl populations from Northern Ghana were compared in terms of their body weight, growth rates, and surviv-
ability during the first 11 weeks of life. Keets (n = 865) were hatched from eggs collected from 32 sampling areas divided into
eleven subpopulations within three populations in Northern Ghana. Together with an experimental flock maintained at Animal
Research Institute (ARI flock), these birds were raised and appraised for weekly body weights, weekly growth rates, and
survivability. Weekly body weights did not differ significantly (p > 0.05) among the three populations, although ARI flock were
significantly heavier (p ˂ 0.05) compared to the main populations until the fourth week. In contrast, among the subpopulations,
significant differences emerged in body weights from the second week and were more pronounced from the sixth week. Growth
rates measured as weekly weight gains also differed significantly among subpopulations beyond the second week, although
differences in growth rates were not significantly different among whole populations. The mean values for total feed intake, daily
feed intake, and feed conversion ratio (FCR) did not vary significantly (p > 0.05) between the populations. Therefore, although
the variations in body weight and growth rates were limited among the populations, there existed significant variations among
subpopulations, creating opportunities to establish genetically divergent populations for growth rate and to improve early growth
rates and body weights in local guinea fowls by selection. High survivability observed in the ARI flock compared to keets from
the three populations of Northern Ghana was likely due to good breeder stock management practices despite their common
ancestry.
Keywords Bodyweight . Growth rate . Guinea fowls . Survivability . Northern Ghana
Introduction during colonization, guinea fowl production has been im-
proved to large-scale commercial operations in some
The helmeted guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) is one of the European countries and the USA (Nahashon et al. 2006) with
important animal genetic resources of the African continent. It integrated improvements in nutrition and husbandry coupled
is thought to have originated from the Coast of Guinea with genetic improvement by selective breeding.
(Newbold 1926), an area that spans the coastal zone of They are raised mainly under semi-intensive or extensive
present-day West Africa. Since its introduction to Europe system with minimal farm inputs in many African countries
including Botswana (Moreki and Seabo 2012), Benin
(Dahouda et al. 2007), Nigeria (Ogah 2013), Zimbabwe
(Kusina et al. 2012), Ghana (Avornyo et al. 2016), and others
* Boniface Baboreka Kayang
bbkayang@ug.edu.gh (Moreki and Radikara 2013). In Ghana, guinea fowl is the
most common poultry species in the northern part of the coun-
1 Animal Research Institute, Council for Scientific and Industrial try (Agbolosu et al. 2012a), where almost every rural house-
Research, P.O. Box AH 20, Achimota, Accra, Ghana hold keeps a few birds in their backyard (Dei and Karbo
2 Department of Animal Science, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana 2004). While meat and eggs from guinea fowls provide pro-
3 Livestock and Poultry Research Centre, University of Ghana, tein in the rural diet, income from guinea fowl production
Legon, Ghana helps the inhabitants to meet their daily needs, often providing
89 Page 2 of 17 Trop Anim Health Prod (2021) 53: 89
direct investments for crop farming (Avornyo et al. 2016; of this less well studied but important animal genetic resource
Issaka and Yeboah 2016). in Africa and the world at large.
The majority of the guinea fowl farmers (98%) in Northern
Ghana (NG) depend solely on local varieties of guinea fowls
and rearing specialized exotic breeds improved for meat is Materials and methods
negligible (FAO 2014; Avornyo et al. 2016). However, these
rich genetic resources are not well characterized. Published Source of experimental animals
literature on important production characteristics including
body weight, growth rate, and disease resistance of local Eggs from laying helmeted guinea fowls (Numida meleagris)
Ghanaian guinea fowl varieties is scanty. There have been were collected from 32 selected guinea fowl growing areas
no reports on breeding programs for genetic improvement of from three main populations of Northern Ghana (TPNG).
these varieties or phenotypic recording schemes to facilitate The three main populations of Northern Ghana included guin-
initiation of long-term breeding programs for local guinea ea fowl populations from the Upper East Region (UER;
fowls. However, available evidence suggests the existence Fig. 1), Former Northern Region (FNR; Fig. 2), and Upper
of diversity among the local varieties kept by local farmers West Region (UWR; Fig. 3). After the completion of this
in NG (Kayang et al. 2010) providing opportunities for future study, FNR was split into three administrative regions namely
breeding programs. Agbolosu et al. (2012b) observed signif- North East Region, Northern Region, and Savannah Region.
icant differences in body weights of local guinea fowls origi- Therefore, it is important to note that FNR currently includes
nating from the Upper West Region, Upper East Region, and three regions. Additionally, eggs from a breeder flock main-
Northern Region (former) of Ghana during the eighth to eigh- tained at the Animal Research Institute of the Council for
teenth weeks growth period. Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-ARI) were also col-
Most long-term breeding programs aiming at selecting di- lected. The breeder flock at CSIR-ARI was from keets
vergent lines for faster growth in chicken have used body hatched from eggs collected a year earlier from the same sam-
weights and growth rates during the juvenile stage with body ple locations of UER, FNR, and UWR.
weight at the eighth week being the most commonly used Each of the TPNG was divided into three or four
selection criterion (Flisar et al. 2014). Despite the importance subpopulations based on their origin to compare guinea
of body weight and growth rate data during juvenile growth fowl populations within the main populations for the
phase in poultry for selective breeding for faster growth, there purpose of this study. The UER subpopulations were
is still a paucity of published literature on body weight traits, E1, E2, E3, and E4, the FNR subpopulations were
growth rate traits, and their variations among the local guinea N1, N2, N3, and N4, and the UWR subpopulations
fowl populations of NG during the brooding period that in- we r e W1 , W2 , and W3 (F ig s . 1 , 2 , and 3 ,
clude the first 8 weeks of the production cycle. respectively). After collection and assembly, eggs were
Although growth remains a priority trait in poultry airlifted from a central location in the capital (Tamale)
breeding in all economic species, other characteristics of the FNR to CSIR-ARI, Accra. Eggs were handled
pertaining to fertility and survivability should not be according to standard procedures of handling breeding
overlooked during breed improvement (ALBC 2007). eggs from the collection of eggs at sampling locations
While high survivability is an important production trait until incubation.
to be improved or maintained when aiming for genetic
gains in growth rate, it is even more important for Animals
breeds meant for dissemination to resource poor poultry
farmers with limited access to veterinary care as those In total, 865-day-old keets from the four main study popula-
in the northern part of Ghana. tions including UER (n = 250), FNR (n = 242), UWR (n =
Therefore, this study sought to characterize and compare 322), and the experimental breeder stock maintained at
three main guinea fowl populations from the Upper East CSIR-ARI (n = 51) were used for the study. Day-old keets
Region (UER), Former Northern Region (FNR, which now from each population were randomly assigned in replicates
includes Northern, North East, and Savannah Regions), and of 40–50 birds with nearly an equal number of keets from a
Upper West Region (UWR) in terms of their body weight, subpopulation represented in all replicates for a given main
growth rate, and survivability during the early growth period. population. Therefore, both UER and FNR had six replicates
The study also compared the subpopulations of local guinea each, while UWR had eight replicates. The population from
fowls raised within these three populations for the same quan- CSIR-ARI (ARI flock; ARI population) was included in one
titative traits. Such information would be of immense impor- replicate of the total 21 replicates. All keets were individually
tance for researchers who plan to design and implement sus- tagged within the first 24 h after hatching with caution to
tainable breeding programs to facilitate sustainable utilization minimize stress and trauma during handling.
Trop Anim Health Prod (2021) 53: 89 Page 3 of 17 89
Fig. 1 Sampling areas in the Upper East Region
Fig. 2 Sampling areas in the Former Northern Region
89 Page 4 of 17 Trop Anim Health Prod (2021) 53: 89
Fig. 3 Sampling areas in the Upper West Region
Management of experimental animals (n = 51) populations had 2, 4, 4, and 3 replicates, re-
spectively. Each replicate was housed in a compartment
Keets belonging to all replicates were raised at the at a stocking density of twenty growers per square me-
brooder house of the Guinea fowl Resource Centre, ter. From 8 to 12 weeks, the birds were fed with a
Animal Research Institute, Accra, Ghana. Replicates formulated grower diet with 16.37% CP and 11.23 MJ
were housed within compartments each measuring ME/kg (Table 1). Feed and water were available ad
1 m × 1.5 m × 2.5 m for length, breadth, and height, libitum. A prophylactic health management plan for
respectively. The brooder pens were preheated 24 h be- raising growers was followed ensuring biosafety during
fore receiving the keets. Keets were then brooded with daily operations. In the 12th week, guinea fowl growers
provision of artificial light and heat tightly regulating were distributed to guinea fowl farmers as per the re-
the temperatures at 35 °C, 33 °C, 31 °C, and 29 °C quirements of the associated research and development
from the first to the fourth week, respectively, with the project.
help of gas brooders. Beyond the fourth week, internal
temperature of the brooder house was maintained at Data collection
29 °C up to the eighth week. Best practices for prepar-
ing the brooder house and biosafety during daily Body weight of each bird was recorded using an elec-
operations were adhered to according to procedures of tronic balance at week 1 (BW1), week 2 (BW2), week
Ahiagbe et al. (2016) during the entire brooding period 3 (BW3), week 4 (BW4), week 6 (BW6), week 7
of 8 weeks. A vaccination schedule was followed ac- (BW7), week 9 (BW9), and week 11 (BW11). Weight
cording to recommendations by Ahiagbe et al. (2016). gain per week was used as an indicator of growth rate
From day one up to 8 weeks, keets were fed with a for selected time intervals. Recorded body weights were
formulated diet containing 24% crude protein (CP) and used to determine growth rates (Formula 1) between
12.5 MJ metabolizable energy (ME)/kg (Table 1). Feed weeks 1 and 2 (GR1), weeks 2 and 3 (GR2), weeks 3
and water were available ad libitum. and 4 (GR3), weeks 4 and 6 (GR4), weeks 6 and 7
At 8 weeks, surviving birds (n = 222) were trans- (GR5), weeks 7 and 9 (GR6), weeks 9 and 11 (GR7),
ferred to a deep litter house, where they were randomly and the overall growth rate between weeks 1 and 11
reassigned to replicates consisting of 15–18 birds. In all, (GRO). The body weights in between the specified
UER (n = 34), NR (n = 64), UWR (n = 73), and ARI weeks could not be measured due to unavailability of
Trop Anim Health Prod (2021) 53: 89 Page 5 of 17 89
Table 1 Composition of diets fed
to guinea fowls at different stages Ingredients (%) 0–8 weeks 9–12 weeks Guinea fowl breeders
of growth
Maize 62.30 55.00 60.00
Soybean meal 21.00 15.00 17.70
Wheat bran – 14.00 5.00
Di-calcium phosphate 0.70 0.90 0.90
Limestone 0.90 2.00 8.40
Salt (NaCl) 0.15 0.20 0.25
Lysine 0.15 0.20 0.20
Methionine 0.15 0.10 0.10
Fishmeal 13.20 1.00 3.00
Vitamin and mineral premix* 0.25 0.25 0.25
Palm oil 1.20 1.35 2.20
Palm Kernel Cake (PKC) – 10.00 2.00
Total 100 100 100
Calculated composition
Metabolizable energy (MJ/kg) 12.50 11.23 11.60
Crude protein (%) 24.00 16.37 16.92
Lysine (%) 1.39 0.80 0.92
Methionine (%) 0.57 0.30 0.35
Crude fiber (%) 2.42 4.54 2.82
Crude fat (%) 3.70 5.02 5.29
Calcium (%) 1.31 1.06 3.40
Available phosphorus (%) 0.47 0.37 0.36
**P:E 19.20 14.58 14.59
*Vitamin and mineral premix per 100-kg diet: vitamins, vitamin A (8 × 105 IU); vitamin D3 (1.5 × 104 IU);
vitamin E (250 mg); vitamin K (100 mg); vitamin B2 (2 × 102 mg); vitamin B12 (0.5 mg); folic acid (50 mg);
nicotinic acid (8 × 102 mg); calcium pantothenate (200 mg); choline (5 × 103 mg); trace elements, Mg (5 × 103
mg); Zn (4 × 103 mg); Cu (4.5 × 102 mg); Co (10 mg); I (100 mg); Se (10 mg); antioxidants, butylated hydroxy-
toluene (1 × 103 mg). Carrier: calcium carbonate qsp (0.25 kg)
**P:E, protein:energy (g protein/MJ ME)
electricity at the experimental pens on those days. Feed Data analysis
intake per replicate was recorded daily and was used to
calculate mean feed intake for the entire study period Data collected were entered intoMicrosoft Excel spreadsheets
per population. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was calcu- and validated. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed
lated using Formula 2. Mortalities were recorded daily for weekly body weights and growth rates at specified time
and used to calculate percentage mortalities per week intervals using the generalized linear model below.
according to Yassin et al. (2009) using Formula 3.
Y ijk ¼ μþ Pi þ S j þ eijk
Growth rate measured as weekly weight gain
where, Yijk is the given dependable variable, μ is the overall
¼ Final weight–Initial weight ð1Þ mean, Pi is the effect of ith sample population, Sj is the effect
Time interval ðweeksÞ of jth subpopulation, and eijk is the random error. The traits
Feed conversion ratio ðFCRÞ used as dependable variables included the body weights mea-
sured at first, second, third, fourth, sixth, seventh, ninth, and
¼ Total feed consumed per bird ð2Þ eleventh weeks, growth rates measured at specific weekly
Total weight gain per bird intervals of 1–2, 2–3, 3–4, 4–6, 6–7, and 9–11, and the overall
Percentage mortality at week N growth rate. Least square means (LSM) and standard error
  (SE) were calculated. Multiple pairwise comparisons were
¼ No:of mortalities during week N 100 ð3Þ done using Tukey’s method. All statistical analysis was per-
No:of keets at day 1 formed using R Version 0.99.489 (R Core Team 2016).
89 Page 6 of 17 Trop Anim Health Prod (2021) 53: 89
Results Growth curves of guinea fowls from three
populations of Northern Ghana and their
Body weight traits subpopulations
The mean body weights of the four main guinea fowl The growth curves for guinea fowls from TPNG and CSIR-
populations consisting of the TPNG and ARI flock mea- ARI from week one to week eleven are given in Fig. 4.
sured at various ages during their early growth perfor- Growth curves for the guinea fowls from all the eleven sub-
mance appraisal are presented in Table 2. Body weights populations are compared in Fig. 5 while growth curves for
at week one did not vary significantly (p > 0.05) among each of the subpopulations in UER, FNR, and UWR with
the TPNG. However, all TPNG differed significantly CSIR-ARI flock are presented for comparisons within the
from the offspring of the experimental breeder flock of main populations in Figs. 6, 7, and 8 respectively.
CSIR-ARI at week one. At week two, the mean body
weights between Upper East and ARI flocks were com- Growth rates
parable but differed from the other populations. The
differences in body weights by population were not sta- Mean growth rates among the TPNG together with the exper-
tistically significant (p > 0.05) beyond the sixth week. imental flock at CSIR-ARI are given in Table 4. Growth rates
Table 3 shows the weekly mean body weights of between the first and second week did not differ significantly
keets from the different subpopulations within each of (p > 0.05). Variation in growth rate was significant (p < 0.05)
TPNG. The mean body weights at week one were not between some main populations during the period between
different when compared among the subpopulations weeks 2 and 4. Beyond the sixth week, growth rates did not
within TPNG but with some subpopulations significant- differ among guinea fowls from the three main populations
ly differing from that of the ARI flock (p ˂ 0.05). and CSIR-ARI flock.
Contrary to the TPNG, body weights of birds of sub- However, the variation in growth rates within the subpop-
populations differed significantly beyond the sixth week ulations was significant (p < 0.05) beyond the second week
with subpopulations demonstrating more pronounced ef- (Table 5). Between the first and second week, birds from the
fects on body weights (p ˂ 0.01) beyond 6 weeks. All subpopulations grew at similar rates. Performance of local
keets in subpopulation E1 of the UER died in the first guinea fowls from subpopulations within the main popula-
week and so there was no data for that subpopulation. tions was different in terms of their overall growth rate.
Table 2 Mean body weights (g) of local guinea fowls from three populations of Northern Ghana and ARI flock at various ages
Trait UER FNR UWR CSIR-ARI
BW1 LS mean 37.40b ± 1.61(131)§ 34.89b ± 1.43(165) 35.09b ± 1.23(223) 46.36a ± 2.60(50)
Range 34.24–40.56 32.07–37.70 32.67–37.52 41.25–51.48
BW2 LS mean 46.92a ± 0.89(111) 43.39b ± 0.81(135) 43.05b ± 0.69(184) 47.98a ± 1.34(49)
Range 45.17–48.67 41.80–44.97 41.69–44.41 45.35–50.61
BW3 LS mean 64.95a ± 1.82(84) 62.57ab ± 1.57 (114) 58.25b ± 1.34(155) 63.23ab ± 2.41(49)
Range 61.36–68.54 59.49–65.65 55.61–60.90 58.48–67.98
BW4 LS mean 81.84ab ± 3.05 (66) 78.76ab ± 2.44 (103) 72.76b ± 2.12(137) 84.41a ± 3.57(49)
Range 75.85–87.83 73.97–83.56 68.60–76.92 77.38–91.44
BW6NS LS mean 134.16 ± 6.99 (49) 128.85 ± 5.34 (84) 127.81 ± 4.85 (102) 140.23 ± 7.22 (48)
Range 120.39–147.93 118.33–139.37 118.26–137.36 126.01–154.44
BW7NS LS mean 181.38 ± 10.18 (42) 180.59 ± 7.78 (72) 174.59 ± 7.33 (81) 191.65 ± 9.84 (47)
Range 161.31–201.44 165.27–195.92 160.14–189.04 172.27–211.04
BW9NS LS mean 270.66 ± 15.38 (34) 257.56 ± 11.21 (64) 262.96 ± 10.29 (73) 288.03 ± 13.52 (46)
Range 240.33–300.98 235.46–279.66 242.68–283.24 261.37–314.68
BW11NS LS mean 369.05 ± 19.44 (33) 353.52 ± 14.07 (63) 367.39 ± 13.65 (67) 384.09 ± 16.84 (46)
Range 330.71–407.39 325.77–381.27 340.48–394.30 350.89–417.29
BWn, body weight at week n, n = 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11. Means of populations within a row with different superscripts differ significantly (p < 0.05)
NSComparisons among the means of populations are not statistically significant at 95% confidence level
§ Numbers within parenthesis represent the number of observations
Trop Anim Health Prod (2021) 53: 89 Page 7 of 17 89
Table 3 Comparison of mean body weights (g) of local guinea fowls at different ages by subpopulations in the TPNG and ARI flock
Subpopulation/ BW1 BW2 BW3 BW4 BW6 BW7 BW9 BW11
population
E2 38.00ab ± 1.94 47.56a ± 1.06 67.42a ± 2.26 85.53ab ± 3.86 136.29c ± 9.41 185.15b ± 14.73 266.71c ± 24.31 341.53b ± 31.63b
(91)§ (77) (53) (38) (23) (17) (12) (11)
E3 36.52ab ± 8.28 52.47ab ± 5.37 80.33ab ± 9.49 110.20ab ± 23.82 180.80abc ± 45.15 294.90ab ± 60.74 386.40abc ± 84.22 459.60ab ± 104.91
(5) (3) (3) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)
E4 35.96ab ± 3.13 44.79ab ± 1.67 58.63ab ± 3.11 75.59b ± 4.58 130.34c ± 9.03 173.98b ± 12.40 267.40abc ± 18.38 379.15b ± 22.89
(35) (31) (28) (27) (25) (24) (21) (21)
N1 34.28b ± 2.57 40.80b ± 1.55 57.88ab ± 3.11 67.03b ± 4.58 106.19c ± 9.85 157.13b ± 16.23 230.04ac ± 22.51 323.15b ± 28.04
(52) (36) (28) (27) (21) (14) (14) (14)
N2 34.79b ± 2.35 44.56ab ± 1.25 61.56ab ± 2.32 76.53b ± 3.59 114.52c ± 7.52 156.20b ± 10.27 240.02ac ± 14.89 333.34b ± 18.84
(62) (55) (50) (44) (36) (35) (32) (31)
N3 35.63ab ± 3.50 41.74ab ± 1.86 62.32ab ± 3.59 80.55b ± 5.46 133.24bc ± 11.66 189.34b ± 17.53 253.99ac ± 25.39 329.97b ± 31.63
(28) (25) (21) (19) (15) (12) (11) (11)
N4 35.61ab ± 3.86 47.08ab ± 2 .13 74.83a ± 4.24 108.11a ± 6.61 206.03a ± 13.03 278.50a ± 18.31 398.41a ± 31.83 540.63a ± 39.65
(23) (19) (15) (13) (12) (11) (7) (7)
W1 36.12ab ± 1.95 44.11ab ± 1.08 58.29b ± 2.10 72.84b ± 3.18 129.16c ± 6.81 173.87b ± 9.60 266.52ac ± 14.66 368.56b ± 20.19
(90) (74) (61) (56) (44) (40) (33) (27)
W2 36.38ab ± 4.14 44.92ab ± 2.26 64.06ab ± 3.99 83.48ab ± 5.96 160.79b ± 12.07 217.46ab ± 16.85 329.29bc ± 24.31 434.95ab ± 30.29
(20) (17) (17) (16) (14) (13) (12) (12)
W3 34.05b ± 1.74 41.87b ± 0.96 56.95b ± 1.87 70.06b ± 2.95 115.97c ± 6.81 155.71b ± 11.48 233.49a ± 15.13 337.31b ± 19.82
(113) (93) (77) (65) (44) (28) (28) (28)
ARI 46.34a ± 2.62 47.98a ± 1.33 63.23ab ± 2.37 84.41ab ± 3.44 140.23c ± 6.66 191.65b ± 9.05 288.03abc ± 12.70 384.09b ± 15.82
(50) (49) (48) (48) (47) (45) (44) (44)
BWn, body weight at week n, n = 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11. E2, E3, E4, subpopulations in the Upper East Region; N1, N2, N3, N4, subpopulations of the former Northern Region;W1,W2,W3, subpopulations
of the Upper West Region. Means of subpopulations within a column with different superscripts differ significantly (p < 0.05)
§ Numbers within parenthesis represent the number of observations.
89 Page 8 of 17 Trop Anim Health Prod (2021) 53: 89
Fig. 4 Growth curves for guinea
fowls from the Upper East,
former Northern, and Upper West
regions and the breeder flock at
CSIR-ARI during the early
growth stage (0–11 weeks)
Feed intake populations and subpopulations excluding the ARI flock. A
summary of percentage mortalities at weekly intervals is pre-
The mean values for total feed intake, daily feed intake, and sented in Table 7. The cumulative mortalities for TPNG
FCR did not vary significantly (p > 0.05) between the main by the eighth week are also given in Table 7 due to
populations (Table 6). Due to the experimental design adopted relatively high rate of mortalities recorded by local
by raising birds of different subpopulations together in a rep- guinea fowl farmers in NG during the first 8 weeks of
licate, to avoid experimental bias originating from lower num- rearing. The survivability plots for TPNG, CSIR-ARI
bers of birds in some subpopulations, feed intake was not flock, and subpopulations, CSIR-ARI flock are present-
measured per subpopulation. ed in Figs. 9 and 10 respectively.
Survivability
Discussion
The highest mortalities were reported during the first week
post-hatch accounting for more than 50% of total mortalities Due to the importance of carcass weight at the end of the
observed during the study period for each of the main production cycle, body weights are important quantitative
Fig. 5 Growth curves for guinea
fowls from designated
subpopulations within the Upper
East, former Northern, and Upper
West regions and ARI flock
during the early growth stage (0–
11 weeks)
Trop Anim Health Prod (2021) 53: 89 Page 9 of 17 89
Fig. 6 Growth curves for guinea
fowls from subpopulations within
the Upper East Region and CSIR-
ARI flock
traits for poultry farmers. Although guinea fowls have been including maternal diet, length of pre-incubation egg storage,
improved for faster growth and higher carcass weight in and age of breeders have been reported to influence hatch
France, Belgium, and the USA and growth characteristics weight and by extension body weights within the first week
are available for some of such breeds in literature (Nahashon of age (Decuypere and Bruggeman 2007). Nahashon et al.
et al. 2006), there is limited literature on factors influencing (2007) compared laying performance of guinea fowl breeders
body weight and early growth in guinea fowls. Most of our fed with diets containing varying levels of metabolizable en-
current understanding on factors affecting body weight during ergy and crude protein and recorded the best hatch weight in
early growth stage in poultry comes from the experiments offspring from guinea hens fed with a diet including 24% and
involving broiler chicken breeds. 21% crude protein between 0 and 8weeks and 9 and 16weeks,
Body weight traits in broilers have been reported to be respectively, during the growth of breeders. This provides
influenced by factors that have permanent or long-term influ- strong evidence for major influence of maternal diet on hatch
ence on growth such as genetic makeup of juveniles and man- weight, hence early post-hatch weight in guinea fowls. Longer
agement practices throughout the growth period (Ayorinde pre-incubation storage of eggs has also been associated with
2007). However, there is also another subset of factors that lower hatch weights (Reis et al. 1997; Tona et al. 2003; Tona
influence body weight traits especially during the post-hatch et al. 2004) and body weight at day seven in broiler chicks
growth which include maternal nutrition, breeder age, pre-in- (Tona et al. 2004).
cubation, and incubation conditions of eggs, the effects of During the current study, week one bodyweights (BW1) of
which subside with advancement in age in broiler chicks local guinea fowls did not vary significantly (p > 0.05), though
(Decuypere and Bruggeman 2007). the Upper East Region recorded the highest BW1 among the
The growth rate during the first week is usually slow due to TPNG. Keets from the experimental breeder flock at ARI had
the time taken by the chicks to increase digestive enzyme significantly heavier BW1 than keets from the TPNG.
activity, feed utilization, and acclimatization to life outside Although all the four populations were raised under identical
the egg. Therefore, body weight of chicks within the first management conditions after hatch, fed with a similar diet, the
week is largely a function of hatch weight. Several factors influence of the maternal diet on body weight within the first
Fig. 7 Growth curves for guinea
fowls from subpopulations within
the former Northern Region and
CSIR-ARI flock
89 Page 10 of 17 Trop Anim Health Prod (2021) 53: 89
Fig. 8 Growth curves for guinea
fowls from subpopulations within
the Upper West Region and
CSIR-ARI flock
week cannot be overlooked. According to Avornyo et al. contributing factor for significantly higher BW1 in the
(2014), the practice of maintaining a separate breeder stock CSIR-ARI population.
is non-existent in production systems prevailing in Northern Although eggs laid within the last 24 h were requested from
Ghana. Therefore, breeder hens are left to scavenge with lim- farmers during egg collection in the current study, the exact age
ited supplementary feed that included maize or millet of eggs could be longer due to poor record keeping. Older but
(Avornyo et al. 2016). The experimental flock at CSIR-ARI fertile layers are reported to lay heavier eggs reflected in higher
represents the offspring from a base population originally hatch weights of their offspring compared to younger layers of
from the same sample locations of NG a year earlier. the broiler lines (Tona et al. 2003; Tona et al. 2004). Ages of the
However, the parents were raised under best management layers in the TPNGwere not available due to poor record keep-
practices recommended for raising breeders and providedwith ing by the farmers. Therefore, better maternal nutrition and
a formulated breeder diet according to Ahiagbe et al. (2016). shorter pre-incubation storage might be among the main con-
Therefore, difference in maternal diet might be a major tributing factors for observed higher BW1 in ARI flock.
Table 4 Comparison of growth
rates (g/week) of guinea fowls Trait UER FNR UWR CSIR-ARI
from three populations of
GR1NSNorthern Ghana and the LS mean 8.40 ± 1.86 7.41 ± 1.68 6.73 ± 1.44 1.19 ± 2.80
experimental flock at CSIR-ARI Range 4.75–12.05 4.10–10.72 3.90–9.56 −4.30 - 6.68
GR2*** LS mean 16.53ab ± 1.16 17.67a ± 0.99 13.62b ± 0.86 15.09ab ± 1.54
Range 14.24–18.82 15.70–19.63 11.93–15.30 12.06–18.12
GR3** LS mean 16.15ab ± 1.55 14.71b ± 1.23 13.60 b ± 1.08 21.18a ± 1.82
Range 13.10–19.19 12.27–17.14 11.48–15.72 17.61–24.75
GR4NS LS mean 25.07 ± 2.08 23.84 ± 1.59 25.22 ± 1.44 27.45 ± 2.15
Range 20.97–29.17 20.70–26.97 22.38–28.06 23.22–31.68
GR5NS LS mean 46.63 ± 3.84 49.55 ± 2.93 40.73 ± 2.76 49.73 ± 3.71
Range 39.07–54.19 43.77–55.32 35.29–46.18 42.43–57.03
GR6NS LS mean 42.65 ± 3.31 43.22 ± 2.39 44.68 ± 2.22 47.47 ± 2.86
Range 36.13–49.17 38.51–47.94 40.29–49.06 41.83–53.12
GR7NS LS mean 49.47 ± 3.32 47.19 ± 2.41 49.27 ± 2.33 48.03 ± 2.88
Range 42.91–56.02 42.45–51.94 44.67–53.87 42.36–53.71
GRO*** LS mean 17.89b ± 1.43 20.92b ± 1.29 18.08b ± 1.11 31.81a ± 2.15
Range 15.08–20.69 18.38–23.46 15.91–20.26 27.60–36.03
GR, growth rate; GR1, GR between weeks 1 and 2; GR2, GR between weeks 2 and 3; GR3, GR between weeks 3
and 4; GR4, GR between weeks 4 and 6; GR5, GR between weeks 6 and 7; GR6, GR between weeks 7 and 9;
GR7,GR betweenweeks 9 and 11; GRO, overall GR between weeks 1 and 11.Means of populations within a row
with different superscripts differ significantly at **p ˂ 0.05, ***p ˂ 0.001
NSDifference of means between the populations are not statistically significant at 95% confidence level
Trop Anim Health Prod (2021) 53: 89 Page 11 of 17 89
Table 5 Growth rates (g/week) of local guinea fowls across the designated subpopulations within three populations of Northern Ghana
Subpopulation/ GR1NS GR2** GR3** GR4** GR5** GR6** GR7** GRO **
population
E2 8.25 ± 2.24 17.49 ab ± 1.44 16.00bc ± 1.97 22.56c ± 2.75 45.88abc ± 5.77 42.30b ± 5.52 38.40b ± 5.55 14.15bc ± 1.63
E3 15.60 ± 11.36 27.87 ab ± 6.06 14.20abc ± 12.15 35.30abc ± 13.20 114.10ab ± 23.79 45.75ab ± 18.30 36.60ab ± 18.41 27.08abc ± 8.25
E4 8.06 ± 3.53 13.49b ± 1.98 16.43bc ± 2.34 26.97bc ± 2.64 44.35bc ± 4.86 42.69b ± 3.99 55.88ab ± 4.02 26.27ae ± 2.57
N1 4.88 ± 3.28 15.39 ab ± 1.98 8.26c ± 2.34 18.58c ± 2.88 49.82abc ± 6.36 41.04b ± 5.08 46.56ab ± 4.92 15.71bce ± 2.38
N2 8.71 ± 2.65 16.19 ab ± 1.48 13.34bc ± 1.83 18.53c ± 2.20 40.06bc ± 4.02 40.86b ± 3.23 45.35b ± 3.31 20.75bcde ± 1.93
N3 5.66 ± 3.93 19.17 ab ± 2.29 16.92abc ± 2.79 24.79bc ± 3.41 55.60abc ± 6.87 35.11b ± 5.52 37.99b ± 5.55 20.06bcde ± 2.86
N4 10.76 ± 4.51 24.77a ± 2.71 29.51a ± 3.37 47.75a ± 3.81 72.79a ± 7.17 70.83a ± 6.92 71.11a ± 6.96 32.41ad ± 3.28
W1 6.79 ± 2.29 12.79 b ± 1.34 13.83bc ± 1.64 25.99bc ± 1.99 42.47bc ± 3.76 44.17b ± 3.18 48.04ab ± 3.54 19.02bce ± 1.66
W2 7.32 ± 4.77 19.15ab ± 2.54 18.60abc ± 3.04 37.45ab ± 3.53 48.87abc ± 6.60 54.35ab ± 5.28 52.83ab ± 5.31 32.34ad ± 3.47
W3 6.57 ± 2.04 13.06b ± 1.20 12.18c ± 1.51 20.56c ± 1.99 34.47c ± 4.50 41.13b ± 3.46 48.92ab ± 3.48 14.73c ± 1.48
CSIR-ARI 1.19 ± 2.81 15.09ab ± 1.51 21.18ab ± 1.75 27.45bc ± 1.95 49.73abc ± 3.55 47.47ab ± 2.76 48.03ab ± 2.77 31.81a ± 2.04
GR, growth rate measured as weekly weight gain; GR1, GR between weeks 1 and 2; GR2, GR betweenweeks 2 and 3; GR3,GR between weeks 3 and 4;
GR4, GR between weeks 4 and 6; GR5, GR between weeks 6 and 7; GR6, GR between weeks 7 and 9; GR7, GR between weeks 9 and 11; GRO, overall
GR between weeks 1 and 11; E2, E3, E4, subpopulations in the Upper East Region with surviving birds; N1, N2, N3, N4, subpopulations of the former
Northern Region; W1, W2, W3, subpopulations of the Upper West Region. Means of subpopulations within a column with different superscripts differ
significantly (p ˂ 0.05)
NSDifference between the means per subpopulation is not significant (p > 0.05)
There were significant differences between the BW2, in the overall body weights beyond 8 weeks of age for the
BW3, and BW4 between some populations with no signifi- TPNG. However, Agbolosu et al. (2012a) did not compare
cant differences between the Upper East and CSIR-ARI that body weights from hatch to the eighth week. The Upper
recorded comparable mean body weights. There have been no East Region was the best performing in terms of weekly body
previous reports on body weights during post-hatch growth weights for most weeks during the current study compared
compared among the same three populations from Northern with the former Northern and Upper West Regions.
Ghana for comparisons with observations of the current study. Agbolosu et al. (2012a) also reported the Upper East Region
Dei et al. (2009) recorded slightly higher body weights at as the best performing in terms of overall body weight for
week four for local guinea fowls intensively raised within growth period between 8 and 16 weeks. Avornyo et al.
cages in a study conducted to compare different brooding (2016) observed that the proportion of farmers providing sup-
options. plementary feeding is higher in the Upper East Region and
The variations in body weights observed during the current included millet as a major supplementary feed in that region.
study beyond the sixth week were not statistically different Pearl millet, the variety ofmillet popularly grown in the Upper
among the TPNG. This was contrary to observations by East Region, contains a higher protein and iron percentage
Agbolosu et al. (2012a) who reported significant differences compared to maize (FAO 1995). This difference in the quality
Table 6 Comparison of feed
consumption and feed conversion Parameter Population
ratio of local guinea fowls from
three populations of Northern UER FNR UWR CSIR-
Ghana and ARI flock ARI
Final weightNS (g/bird) 369.05 353.52 367.39 384.09
Initial weight* (g/bird) 37.40a 34.89a 35.09a 46.36b
Total weight gainNS (g/bird) 331.65 318.63 332.30 337.73
Average daily weight gainNS (ADWG, g/bird/day) 4.74 4.55 4.75 4.82
Total feed intakeNS (g) 1266.90 1315.94 1322.55 1357.67
Daily feed consumptionNS (g/bird/day) 18.10 18.80 18.89 19.40
FCRNS 3.82 4.13 3.98 4.02
NSVariations between means within a row are not statistically significant at 95% confidence level
*Variations between means within a row are statistically significant at 95% confidence level, where means that
differ bear different superscripts
89 Page 12 of 17 Trop Anim Health Prod (2021) 53: 89
Table 7 Percentage mortalities of guinea fowls at weekly intervals across the four populations and subpopulations
Pop. Initial Mortalities (%)
Subpop. No.
Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Cumulative at Week Week Week Week
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 week 8 9 10 11 12
E1 16 100.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 100.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
E2 152 40.13 9.21 15.79 9.87 0.09 0.66 3.95 3.29 82.99 0.00 0.66 0.00 0.00
E3 21 76.19 9.52 0.00 9.52 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 95.24 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
E4 61 42.62 6.56 4.92 1.64 0.02 1.64 1.64 4.92 63.95 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
UER 250 48.00 8.00 10.80 7.20 6.00 0.80 2.80 3.20 86.80 0.00 0.40 0.00 0.00
N1 83 37.35 19.28 9.64 1.20 0.05 2.41 8.43 0.00 78.36 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
N2 88 29.55 7.95 5.68 6.82 9.09 0.00 1.14 3.41 63.64 0.00 1.14 0.00 0.00
N3 45 37.78 6.67 8.89 4.44 0.09 0.00 6.67 2.22 66.76 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
N4 27 14.81 14.81 14.81 7.41 3.70 0.00 3.70 14.81 74.07 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
FNR 243 32.10 12.35 8.64 4.53 0.07 0.82 4.94 3.29 66.74 0.00 0.41 0.00 0.00
W1 123 26.83 13.01 10.57 4.07 8.13 1.63 3.25 5.69 73.98 0.00 4.88 0.00 0.00
W2 36 44.44 8.33 0.00 2.78 0.03 2.78 2.78 2.78 63.92 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
W3 163 30.67 12.27 9.82 7.36 11.04 1.84 9.82 0.00 82.82 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
UWR 322 31.06 12.11 9.01 5.59 0.09 1.86 6.52 2.48 68.72 0.00 1.86 0.00 0.00
CSIR-ARI 51 1.96 1.96 0.00 0.00 1.96 0.00 1.96 0.00 7.84 1.96 0.00 0.00 0.00
Pop., population; Subpop., subpopulation; E2, E3, E4, subpopulations in the Upper East Region (UER) with surviving birds; N1, N2, N3, N4,
subpopulations of the former Northern Region (FNR); W1, W2, W3, subpopulations of the Upper West Region (UWR)
and quantity of supplementary feed probably contributed to age groups in different varieties of helmeted guinea fowls in
higher body weights from weeks one to four in birds from the other countries. Fajemilehin (2010) reported slightly greater
Upper East Region combined with genetic factors. values for body weight at 4 and 8 weeks in cross-bred helmet-
Juvenile body weights observed during the current study at ed guinea fowls in Nigeria. Mohammed and Dei (2017) ob-
a given age varied from previously reported values for similar served higher values for guinea keets at 8 weeks raised within
Fig. 9 Survival plots for the four
populations from the Upper East,
former Northern, and Upper West
Regions and CSIR-ARI flock
Trop Anim Health Prod (2021) 53: 89 Page 13 of 17 89
Fig. 10 Survival plots for the
subpopulations within the three
populations of guinea fowls of
NG and CSIR-ARI flock
cages under intensive system in the Northern Region (former) weights in local guinea fowls and possibly to achieve
of Ghana. Dahouda et al. (2007) reported higher values for 10- better carcass yield.
week-old local varieties in the Republic of Benin. BW1 to Although the variation of weekly body weights among
BW4 observed during the current study were comparable to TPNG was statistically insignificant beyond the sixth week,
body weights at similar ages reported by Khairunnesa et al. differences in body weights between the subpopulations were
(2016) for helmeted guinea fowl varieties in Bangladesh. significant beyond the sixth week even at 99% confidence lev-
Body weights of pearl gray guinea fowls that have been ge- el. This suggests that although overall the main populations did
netically improved for higher body weight and faster growth not exhibit significant variations in body weights, there was a
reported by Nahashon et al. (2006) in the USA drastically high degree of variations between the subpopulations. These
varied from the values observed during the current study. variations are also vivid when growth curves are compared
However, it should be noted that performance of populations among the subpopulations within a region. As indicated from
in different experiments cannot be compared due to differ- calculated contrasts between the subpopulations designated
ences in experimental conditions and breed differences. during this study, the variations between subpopulations of
Remarkably high values for juvenile body weights of the Former Northern Region were prominent. Formerly, the
improved varieties is undoubtedly due to the genetic gain Northern Region was the largest region among the administra-
achieved over years of selection. Greater maternal nutri- tive regions of Northern Ghana covering a larger geographical
tion ensured in standard breeder flocks coupled with good area that probably resulted in populations with greater variation.
breeder stock management may be the second dominant Faster growth has been the primary breeding objective in
reason for this observed difference. Avornyo et al. (2016) most past breeding programs in poultry (Flisar et al. 2014).
indicated that 98% of farmers in NG depend on the local Due to the importance of post-hatch growth to the poultry
varieties that have not been improved by selection. The farmer, factors affecting post-hatch growth have been exten-
same study indicated that farmers do not maintain a sep- sively studied for broilers. Genetic factors, post-hatch diet,
arate breeder stock even within their flocks. Irrespective and early access to feed have been known to influence the
of age, they are raised under extensive or semi-intensive weekly weight gains to the end of the growth period in chick-
production systems (Avornyo et al. 2016) where nutrition en (Noy and Sklan 1997) while pre-incubation storage time of
demands of breeding hens are hardly met. These observa- eggs and age of hens have been reported to influence the
tions highlight the importance of long-term selection pro- weight gain during early post-hatch growth (Tona et al. 2004).
grams and management of breeder stock with improved In the current experiment, the differences among popula-
nutrition in confinement in order to increase juvenile body tions in the mean weekly weight gains were significant from
89 Page 14 of 17 Trop Anim Health Prod (2021) 53: 89
the second week up to the fourth week, but with no further exotic varieties are generally less adapted to climatic condi-
significant variations beyond the sixth week. Keets were tions prevalent in the guinea savannah ecozone. Past poultry
transported to the brooder facility within an hour post-hatch breeding programs that overlooked the adaptive features of
to minimize delays and stress due to treatments such as local breeds to tropical climate and production systems opting
weighing and tagging at hatch, to give them access to feed for breed replacement or crossbreeding with exotic breeds
within 24 h post-hatch and to nullify the effects of varying have recorded little successes (FAO 2007). Considering the
fasting times on post-hatch growth. After hatch, they were fed non-sustainability of breeding programs to disseminate im-
with the same diet ensuring equal access to feeders. proved breeder stock to smallholder farmers and observations
Representation of keets was approximately equal in all repli- from the current study, it is recommended that future research
cates per population. Therefore, observed variations in early should further explore observed variations that exist within the
post-hatch growth between some of the main populations that local populations of guinea fowls and design breeding pro-
subsided beyond the fourth week are likely due to pre- grams to develop fast growing strains from local populations
experimental factors that have transient effects such as age instead of opting for breed replacement or cross breeding.
of breeders and preincubation storage of eggs possibly The feed intake and FCR did not vary significantly
interacting with genetic factors. between the TPNG. To avoid experimental bias from raising
Significant contrasts in weekly weight gains between the birds of subpopulations in separate pens due to different
subpopulations that persisted beyond the sixth week might number of birds per subpopulation that survived, the birds
have been influenced by some pre-experimental conditions from different subpopulations were randomly allocated to
interacting with genetic influences. As these contrasts replicates of main populations. Hence, the feed intake was
persisted and became dominant until the end of study period, only measured at population levels and variation in FCR and
the influence of these genetic factors is likely to play a signif- its influence on observed variations within subpopulations
icant role on growth rate and remain to be characterized. cannot be discussed. Agbolosu et al. (2012a) also observed
Indeed, genetic variations within adapted guinea fowl pop- no significant differences in feed efficiency (1/FCR) between
ulations in Europe and the USA have been utilized to establish the birds from the TPNG.
genetically stable faster growing guinea fowl breeds by Survivability is an important economic trait in commercial
commercial breeding companies. Nahashon et al. (2006) re- poultry production. During the current study, the highest mor-
ported remarkably high growth rates for pearl gray guinea talities were reported during the first week in all the popula-
fowls compared to growth rates observed during current study tions and the subpopulations. During the first week, chicks
and rates reported in similar studies across Africa due to ob- undergo a major shift in their physiology as they change from
vious genetic gain achieved by years of selection in faster a yolk sac dependent mode of nutrition to feeding solid feed
growing breeds. When compared with other studies involving independently (Decuypere et al. 2001). The additional stress
unimproved local varieties elsewhere, local birds from the created during this transformation must be a major factor pre-
current study areas performed better than local varieties of disposing keets to high mortalities during the first week.
Bangladesh for the first 3 weeks with a reverse trend for the While high mortalities later in life are largely functions of
remaining weeks according to reports by Khairunnesa et al. genotype and management of growers, high mortality in
(2016). However, growth rates observed during the current chicken during the first week is largely affected by the quality
study and those reported by other studies cannot be compared of the day-old chicks (Decuypere et al. 2001; Kidd 2003).
in absolute terms due to differences in experimental, pre- Therefore, high level of mortalities that subside with age as
experimental conditions, and genetic factors that influence observed during this study is likely due to low quality of day-
post-hatch growth. A pre-requisite for funding of the current old keets hatched from the eggs collected from the TPNG. By
study was the distribution of grower guinea fowls to benefi- contrast, the CSIR-ARI flock exhibited the lowest mortalities
ciary farmers at 12weeks. Therefore, no data beyond 12weeks during the first week indicating improvements in quality of
could be recorded. keets in that group.
The current study provides strong evidence for the exis- High rate of keet mortality during the first 8 weeks post-
tence of phenotypic variations in body weight and growth hatch has been a persistent challenge among guinea fowl
traits within the local guinea fowl populations of Northern farmers from NG according to previous reports by Teye and
Ghana. These variations provide opportunities to select phe- Adam (2000) and more recent reports by Avornyo et al.
notypically divergent lines for growth rates from local guinea (2016). The trend is similar across tropical Africa (Bessin
fowls. However, care should be taken to retain traits related to et al. 1998; Boko et al. 2011; Moreki and Radikara 2013). A
disease resistance, fertility, and vigor that are of interest to similar trend was observed for the groups representing the
smallholder guinea fowl farmers. TPNG and subpopulations of Northern Ghana during the cur-
Reported growth rates of improved varieties raised in rent study with survivability increasing beyond eighth week in
France, Belgium, and the USA are remarkably higher but all groups.
Trop Anim Health Prod (2021) 53: 89 Page 15 of 17 89
In tropical Africa, majority of mortalities before the eighth Therefore, this study provides evidence for mortalities that
week have been attributed to bad weather and diseases cannot be maintained even by the best practices of post-hatch
(Dahouda et al. 2007; Boko et al. 2011). Informed by these brooding as also reported by some farmers and highlights the
observations, improving the microclimate of keets during the complex factors that predispose local keets to high rates of
first 8 weeks with provision of heat, light, water, and a well- mortality. However, the remarkable improvement observed
balanced diet have been proposed and have been proved to in the CSIR-ARI flock in terms of survivability suggests that
significantly reducemortalities (Dei et al. 2009; Avornyo et al. such mortalities can be overcome by integrating best practices
2015; Ahiagbe et al. 2016; Mohammed and Dei 2017). of breeder stock management, pre-incubation treatment of
Although best practices during brooding have been widely breeding eggs, and post-hatch brooding. Observed symptoms
disseminated in NG with some farmers adopting them, guinea before mortality included paralysis and nervous-like symp-
fowl farmers still record high keet mortalities (Avornyo et al. toms and may suggest possible vertical transfer of pathogens
2016). On the other hand, survivability of chicks during from parents that could not be controlled during egg collection
brooding appears to be more complex and is influenced by and needs further investigation.
several factors related to breeders such as breeder strain,
breeder age (Peebles et al. 1999), breeder nutrition (Heier
et al. 2002), factors related to egg such as egg size Conclusion
(Decuypere et al. 2001), pre-incubation storage conditions of
the eggs (Tona et al. 2004), and incubation conditions Variation among the three main populations of local guinea
(Lourens et al. 2005) beside post-hatch brooding. fowls studied from Northern Ghana is minimal in terms of
In the current study, all birds were fed with a formulated juvenile body weights and early growth rates. However, there
diet, with provision of heat, light, and adhering to strict bio- exist variations within these populations and among the sub-
safety guidelines, according to the best brooding practices as populations of local varieties for traits of juvenile body
per the current understanding. However, survivability was still weights and growth rates that should be further explored and
low in keets hatched from the eggs collected from the TPNG. if possible utilized for selection to ensure sustainable manage-
Although all the groups were hatched at the same time and ment of the genetic resource of indigenous guinea fowls as an
raised under the same conditions, ARI flock exhibited remark- alternative to breed replacement or cross breeding with exotic
ably low levels of mortalities compared to other groups. This breeds. The high rate of keet mortality in the first 8 weeks
flock was established from parents hatched from eggs collect- post-hatch which is common throughout NG is likely to be
ed a year earlier from the same locations as the birds used for best managed by integrating best practices of breeder stock
the comparative growth appraisal and has not been subjected management, best practices for pre-incubation treatment of
to selection. Considering the common practices of obtaining breeding eggs with best practices for post-hatch brooding.
eggs from their own farm or from neighbors for incubation in
Northern Ghana (Avornyo et al. 2016), they can be assumed Funding information The study was funded by the World Bank through
to be not significantly different in descent from the birds used the Phase II of West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme
(WAAPP II).
for present comparative growth performance trial. However,
the parents of CSIR-ARI keets were being raised under best Compliance with ethical standards
practices for breeder stock management fed with a breeder
diet, a health management plan and under strict biosafety mea- Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of
sures. Unlike the breeder flock of CSIR-ARI, laying guinea interest.
hens raised by the majority of farmers are not raised intensive-
ly and are not provided adequate feed but are left to scavenge Ethical approval The manuscript does not contain data related to any
with the rest of the flock. The resulting inadequate maternal clinical study or patient data.
diet and poor maternal health may be major contributing fac-
tors to high mortalities during keet stage beside other pre-
incubation factors affecting the egg and the chick quality. References
Improved maternal diet with supplementation of vitamins E
Agbolosu, A. A., Teye, G. A., Adjetey, A. N. A., Addah, W. and
and D and other micronutrients has been demonstrated to di- Naandam, J., 2012a. Performance characteristics of growing indig-
rectly improve immunity in chicks. Supplementation of breed- enous guinea fowls from Upper East, Upper West and Northern
er diet with vitamin and mineral premixes has resulted in Region of Ghana. Agriculture and Biology Journal of North
increased antibody production in chicks. Similarly, zinc sup- America, 3(8), 336–339. https://doi.org/10.5251/abjna.2012.3.8.
336.339.
plementation in the breeder diet has been demonstrated to
Agbolosu, A. A., Teye, G. A., Jebuni, S. N., Ansah, T. and Naandam, J.,
improve both cellular immunity, humoral immunity, and 2012b. Comparative study of growth and laying performance of
Escherichia coli resistance in chicks (Kidd 2003). indigenous layer guinea fowls (Numida meleagris) from Upper
89 Page 16 of 17 Trop Anim Health Prod (2021) 53: 89
East, Upper West and Northern regions of Ghana. Agriculture and Agriculture, Barbara Rischkwosky and Dafydd Piling (Eds.), Food
Biology Journal of North America, 3(9), 354-359. and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy.
Ahiagbe, K. M. J., Karbo, N., Avornyo, F., Nyame-asem, J. K., Adu- FAO, 2014. Poultry Sector Ghana. FAO Animal Production and Health
Aboagye, G., Amoah, K. O., Affedzie-Obresi, S., Beckley, C. S. K. Livestock Country Reviews. No. 6. Food and Agriculture
and Duncan, J. L., 2016. Improving Guinea Fowl Keet Survivability Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy.
in Ghana: A manual for management of keet mortalities using an Flisar, T., Malovrh, Š., Terčič, D., Holcman, A. and Kovač, M., 2014.
integrated approach (CSIR-Animal Research Institute, Accra, Thirty-four generations of divergent selection for 8-week body
Ghana), ISBN: 978-9988-2-41248-5. weight in chickens. Poultry Science, 93(1), 16–23. https://doi.org/
ALBC, 2007. Selecting for Meat Qualities and Rate of growth. In: 10.3382/ps.2013-03464
Chicken assessment for improving productivity. American Heier, B. T., Hogasen, H. R. and Jarp, J., 2002. Factors associated with
Livestock Breed Conservancy, Pittsboro, North Carolina, USA, 1– mortality in Norwegian broiler flocks. Preventive Veterinary
8. Medicine, 53, 147–157.
Avornyo, F. K., Salifu, S., Panyan, E. K., Al-Hassan, B. I., Ahiagbe, M. Issaka, B. Y. and Yeboah, N. Y., 2016. Socio-economic attributes of
and Yeboah, F., 2014. Social and Economic Profitability of Guinea guinea fowl production in two districts in Northern Ghana. African
Fowl Production – A baseline study in project districts, CSIR- Journal of Agricultural Research, 11(14), 1209–1217.
Animal Research Institute. Kayang, B. B., Youssao, I., Inoue, E., Naazie A., Abe, H., Ito, S. and
Avornyo, F. K., Munkaila, L., Allegye-Cudjoe, E., Karbo, N. and Inoue-Murayama, M., 2010. Genetic Diversity of Helmeted Guinea
Atosona, B. S., 2015. A comparison of six treatments for controlling fowl (Numida meleagris) Based on Microsatellite Analysis. The
mortality of keets in the wet season of the Northern Region of Journal of Poultry Science, 47, 120-124. https://doi.org/10.2141/
Ghana. Ghana Journal of Science, 55(1), 15-25. jpsa.009103.
Avornyo, F. K., Salifu, S., Panyan, E. K., Al-Hassan, B. I., Ahiagbe, M. Khairunnesa, M., Das, S. and Khatun, A., 2016. Hatching and growth
and Yeboah, F. K., 2016. Characteristics of guinea fowl production performances of guinea fowl under intensive management system.
systems in northern Ghana. Livestock Research for Rural Progressive Agriculture, 27(1), 70-77. https://doi.org/10.3329/pa.
Development, 28(8), Article 134. v27i1.27544.
Ayorinde, K. L., 2007. Body weight increase of indigenous pearl guinea Kidd, M. T., 2003. A treatise on chicken dam nutrition that impacts on
fowl in Nigeria through crossbreeding. British Poultry Science, progeny. World’s Poultry Science Journal, 59, 475–494.
32(2), 295-301. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071669108417353. Kusina, N. T., Saina, H., Kusina, J. F. and Lebel, S., 2012. An insight into
Bessin, R., Belem, A.M.G., Boussini, H., Compaore, Z., Kaboret, Y. and guinea fowl rearing practices and productivity by guinea fowl
Dembele, M. A., 1998. Causes of young guinea fowl mortality in keepers in Zimbabwe. African Journal of Agricultural Research,
Burkina Faso. Revue d’élevage et de médecine vétérinaire des pays 7(25), 3621-3625.
tropicaux. The Journal of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary
Lourens, A., van den Brand, H., Meijerhof, R. and Kemp, B., 2005.
Medicine in Tropical Countries, 51(1), 87-93.
Effect of eggshell temperature during incubation on embryo devel-
Boko, C. K., Kpodekon, M. T., Farougou, S., Dahouda, M., Youssao, A. opment, hatchability, and posthatch development. Poultry Science,
K. I., Aplogan, G. L., Zanou, J. and Mainil J. G., 2011. Farmer 84, 914–920.
perceptions and pathological constraints in helmeted guinea fowl
Mohammed, A. and Dei, H. K., 2017. Comparative performance of guin-
farming in the Borgou department in North-East Benin. African
ea keets managed under two brooding systems in the Tolon district
Journal of Agricultural Research, 6(10), 2348-2357.
of Northern Region of Ghana. UDS International Journal of
R Core Team, 2016. R: A language and environment for statistical com- Development, 4(1), 42-45.
puting. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria.
Moreki, J . C. and Radikara, M. V., 2013. Chal lenges to
URL: https://www.R-project.org/.
Commercialization of Guinea Fowl in Africa. International Journal
Dahouda, M., Toleba, S. S., Youssao, A. K. I., Kogui, S. B., Aboubakari,
of Science and Research, 2(11), 436–440.
S. Y. and Hornick, J. L., 2007. Guinea fowl rearing constraints and
flock composition under traditional management in Borgu Moreki, J. C. and Seabo, D., 2012. Guinea fowl production in Botswana.
Department, Benin. Family Poultry, 17(1&2), 3-14. Journal of World’s Poultry Research, 2(1), 1-4.
Decuypere, E. and Bruggeman, V., 2007. The endocrine interface of Nahashon, S. N., Aggrey, S. E., Adefope, N. A., Amenyenu, A. and
environmental and egg factors affecting chick quality. Poultry Wright, D., 2006. Growth Characteristics of Pearl Gray Guinea
Science, 86(5), 1037–1042. https://doi.org/10.1093/ps/86.5.1037. Fowl as Predicted by the Richards, Gompertz, and Logistic
Decuypere, E., Tona, K., Bruggeman, V. and Bamelis, F., 2001. The day- Models. Poultry Science, 85, 359–363.
old chick: A crucial hinge between breeders and broilers. World’s Nahashon, S. N., Adefope, N. A., Amenyenu, A. and Wright, D., 2007.
Poultry Science Journal, 57, 127–138. Effect of Varying Concentrations of Dietary Crude Protein and
Dei, H. K. and Karbo, N., 2004. Improving Small holder Guinea fowl Metabolizable Energy on Laying Performance of Pearl Grey
Production in Ghana: A training manual. University for Guinea Fowl Hens. Poultry Science, 86, 1793–1799. https://doi.
Development Studies, Tamale and Animal Research Institute org/10.1093/ps/86.8.1793
(CSIR), Nyankpala Station, Tamale, Ghana. Newbold, S., 1926. A historical note on the guinea-fowl. Sudan Notes
Dei, H. K., Alidu, I., Otchere, E. O., Donkoh, A., Boa-Amponsem,K. and and Records, 9(1), 125-129.
Adam, I., 2009. Improving the brooding management of local guin- Noy, Y. and Sklan, D., 1997. Posthatch development in poultry. Journal
ea Fowl (Numida meleagris). Family Poultry, 18(1), 3–5. of Applied Poultry Research, 6(3), 344–354. https://doi.org/10.
Fajemilehin, S. O. K., 2010. Morphostructural characteristics of three 1093/japr/6.3.344
varieties of grey-breasted helmeted Guinea fowl in Nigeria. Ogah, D.M., 2013. Variability in Body Shape characters in an indigenous
International Journal of Morphology, 28(2), 557-562. guinea fowl (Numida meleagris L.). Slovak Journal of Animal
FAO, 1995. Sorghum and millets in human nutrition, FAO Food and Science, 46(3), 110-114.
Nutrition Series, No. 27, Food and Agriculture Organization of the Peebles, E. D., Doyle, S. M., Pansky, T., Gerard, P. D., Latour, M. A.,
United Nations, Rome, Italy. ISBN 92-5-103381-1 Boyle, C. R. and Smith, T.W., 1999. Effects of breeder age and
FAO, 2007. The state of the Worlds Animal Genetic Resources for Food dietary fat on subsequent broiler performance, Growth, mortality,
and Agriculture. Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and and feed conversion. Poultry Science, 78, 505–511.
Trop Anim Health Prod (2021) 53: 89 Page 17 of 17 89
Reis, L. H., Gama, L. T. and Soares, M. C., 1997. Effects of short storage storage on egg quality, hatchability, chick quality, chick weight,
conditions and broiler breeder age on hatchability, hatching time and and chick posthatch growth to forty-two days. Journal of Applied
chick weight. Poultry Science, 76, 1459–1466. Poultry Research, 13(1), 10–18. https://doi.org/10.1093/japr/13.1.
Teye, G. A. and Adam, M., 2000. Constraints to Guinea fowl production 10.
in northern Ghana: A case study of the Damongo area. Ghanaian Yassin, H., Velthuis, A. G. J., Boerjan, M. and van Riel, J., 2009. Field
Journal of Agricultural Science, 33, 153-157. study on broilers’ first-week mortality. Poultry Science, 88, 798–
Tona, K., Bamelis, F., De Ketelaere, B., Bruggeman, V., Moraes, V. M. 804. https://doi.org/10.3382/ps.2008-00292.
B., Buyse, J., Onagbesan, O. and Decuypere, E., 2003. Effects of
egg storage time on spread of hatch, chick quality, and chick juve- Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdic-
nile growth. Poultry Science, 82, 736–741. tional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Tona, K., Onagbesan, O., De Ketelaere, B., Decuypere, E. and
Bruggeman, V., 2004. Effects of age of broiler breeders and egg