GUINEA FOWL (Numidia meleagris) PRODUCTION UNDER SMALLHOLDER FARMER MANAGEMENT IN GURUVE

ii The objective of this study was to characterize guinea fowl production under smallholder farmer management and compare growth performances and carcass quality between free-range produced guinea fowls versus those reared under intensive management. The study was therefore carried out by means of a survey, monitoring study and an experiment conducted in chronological sequence as presented below. The study was conducted in three wards from June to July 2002 to characterize guinea fowl production systems and determine productivity. Seventy-three guinea fowl owners were interviewed through administration of a structured questionnaire. The survey revealed a breeding flock of 3 ± 2 per farm. The common management practices prevalent comprised scavenging and/or semi-intensive. Mean egg production per hen per breeding season was 89 ± 50 while hatchability of eggs and keet survivability were 64 % and 60%, respectively. As a follow-up, the monitoring study was carried out to evaluate productivity of 30 guine