Hatchability of Guinea Fowls Eggs and Performance of Keets under the Traditional Extensive System in Tolon- Kumbungu District of Ghana

A study was carried out to examine the hatchability of guinea fowls eggs and performance of keets under the traditional extensive system. A short questionnaire to ascertain production scope and management practices were administered to a total of ten farmers; five farmers from each of two communities, using purposive sampling. In order to establish some actual production indices, data was collected from the sampled farmers on mean number of eggs incubated, mean weight of eggs incubated, mean number of eggs hatched, percentage hatchability of eggs, mean weekly numbers of keets, mean weekly weight gain of keets, total weight gain of keets and mortality rate of keets. Data were analyzed using Genstats Discovery (3rd edition) and SPSS version 17. The main breeds of guinea fowls kept by farmers were the pearl and the lavender. The methods of identifying fertile eggs by farmers were by the use of size and texture of eggs. Majority of the farmers (80%) fed their guinea fowls with maize, while (20%) fed them with millet before egg laying, but during egg lay 80% of the farmers fed their guinea fowls with millet for the reason that it increased egg production. For the production indices, there were significant differences (P<0.001) in mean weekly numbers of keets and mean weekly weight gain of keets for the study period. A much lower significant difference (P<0.05) was observed for the total weight gain of keets, possibly because weight gain through growth over stripped the weight losses through mortality. Mortality rate of keets was high ranging between 61-69% within the two communities, though these did not significantly differ from each other. Mean number of eggs incubated was 18.4 for Nafaring community and 25.4 for Cheyohi community. Similarly the mean weight of eggs incubated, total weight of eggs incubated, number of eggs hatched and percentage hatchability (%) were 31.4g and 31.8g, 577.8g and 807.7g, 13.4 and 18.6, 72.8% and 73.6%, respectively. There were significant differences in performance indices across the weeks but not between the two communities.