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In the Wild
These beautiful birds are native to Eastern Africa. They can be found in Ethiopia, Somali Republic, Kenya, Eastern Uganda, and North Eastern Tanzania. They like the dry desert areas with grasslands and patches of scrub and thorn bushes and trees. In the wild they can be seen roaming in small flocks of up to 25 birds, but reports of as many as 70 birds are seen on a regular basis. Many times only their heads can be seen above the tall grass as they walk along. They seem to thrive on heat and bright sun. Being a desert bird they cannot take below freezing weather for long periods of time as their toes seem to freeze. However, they can take short periods of very cold weather with no harm. In cold weather they appear stressed and walk about hunched up which indicates they had rather be out in the hot sun. These guineafowl are by far the most striking of all the family kept in captivity. Some call them the "Royal Guineafowl" which aptly describes them in my mind. I will let the photos serve as a description of these beautiful and stately birds which stand at over two feet. Vulturine guineafowl are great runners and seldom fly except to go to roost in high trees. They can survive long periods without water and can live nearly totally on the green vegetation which they consume. They will eat insects readily but most of their diet consists of vegetable matter which consists of grasses, leaves and green material. There are 38 natural species and subspecies of guineafowl that are currently recognized. These are divided into four general and seven subspecies. The Vulturine is the only species in the genus Acryllium which is in the Numididae family. This is to say that there are no other species which closely resemble this striking bird.
Keeping Vulturine Guineafowl
The large size of these birds would tell the observer that they need large pens. This is true as most every successful breeder has them in larger pens. Our pens are 8 feet by 18 feet which is large enough for one breeding pair. Your pens can be just about any size you can afford. One breeder has several pairs in a one acre enclosure which works well for him. Most of us cannot build a pen this large and have to do with much smaller spaces. I think that one of the things to remember about the size of pens needed is to make sure they are very tall. Ours are 8 feet tall which does not feel as crowded as a pen not so tall. This next year we will build new "growing" pens which will be 25 feet by 25 feet and covered top and bottom to keep out predators. Vulturines are "roosters" at night and should be provided comfortable perches. I am now putting my roosting perches (2x4's up as high as I can and still give the birds plenty of head room.. I think the ideal shelter would be higher than the rest of the pen with the perches in it to encourage the birds to sleep inside during the night. These high perches are handy for the females to get away from aggressive males. The shelter can be most any size. Remember, the main purpose is to keep the birds and their feed dry during wet and cold weather. Design the shelter so that it is not too dark as the birds do not like dark places. Sheets of plywood can be arranged in one corner or end of the pen to provide a roof and three sides of the shelter. If you live in a very cold or very hot climate you must provide for the comfort of the birds. Some sort of heat may be needed at night in the shelter area when it gets below freezing. Also, during very hot weather you should provide some shade from the sun during the day. These birds just love bright hot summer days.
Display and Breeding Habits
The males are very aggressive to the hens most of the time which reinforces the idea that the pen should be large as possible so that she can escape from his amorous display. Our males will follow us around when we are in their pen but so far none has attacked us. I recently talked with a fellow that had a male that would jump on him. These birds get very tame (which is one of their wonderful characteristics). One of our favorite hens will fly up to the ledge on the feeding door and take food from our hands. The young quickly tame down and become very tame at an early age.
Inbreeding
I have found that this family of birds does not take very well to inbreeding. Some species can tolerate inbreeding more than others. Vulturine guineafowl should not be inbred. This is why we have three unrelated pairs so we can offer young unrelated pairs to our clients. Never, never breed siblings together and expect success. Feeding In their native habitat these birds eat lots of vegetable matter so we have adapted a feeding program which includes more vegetable matter than some of our other birds. They just love green foods such as lettuce, green beans and green peas. These may seem expensive foods but in the long run the high cost of quality feed will pay off in healthier birds and more chicks. We put in handfuls of leafy alfalfa hay and they go for the green parts. They need the fiber in their diet to have healthy droppings. To meet this need for fibrous vegetable matter, we have developed a feeding program which includes cooked food. This is fed everyday and they gobble it up. We put the following portions in a rice cooker and cook it up: 4 portions of brown rice, 2 portions of popcorn; 2 portions of red beans, 2 portions of barley, 1 portion of dried split peas, 1 portion of dried black-eyed peas, 2 portions of pigeon grains. This is cooked in the rice cooker which turns off when done. It is then fed to the birds on a metal tray. We sprinkle generously Vionate supplement about three times a week over this cooked food. This is given to the breeders, and the growing young birds alike. (See care of chicks for specific food for them).
Getting Fertile Eggs
Sexing these birds is a problem before they are mature. Our birds lay the second year but some of the older and more precocious birds can be visually sexed by about 9 months. Generally, the hen is smaller than the male. Her carriage is different. She walks in a more submissive posture. When you see this you will understand what I mean. A sure sign is when the hen will crouch in front of the strutting male and not look at him in the eye. She is showing submission or else he will chase her and she must fly up to the perch to get away from his attentions. I have never had a male do harm to a hen but they can be very threatening. The male is just the opposite in posture and conformation. He stands tall and stretches his head up high and curves his back while fluffing out his beautiful cobalt blue breast patches. Often, he will pick up a small stick and carry it around in his beak during his display. When the keeper enters the pen the male will follow displaying as if he is challenging an intruder. To be very sure of the sex of these birds they can be surgically sexed, DNA sexed, or feather sexed. We prefer using the feather sexing method which is very simple. A blood feather is sent to the Laboratory and a culture is grown from the blood. In a few days the chromosomes are examined and the true sex of the bird is determined by the presence of male or female chromosomes. All of our young birds that we sell come with a certificate from the Lab and with a permanent leg band. We guarantee the sex of our birds. This way, the birds can be sold and shipped before 9 months of age which is convenient to all persons. Occasionally we have breeder age birds for sale which we have held over from the year before. We sell these if we do not need them for replacements. We always keep unrelated breeder pairs maturing and often have surplus for sale. Our breeders get Purina Game bird Layena fed dry as a regular ration. It is kept before them at all times and they really eat it. These birds have a great appetite which is nice. I do not like birds that are picky eaters. When you notice the birds eat less you know something is wrong. It is colder or warmer than normal or they are sick. If it is getting time to lay eggs, our breeders start eating like they are starving. This is a sign the birds are getting ready to lay. Another sign is the fact that some hens utter a low crying sound when they are about to lay. Perhaps they are looking for a suitable nesting site or are uncomfortable - who knows? The time of year Vulturine guineafowl lay varies. In the wild they lay shortly before and during the rainy season to insure an adequate supply of insects and green grass. Our hens have layed as early as March and as late as August / September. I think that the climate has a lot to do with their timing. During the time when I think they should be laying I give them extra protein in their diets. Hopefully, this helps trigger the breeding urge. If I have a good crop of mealworms at this time I give them several of these per day to help their protein intake. It is fun to have them take the mealworms from your fingers. The breeding pen should have some cozy nesting sites for the hen to build her nest in. She will opt for a place and scrape out a cavity in which she will lay her eggs. It is a good idea to put logs, high grasses, and other materials in the pen to help the hen find a hiding place to nest. With a little experience the breeder will learn which site his particular birds prefer. At first, it is probably best to have several different places in order to let the hen make the choice. Every encouragement to her laying should be made. When the hen starts to lay, I always take the eggs and store them for safe-keeping. Eggs are set every seven days. I always leave three nest eggs for the hen. This way she is encouraged to lay a full clutch before she gets broody. A clutch numbers from 11 to 15, usually around 12. The total number of eggs layed by individual hens in a breeding season varies. We have one favorite hen that layed over 40 eggs in three clutches this past season. We let her set on the last 4 eggs hoping she would take a rest from laying. It did not work as we took the eggs a day or two before hatching and she quickly cycled again and started laying. If our facilities had been predator proof (rats, squirrels, and large gopher snakes), we would have let her hatch and raise the last clutch. However, the conditions were not right to do that this year. Next season our birds will be in pens with small wire and we will let the pair hatch and raise the last clutch. It will be interesting to observe their habits when they have babies. They make very good parents. The hen bit my arm and put marks on it in several places when I stole her eggs. Nothing would dare bother her chicks during the day but at night something could take one from under her.
Hatching the Eggs
One of the great things about guineafowl in general is the hardness of their egg shells. It is relaxing not to have to worry about soft and fragile egg shells. I have even dropped an egg on the cabinet and it did not break. It seems that all species in this family have the hard egg shells. The eggs are about the size of medium to large hen eggs (approximately 51x38 mm.) They are pale cream or buff, glossy and pitted with buff and white specks. It is interesting that each hen will lay a specific color and pattern so that her eggs can be recognized in a batch. I am not sure if this pattern changes from year to year. Eggs can be successfully incubated in an incubator. I am convinced that using natural incubation will probably get better results. However, not everyone can have a flock of broody hens to do this. We run our incubators at 99.75 ßF. dry bulb and 81-83ß F. wet bulb. This is somewhat dryer than most birds but if the humidity is too high the chick embryo grows too big and cannot turn in the shell to hatch out. When they pip you can tell if they are too big or just right by the way the pip looks. If they are normal a triangle will be opened in the side of the egg. This means that they are just right. If the pip is a hole more near the top of the egg, they will probably have trouble and have to be helped out of the shell. If the chick is allowed to breath oxygen while still in the egg for too long its toes will set and it will be crooked toed. To avoid this I always go ahead and careful hatch them out provided that the membrane is clear and not bloody. Experience will help here. We found that at this temperature and humidity the chicks hatched on the 24th day. Be sure that the floor of your hatcher is not slick. Put some small hardware cloth on the bottom so the chicks will not loose their footing.
Editor's Note: Next month, in Part II, we will discuss feeding the chicks, vitamins, two weeks and beyond, and the conclusion of this article.? Back to Top -
How I raise Vulturine Guineafowl Part II (Acryllium vulturinum)
by Leland B. Hayes, Ph. D.
Vulturine guineafowl chicks need special care the first two weeks. They are not difficult to raise once this special care is understood. We learned the hard way and want to give you the information that we learned about these chicks. It is our desire that you have success and not make the same mistakes that we made. Brooding the chicks can be done in any brooder that controls the heat to about 95ß F. and can be turned down about 5 degrees per week. We use the AICU units (Animal Intensive Care Unit- tm) made by Lyon Electric company. They give you a good view of the chicks and the temperature can be totally controlled. We place a folded towel on the bottom of the unit and put a piece of hardware cloth over this to give good footing. It is important that the chicks not slip on the floor during this stage else they could get slipped joints and crooked toes. Our chicks stay in these units for about 4 days and then are placed in a regular brooder where they can run around and get necessary exercise. In four days they know how to eat and can manage. We have already talked about the need for high vegetable matter in the diets of these birds. When the chicks are under two weeks of age it is critical that they have a very low protein diet. If you ignore this advise (as we learned) the chicks will develop crooked toes and even have their hock joints go out on them. High protein cannot be tolerated. I suppose that the chicks could live and thrive on just grasses and the like the first few weeks of their life. We have found that the chicks are rather delicate the first 48 hours and seem not to learn to eat very readily. They are not difficult to get to eat but they seem to be slow in learning. To get them to eat we have learned some tricks. It is best to have several chicks together at first as when one picks up food they all do the same. They are flock birds even at this young age. We have used "teacher" birds with them successfully. We simply put one or two of last week's hatch with the newborns to teach them how to eat. I suppose you could use some other species of chick to this also. To help them learn to drink we give each one a drink as we take it from the hatcher and put it in the brooder unit. By dipping carefully the little beak in the water you can see them take the drink. Often they will stand by the water and take another drink on their own. Be careful not to strangle them when you dip their beaks in the water.
Our Method of Feeding the Chicks
The following is the most important part of this article. We learned the hard way that these chicks just cannot tolerate very much protein in their diets the first two weeks. Here is a list of what we feed our chicks (it seems to work): Chopped Lettuce - this is the main matter in their diet. Cut the lettuce in fine strips about and inch or so long. They seem to like to grab a piece and run around to keep the other chicks from stealing it. This triggers an eating reaction in all the chicks and they start to feed. Small baby English peas - we use the frozen kind. The smaller the size of the pea the better. Thaw them out first and get them warm in the microwave oven. To feed peas, I simple crush each of the peas and give them to the chicks. You will see the chicks swallowing down a pea or two which will give him the nourishment he needs. This is always exciting when you see this as you know they are on their way to learning to eat. Boiled Eggs - I know this is high protein but if you grate it over the chicks and the small pieces fall around they will grab a bite and learn to eat. Do not give more than one or two feeding of this egg per day. Be sure that all of it is cleaned up and not left on the floor as it will spoil and grow harmful bacteria. Cooked Brown rice - we have found that the chicks love this treat. We give it three or four times a day. It is a good medium for vitamins (see Vionate below). Frozen Vegetables - these can be thawed and chopped up very fine. We use the mixture that has peas, corn, lima beans, carrots, and broccoli. This is way too course and must be chopped up for the chicks. They will not eat too much of this at first but will learn to look forward to it. Purina Game bird Startena Kracketts - is fed several times a day. This is very high protein but the chicks need some protein to grow properly. Probably, I could say that our chicks have about 1/4th Gamebird Starter and 3/4ths vegetable matter. This percentage can be changed after two weeks when the rapid growth begins.
A Word About Vitamin supplements (Vionate)
We have found that our chicks (and breeders too) do much better when we use the product called Vionate. This is a supplement which has many followers. I am one. I feel that it gives the chicks what they need and in addition to that it helps keep the toes from going crooked. I have no scientific evidence for my feeling, but I feel strongly enough that I feed this supplement to all my birds. This vitamin is rather expensive when bought by the pound - but if you get several pounds (enough for one breeding season) it is very reasonable considering all of the benefits. I have found that it tends to go stale so should be used up probably within a year. I buy it in 50 pound boxes.
Two Weeks and Beyond
When you get the chicks up to two weeks of age, most of the battle is won with toes going crooked or legs going out. It seems that the first two weeks are the most critical. More protein can be added to the diet but the ration of vegetable matter should remain the same. I give lots of grass clippings from my lawn to the birds as they are growing out. They love it and always are eager to eat a salad treat. The cooked bean food is continued throughout the life of the bird. I am a real believer in this method of feeding all birds. It works and the birds seem to love it. Regardless of the species of birds you raise, if you can get them a diet much like the one they raising other gamebirds, you can raise Vulturine guineafowl successfully. You need to be sure you get good strong unrelated blood. If you do this success can be yours. Secondly, I hope that by reading this article and using some of my methods you can save yourself the heartbreak of failure. It has been my purpose to give you the benefit of what I have learned from others and what I have learned by my own experience. You can pay me back by giving help to someone else.
