Zambia Agribusiness Society

The domestic guinea fowl (Numida meliagris) is a poultry bird that derives its name from the guinea coast of West Africa where it originated. Many poultry farmers in Africa are doing Guinea Fowl farming business successfully, mainly for profit. The Guineas are also sometimes called Guineas , Pintades or Gleanies . The commonest variety of guinea fowl is the Peal helmeted guinea fowl. On the contrary, guinea fowl production has proven to be commercially viable and is raised in large numbers in Europe and the United States of America where it has been successfully commercialized. In India, these birds are raised as free range scavenging birds in rural areas. Guinea fowls are easier to manage by resource poor farmers with hardly any access to formal veterinary services because they are resistant to most poultry diseases at the adult stage. Housing is rudimentary and health management practices depend, largely, on ethno-veterinary medicine . Guinea fowl , often referred to as guineas,

Today I want to share my experience in poultry on disease control and biosecurity on farms. Most diseases are brought onto the farm. Very rarely do disease emerge on the farm. This is why biosecurity is very important. Disease can be defined as lack of ease; any abnormality in the state of normal health is in effect disease. Sometimes in our excitement to show off our progress, we have allowed visitors into or near our chicken runs without carrying out proper biosecurity safety measures: 1.     Do not allow visitors or anyone not working at the poultry house have access to your chickens. 2.     All poultry workers should have uniforms, two pairs. One for working inside the poultry houses; only take it home for washing and another for outside the poultry house. Same with boots. 3.     Encourage poultry workers to bath before they start a new day. If possible provide bath facilities and soap at the farm. 4.     Put footbaths at entry pointes to poultry houses and also for v