Blood profile, egg laying performance, egg external and internal qualities of guinea fowls raised in three different housing systems

Abstract This study evaluated the impact of different housing systems on the blood profile, egg production, egg external and internal characteristics of guinea fowl. Two hundred and thirty-four 24 week- old Helmeted guinea fowl pullets were used of which 78 were assigned to each housing system; cage, deep litter and deep litter with access to run. Each housing system had six replicate groups of 13 birds each. Data were collected on egg laying performance and characteristics. Blood sampling and analyses were carried out at the 16th week of the experiment. All data collected were subjected to analysis of variance in a Completely Randomized Experimental Layout. The result indicated that the average final weight, weight gain, feed intake, feed per dozen egg and total egg were significantly (p < 0.05) influenced across the housing systems. Interestingly, egg weight, shell thickness and yolk colour were observed to be more in deep litter with free run housing system. Hens in the deep litter with free run had the highest (p < 0.05) total serum protein (4.27g/dl), albumin (2.57g/dl) and glucose (208.33mg/dl) values compared to other systems. White blood cell count was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in deep litter and deep litter with free run than cage system. It was concluded that hens in deep litter housing with free run had better growth and egg quality traits, suggesting that this housing type was more beneficial to guinea fowl under tropical conditions than cage and deep litter housing types.