Helmeted Guinea Fowls

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Species studied: Helmeted Guinea Fowl (Numida meleagris) Introduction: Guinea fowl are birds that are native to Africa, but the helmeted guinea fowl has been domesticated and been introduced to many different countries such as USA, Brazil, France and Ireland. Guinea fowl are flock birds that roost communally. They eat insects such as ticks and also slugs and grasshoppers. This is of great value in areas where Lyme disease is a problem, as the disease is carried on the “deer tick”, which the guinea fowl eat! When startled, guinea fowl tend to run rather than fly. They have an extremely loud screech that they emit when alarmed. Because of this loud screech, the helmeted guinea fowl is sometimes used as a “guard bird”. They screech when an intruder approaches their enclosure which warns the other birds/the farmer. They also keep rodents out of the enclosure as they are quite vicious. Young guinea fowl are called Keets. (Houndit, 2010) I chose to study guinea fowl because my neighbor has been breeding them for years and I had never seen a guinea fowl before. I had assumed they would be similar to chickens and was surprised when their behavioral differences became clear. Description: Helmet is a pale and waxy attachment protruding from the top of its head. It curves away from the body. Grey feathers on its back with solid white spots. White feathers on the front crest. Its head is white with red surrounding an orange beak. The beak is strong, short and curved. Alert, wide, dark brown eyes. Long neck. 2 legs and 2 wings (usually tucked in close to its round body). Small head compared to the body. Orange toes that are straight and strong. It has a tail that is carried close to the ground and is very short ... ... middle of paper ... ...re are many different variations and possibilities that could occur carrying out this test. It would be necessary to have the original flock as the “control” – to show the normal behaviors that guinea fowl carry out without interference. It would also be necessary to have multiple versions of the test to achieve an overall result using the majority. Works Cited Ericcson, M. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:325388/FULLTEXT01.pdf Houndit. (2010, March 21). Retrieved from Backyard Chickens: http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/312682/raising-guinea-fowl-101 Jacob, J., Pescatore, T., & Cantor, A. (2011, February). University of Kentucky. Retrieved from http://www2.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/Factsheets/Keeping_guinea_fowl.pdf Pabbst, L. (2008, September 11). Primate info net. Retrieved from http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/callicam/ethogram.html

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