Socio-economic background, egg characteristics and hatchability of guinea fowl (Numida meleagris L) farming in Far-North Cameroon.

The aim of this study was to contribute to guinea fowl farming productivity. Thus, a socio-economic and technical survey was conducted in Far-North Cameroon and 500 eggs were randomly collected for hatchability assessment. Additionaly, 90 eggs were collected from three localities for physico-chemical analysis. Guinea fowls are raised in free range and 53.3 % of farmers have traditional shelters and no sanitary measures are taken. Farmers have traditional know-how in terms of egg selection techniques for brooding and the management of guinea fowl. They are mostly sold at the market and prices of one living guinea fowl vary between 3 and 5 USD. Major constraints consist in financial needs and lack of appropriate rearing practices. Physico-chemical characteristics showed that weight and edible mater proportions were not affected by locality. Haugh unit of eggs from Bipain (71.04±3.88%) were lower than those from Guidiguis (81.01±7.40%) and Chaochai (84.30±5.83%) and the reverse was observed for lipid and protein contents. Effective hatching rate was 28.96% respectively with an embryonic mortality rate of 42.2% for all eggs. This work shows that guinea fowl farming remains poorly developed and the artificial incubation performances remain low, hence the need for better ways to increase productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]