At Sh50 each, guinea fowl eggs are my moneymaker

Jefferson Mwamburi’s farm in Ndembwa, Taita Taveta County, is a popular destination in the village.

You cannot miss the direction if you are a visitor as all you need to ask for is ‘Kwa kijana wa kanga’ (young man who keeps guinea fowls).

Mwamburi, 29, keeps 150 guinea fowls and about 100 turkeys as well as 50 kienyeji chickens.

“I keep the birds mainly for eggs because there is increased demand. People are beginning to like guinea fowl eggs because they are tastier than those from chickens.”

He sells a mature guinea fowl at Sh2,000, a day-old keet at Sh300 and an egg goes for Sh50.

“I have a regular order to supply 10 guinea fowls every month, five each, to two different restaurants in Voi. I get at least Sh20,000 every month from the sale of the birds,” he says, adding that the bird’s meat is drier and leaner than chicken’s and has more proteins than even that of turkeys.

Being the only person in the region with a licence to keep guinea fowls, Mwamburi has a monopoly.

According to him, as compared to chicken, guinea fowls are low maintenance.

“A kilo or two of maize is enough for his birds daily because they free-range eating insects and weeds in the field.

They also don’t destroy crops, thus, one has no conflicts with neighbours despite the birds roaming freely,” says Mwamburi, who has made nests for them for laying.

He notes that collecting the eggs is easier as once one bird lays an egg at a spot, the others normally follow suit.

“It takes five months for the birds to start laying eggs, and once they start, they lay an egg a day.

RESISTANT TO POULTRY DISEASES

I get an average of 15 eggs from my 20 laying birds daily. I normally sell about 300 a month and give the rest to a brooding hen for laying.”

Guinea fowls are resistant to most poultry diseases. “After vaccinating them against Newcastle disease, I keep on deworming regularly after every three months.”

“In the over two years that I have been keeping these birds, none has died due to illness and the only two that died were killed by dogs,” adds Mwamburi, who worked as a bus conductor in Nairobi before returning home to farm.

Apart from providing meat and eggs, they also offer security as they normally sound an alarm whenever anything unusual occurs on the farm.

Guinea fowls droppings are also good manure, with the farmer using it to grow French beans, peas and vegetables on the 2.5 acres family land.
Mwamburi recounts that his love for the birds begun in 2011 when he visited a relative in Thika.

“He gave me 10 guinea fowl eggs to bring to my grandfather who I stay with in Taita. However, instead of cooking for the old man all the eggs, I gave five to a brooding hen to see if they would hatch,” he recounts.

“I got three keets and the result is all the birds I have today. Two of the keets turned out to be hens while one was a cock.

When they started laying, I used indigenous chickens to hatch them.”

He used the method to end up with about 500 birds in 2014, expanding his market.

“A guinea fowl lays for at least three months before seeking to brood.

This makes me have constant supply of eggs to hatch and sell, which I get orders of up to 10 crates a month. On average, a single guinea fowl can lay up to 100 eggs a year.”

INBREEDING PRODUCE WEAK CHICKS

Turkeys are also another money-maker for Mwamburi.

He got the first turkeys from his grandfather in 2012 though he had to buy a cock from a farmer in Kibwezi.

“Turkeys, like the guinea fowls, start laying at five to six months.

I sell a single turkey egg at Sh500 and a day-old poult at Sh600. At three to five months, they cost Sh3,500 and a mature one goes for Sh5,000.”

He feeds the poults on starter mash before changing to growers mash at the end of two months, which he gradually mixes with maize before he lets them free to scavenge for insects on the farm.

“One good thing about turkeys is that they hatch all the eggs they are given unless they are spoilt.

They are also very protective of their chicks and hence there are rare cases of them losing the young ones unless they are affected by diseases,” says Mwamburi, noting he sells the birds in hotels in the town and through online marketplaces.

However, it is all not rosy, one of the challenges he has to grapple with is inbreeding.

“Since few people keep both turkeys and guinea fowls, there is a high chance that closely related birds will mate and this will produce ‘weak’ chicks.

I usually get a new cock regularly from other farms to reduce the chances of inbreeding.”

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What experts say

• The birds prefer free-ranging: Guinea fowls prefer free-ranging to regimentation as they eat insects and grains.
• There are seven species of guinea fowls, but the “helmeted pearl” is by far the most common, and certainly the ‘weirdest’ looking, with its oddly shaped helmet, white, featherless face, bright red wattles, and gray polka-dotted feathers.
• If you are looking for a bird with leaner meat richer in protein, then the guinea fowl should be your choice.
• You need a licence to rear them. The licensure process is done at the Kenya Wildlife Service, Nairobi.

• For turkeys, they also prefer free-ranging and hatch all their eggs.