| dc.contributor.author | Kimata, Dennis M. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Mwangi, Richard W. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Mathiu, Peter M. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2014-07-09T07:08:05Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2014-07-09T07:08:05Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2014 | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Kimata, D. M., Mwangi, R. W., & Mathiu, P. M. (2014). Confinement lowers fertility rate of helmeted guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) eggs: short communication. African Zoology, 49(1), 153-156. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.3377/004.049.0108#aff1 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11295/72282 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Guinea fowl is a common game bird in Africa and there have been efforts to domesticate it for use as a source of human food. An important obstacle in successful domestication of guinea fowl is their low fertility rate. We studied the effects of semi-confinement on the fertility rates of helmeted guinea fowl by comparing egg fertility, hatch rate and keet survival rates in a wild (WL) and a semi-confined (SC) group. We undertook the study in Eastern Kenya for a period of 16 months that represented three breeding cycles. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in egg fertility rates between egg laying cycles in the SC group. However, the egg fertility rate of the WL group was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that of the SC group. There were no significant differences in the hatch rate of eggs (P > 0.05) or the keet survival rates between the WL and SC groups. These results clearly show that low egg fertility rate is a key limiting factor in the reproductive success of helmeted guinea fowl kept in semi-confined spaces | en_US |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.publisher | University of Nairobi | en_US |
| dc.title | Confinement Lowers Fertility Rate of Helmeted Guinea Fowl (Numida meleagris) Eggs | en_US |
| dc.type | Article | en_US |
| dc.type.material | en | en_US |
