The effect of wetland on guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) egg productivity and fertility during the dry season in the guinea savannah ecological zone of Ghana

A survey was conducted in two wet and two dry communities (communities with or without wetland/water resource) in Tolon-Kumbungu District to compare the productivity of guinea fowls on–farm reared in these two environments. In all 86 guinea fowl farmers in the four communities were interviewed on the eggs productivity of their guinea fowls and the hatching rate of eggs produced in the early part of dry season (from October to December, 2010) using a structured questionnaire. The results revealed that guinea fowls production enterprise is male dominated with 89.35% of the farmers being men and 10.65% women. The means of total guinea fowls in the farmers stock were not significantly different in both wet and dry communities. Communities’ mean sex ratios of the guinea fowls were 4.68, 6.23, 6.02 and 3.05 for Cheyohi, Nyankpala, Nafram and Galinkpiegu respectively. These means were also not significantly different except Galinkpiegu which was significantly lower (P < 0.05) than Nyankpala and Nafram. The weekly eggs production means were 22.72, 41.80, 72.90 and 71.38 for Cheyohi, Nyankpala, Nafram and Galinkpiegu, respectively with Nafram and Galinkpiegu (wet communities) production being significantly higher (P < 0.05) per week than Cheyohi and Nyankpala (dry communities). The hatchability means of the eggs were 49.82, 52.93, 58.57 and 76.19% for Cheyohi, Nyankpala, Nafram and Galinkpiegu, respectively and were also significantly high in wet than dry communities under local hen incubation. It was concluded that given the same treatment, guinea fowls in wet communities produce more eggs with high fertility rate compared to those reared in dry communities during the dry season.