GUINEAS
=Description.= The guinea, or guinea fowl, is about the size of a small
fowl. It is very much like the fowl in some respects but not at all like
it in some others. Naturalists classify it in the pheasant family, but
its present place in domestication is so different from that of the
pheasant that a poultry keeper hardly ever associates them in his
thought. In appearance the guinea is a unique bird. The shape of the
body and shape of the head are both peculiar. The body is quite plump,
the back nearly horizontal, and the tail short and much depressed. The
neck and legs are rather short. The feathers of the neck are short, and
the head is bare. The skin of the head and face is a bluish-white. The
bird has a small, knoblike red comb and short, stiff, red wattles
projecting from the cheeks. The plumage of the body is quite long,
loose, and soft, and lies so smoothly that it appears much shorter and
closer than it is.
The male and female are of nearly the same size, and so like in
appearance that the sex cannot be distinguished with certainty by any
external character. The comb and wattles of the male are sometimes
conspicuously larger than those Of the female, but this difference is
not regular. Although the voices of the male and female are different,
the difference is not easily described, nor is it readily detected
except by people who are familiar with the birds, and whose ears are
trained to distinguish the different notes. Both sexes make a rapid,
sharp, clattering sound, and also a shrill cry of two notes. The cry of
the male is harsher and has a more aggressive tone; that of the female
has a somewhat plaintive sound, which some people describe as like the
words "come back, come back."
The name "guinea" comes from the country of Guinea in Africa, from
which the birds were introduced into America and Western Europe. The
male guinea fowl is called a guinea cock; the female, a guinea hen; the
young, guinea chickens.
=Origin.= The guinea fowl is a native of Africa. It is said that there
are about a dozen similar species on that continent. This species is
abundant there in both the wild and the domesticated state, and also in
a half-wild state. It was probably brought into partial domestication at
a very early date, for it was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans, as
well as to the early civilized nations of Northern Africa. It may have
been distributed through Western Europe by the Romans. According to one
account, some English monks had guineas in the thirteenth century. It is
likely that they were rare in Europe at that time and soon disappeared,
for the modern Europeans had never seen them until they were taken to
Europe from the West Indies, where, it is said, they had been brought by
slave ships from Africa. There is a tradition that the first guineas in
America were brought direct from Africa with the first cargo of slaves
from that continent. In the West Indies and in South America the guinea,
after its introduction, ran wild. The natural color of the species is a
bluish-gray with many small, round white spots on each feather. On the
flight feathers of the wings these spots are so placed that they form
irregular bars.
[Illustration: Fig. 165. White guinea fowls]
=Varieties.= The only change that has taken place in the guinea in
domestication is the production of color varieties. White sports from
the original variety, which is called the Pearl Guinea, were developed
as a distinct variety. Crosses of White and Pearl Guineas produced birds
with white on the neck, the breast, and the under part of the body.
These are called Pied Guineas, but are not regarded as a distinct
variety. Birds with the original white markings but with the color very
much lighter and sometimes of a decidedly reddish tinge have also been
produced by crossing. These are not considered a distinct variety, but
are sometimes exhibited as such under the name of "Lavender Guineas."
Some of the older works on poultry describe the Self-Colored Guinea, a
gray bird without white spots, and the Netted Guinea, in which the
original colors are reversed. The author has never seen these varieties,
nor has he found any mention of them in the works of later writers.
=Place in domestication.= The guinea is as eccentric in nature and
habits as it is unique in appearance. It is an ill-tempered bird, very
pugnacious, and persistently annoys any other birds with which it comes
in contact. While inclined to be shy of man and to resent his control,
it likes to establish itself between wild and domestic conditions, where
it is independent yet enjoys the safety from its enemies that proximity
to the habitations of man affords. The hens are very prolific layers.
This characteristic is said to be as well developed in the wild as in
the domestic stock. Although they lay so well, they are not usually
considered desirable for egg production, because the eggs are small and
it is hard to keep the birds under such control that the eggs are easily
secured. The flesh and skin of the guinea are quite dark in color. The
dressed carcass is not at all attractive in appearance, but the meat is
very good. Many people prefer it to the flesh of the fowl.
The guinea is not really a domestic bird. It is possible to keep a few
in confinement and to rear the young with other poultry, but the adult
birds are so noisy and vicious that very few people want them near the
house or with other poultry. They would not be tolerated as much as they
are but for the traditional notion that their noisy clamor keeps hawks
away. Many farmers keep a few guineas, supposing that they are of
service in this way. Those who have tried to find out whether the noise
of the guinea really has any effect on hawks say that the hawks are just
as bad where there are guineas as where there are none.
The only way that guineas can be made profitable is by treating them as
half-wild birds--letting them establish themselves in the woods where
they can maintain themselves--and then shooting or trapping a part of
the flock each season. The number of guineas now produced in this way is
steadily increasing in many parts of the United States where the winters
are not severe and where wild animals which prey upon game birds are
kept in subjection.
[Illustration: Fig. 166. White guinea hen with brood]
=Management of domestic guineas.= As has been stated, guineas are so
hard to control that few persons try to keep them in close quarters or
where they must have particular attention. When a few birds are kept on
a farm, they are usually allowed to wander at will; the owner secures as
many of their eggs as he can find before they spoil, and perhaps hatches
a few of them under hens, for the guinea hens often lay a long time
without going broody. As they are prone to hide their nests and are very
clever in eluding observation, it not infrequently happens that, when a
nest is found, it contains a great many eggs, a large part of which
have been spoiled by long exposure to the weather.
The first care of the breeder of these birds is to see that he has
suitable proportions of males and females. Guineas are disposed to mate
in pairs. Some poultry keepers who have observed them closely say that
while one or more extra females may associate with a pair, the eggs of
the extra females do not usually hatch well. Occasionally it happens
that a small flock are all males or all females, and the owner does not
find it out until too late in the season to get a bird of the missing
sex. When a supposed guinea hen does not lay in the breeding season, the
owner often thinks that she lays but manages to completely baffle his
search for the nest.
The period of incubation for guinea eggs is four weeks. The young birds
may be managed the same as young turkeys while small, but do not need as
close watching to keep them from wandering away. Those that are hatched
and reared by fowls are tamer than those reared by guinea hens, but are
not so hardy.