No abstract

In order to promote farming of guinea fowl and to diversify the sources of income of Ivorian farmers, a survey was conducted in 2016 in 15 regions (197 farmers) out of a total of 31 regions in Ivory Coast. The aims were 1) to establish a better knowledge of guinea fowl farming; 2) to assess the level of technical knowledge of farmers; and 3) to establish a global typology of farmers based on their socio-economic profile, the goal of the farming (sale or consumption), and their level of technical knowledge. The sampling was realized according to a snowball type design (chain referral sampling method) a non-probabilistic method where farmers were selected not from a sampling frame but from the friendship network of existing farmers of the sample. Guinea fowl farming was undertaken by persons from all the social levels with no distinctions due to sex, religion, ethnic group, or level of education. For farmers with more than 48 guinea fowl and farmers who were Muslims, farming was a source of income. Owners of guinea fowl under 60 yr old, Christians and atheists kept a part of their production for their own consumption and marketed the remainder of the flock. Incubation was primarily accomplished by a laying hen, with an estimated hatching rate of 72%. In our survey, 68.5% of the farmers had a good practical knowledge of guinea fowl farming. The identified weaknesses of guinea fowl farming in the regions where the survey took place were the absence of knowledge of guinea fowl farming and the poverty of farmers who could not afford incubators nor provide a good nutrition to their animals. The future development of this farming will have to take into account all these weaknesses that are also limitations to this development.

A total of 144 French selected breed (Galor) female guinea fowl (GF) of 42 wk of age were enrolled for a feeding trial of 15, 30, and 45 D duration. The birds were randomly assigned to 18 cages, each containing 8 birds. A total of 3 isonitrogenous and isocaloric dietary treatments were trialed, each diet comprising 6 replications (cages), which meant a total of 48 birds per diet. The GF were fed either a control diet C (commercial diet “FACI ponte 20”, SIPRA, Ivory Coast, usually used for all poultry species) or the diet C supplemented with 5% Euphorbia heterophylla seeds (diet E) and the diet C supplemented with 5% Hevea seed meal ( Hevea brasiliensis ) (diet H). Animal performance were assessed for 3 periods (days 0 to 15, 0 to 30, and 0 to 45), and egg quality and composition were assessed at 15, 30, and 45 D of the trial. The results indicated no mortality during the trial. The laying rate was the highest (43.9%) with diet E and the lowest with diet C (32.5%), the laying rate with diet H being intermediate (38.5%). Diet E containing Euphorbia seeds led to a reduced cholesterol content of the eggs. Additionally, inclusion of Euphorbia seeds and, to a lesser extent, of the Hevea seed meal in the diet led to n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid enriched GF eggs, with thereby, improved nutritional value. A sensory test did not find any difference between the 3 diets on trial.

L’alimentation des cailles (Coturnix coturnix japonica) dans les fermes ivoiriennes est basée principalement sur les aliments commerciaux de poules pondeuses. Cependant, cette pratique pourrait nuire à la qualité nutritionnelle des œufs. L’objectif de cette étude était de déterminer l’impact de cet aliment (régime témoin) ou de sa supplémentation avec 5 % de graines d’euphorbe (Euphorbia heterophylla) (régime R5) sur le profil en acides gras des jaunes d’œufs de 30 cailles de 172 ± 2 g durant 15 jours. Les résultats ont montré que le régime R5 ne modifiait pas les teneurs en acides gras saturés, en acides gras mono-insaturés et en acides gras polyinsaturés oméga-6 (AGPI n-6) (p > 0,05). Cependant, il a induit une amélioration de la teneur en acides gras polyinsaturés oméga-3 (AGPI n-3) (p < 0,05) qui était cinq fois plus élevée que celle du régime témoin. Les proportions des acides gras C18:3 n-3, C20:5 n-3 et C22:6 n-3 des jaunes d’œufs issus de R5 ont été multipliées respectivement par 17, 11 et 3. Par ailleurs, le rapport AGPI n-6 / AGPI n-3 était inférieur à 4. Ainsi, l’incorporation de 5 % de graines d’euphorbe dans l’aliment commercial de poules pondeuses a permis d’améliorer la qualité nutritionnelle des œufs de cailles.