Odafe-Shalome Gideon* and Favour Imakhon

Bio-Resources and Agro-Food Technology Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Benin, Nigeria

*Corresponding Author:Odafe-Shalome Gideon, Bio-Resources and Agro-Food Technology Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Benin-City, Nigeria.

Received: June 20, 2022; Published: October 19, 2022

Abstract

The helmeted Guinea fowl is most prevalent of bird species in the family of pheasants in Nigeria. There seems to be an increase in the production, marketing and distribution of this bird due to increasing demand for poultry products. Twenty (20) guinea fowls were sampled from livestock markets in Edo and Delta States, and were examined for their physical and carcass characteristics, by measuring the indices of morphology and by chemical analyses. The average body length of the bird was 56.6 ± 2.37 cm and height 25.6 ± 1.6cm, wing lengths 19.3 ± 1.39cm and neck length 13.3 ± 1.15cm. Average live weight recorded was 0.848g, while average slaughter and dressed weights were 0.733g and 0.639g respectively while dressing percentage was 75.6%. Guinea fowl meat odor was pleasant, meat color was white, the lean well textured and delicate with distinctive game flavor. Proximate analysis of dressed carcass indicated average crude protein content of 32.54%, mean ether extract value of 18.6%, while mean ash content was 1.87%. It was found a good source of low-fat functional meat. This study recommended that guinea fowl production and consumption should be promoted as an alternative and as supplementary to other poultry species in Nigeria.

Keywords: Guinea Fowl; Carcass Characteristic; Chemical Composition; Meat Yield

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Citation

Citation: Odafe-Shalome Gideon and Favour Imakhon. “Morphology, Carcass Quality and Composition of the Helmeted Guinea Fowl Numida Meleagris, in Nigeria". Acta Scientific Veterinary Sciences 4.11 (2022): 127-133.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2022 Odafe-Shalome Gideon and Favour Imakhon. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.