Guinea fowl in demand for health benefits

Santosh Nagar: Notwithstanding the temptation of owning a new kind of pet or make use for poultry purposes, the commuters travelling on the stretch between Santoshnagar and Chandrayangutta can be seen making a beeline to buy the guinea fowl. Each pair being sold for Rs 800, the buyers of these birds consider it to be a reasonable price on a par with country hen.

A guinea fowl, which is commonly called as ‘cheeni murgi’ or ‘seema kodi’ is slowly making its mark in households in the city. Mostly being raised by those who have open space or terraces, they opine that its egg and meat is considered to be good for health. Farmers from UP are seen selling these hens on the outskirts of the city and people are preferring to buy from them, as local chicken markets are charging more for each pair of guinea fowl. This bird is available in different colours like pink, black, yellow and its unique feature is white dots on its feathers, which are much softer compared to the country hen.

Locally called as ‘seema kodi’ the farmers across the Uttar Pradesh and some parts of neighboring AP, are raising the birds as its demand increased in the recent years. “Each household in villages of UP are raising these hens and in the recent years many farms have been opened. The reason behind farming of this hen is it tastes similar to turkey and can produce eggs with more frequency than country hen and considered to be good for health,” said S Ajay, a farmer from Allahabad, UP.

According to Ajay, for the last 10 years he has been transporting these birds from UP to Hyderabad and also to other states. This hen lays more eggs and continuously for four to five months. During each breeding season, they may lay 200 eggs and can have a life span of 2 to 3 years. The eggs of guinea fowl are considered useful in relieving cough allergy and cold. The meat of the guinea fowl is warmer, and the bird is bigger in size and lives more years than poultry hen and country hen and it tastes similar to turkey. “The weight of the hen can be somewhere between 1.5 kg to 4-5 kgs. Nowadays, people are buying these hens for poultry purposes like eggs.

The guinea fowl will survive longer, if it is paired with another one. These hens consume wheat, bajra, jowar and other similar grains. The rate of these hens starts from Rs 800 per pair based on their weight,” added the farmer.

Mohd Omer, a customer said that these hens taste similar to turkey and better than broiler and country chicken. It was also considered warmer and healthier to eat in this season. Eggs of these birds are also considered healthier. “I am preferring this to country hen because of the health benefits and it is reasonable as the price remains on a par with country hen, whose meat is being sold for a minimum of Rs 300 in the City and the live bird costs Rs 400. My grandfather eats these for cold and cough allergy, since 3 years we are buying these hens from this farmer. Earlier, I used to travel all the way to Ghatkesar for buying these birds,” he explained.