• The guinea fowl, also known as Helmeted Guinea fowl (Numidia Meleagris) and Gallinaceous Guinea fowl, is a bird which develops well in an aviary despite its wild character. It is the size of a small chicken and has a greyish plumage with white dots that appear to have been painted.

• Known for 2000 years, the guinea fowl originated in Africa, where it is sometimes still found in the wild. Today, practiced in most parts of the world, guinea fowl breeding is particularly developed in France.

Practical info
Originally from Africa, where they live in the wild, guinea fowls were introduced to France, where they adorned or completed the farmyards. Guinea fowl whose plumage is dark grey speckled in white, are bred for their firm, tender and tasty meat. France is the no.1 producer, consumer and exporter worldwide of guinea fowl.

Fresh guinea fowl must have a beautiful skin color: ranging from straw yellow, orangey to a yellowish brown slightly grey. The guinea fowl can be kept 8 days in the refrigerator and up to 18 months in the freezer.

Whole guinea fowl is easy to cook and very tasty when oven baked, while the parts (thighs and supremes (breasts)) are ideal for rapid preparations (sautéed, barbecued...) destined for all of today’s consumers: from the gourmet to the young and active and single individuals looking for convenience and simplicity.

The helmeted guinea fowl (Numidia Meleagris) is a bird species, belonging to the bird family, Numididae. It is monotypic in its kind. This bird measures 60 to 65 cm with a wingspan of 95 to 100 cm.

Description
This bird measures 60 to 65 cm with a wingspan of 95 to 100 cm.

It is a large dark grey massif gallinacean heavily speckled with white. A small, whitish featherless head with a boney comb sits above a scrawny neck.

The juvenile is a dull, brownish yellow and speckled in pale. The immature is of a darker brown color, heavily speckled with a whitish tone. It becomes an adult in the second winter.

Distribution
Due to overhunting, the helmeted guinea fowl has become rare and only lives south of the Tibesti Mountains and North of Chad and on certain Cape Verde Islands, where populations have been introduced. The species formerly inhabited the north and the center of Morocco, but very few recent reports exist and all can be related to domestic birds. However, it might survive in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains and neighbouring areas.

Behaviour
This timid and cautious bird lives in small groups. It runs quickly on its rather long legs but flies very little.

The usual cry is a hoarse cackling. This bird feeds in brushy areas strewn with trees and bushes.