Placido Hilukilwa
GUINEA fowls have always been wild creatures populating parts of the northern regions of Namibia and were a preferred target of traditional hunters who contributed to the near disappearance of the species.
However, guinea fowls are making a comeback, now as domesticated birds.
Titus Daniel, a retired non-commissioned military police officer of the Namibian Defence Force (NDF), is one of very few subsistence farmers who now own guinea fowls.
A resident of the Ondukuta village in the Tsandi Constituency of the Omusati Region, Daniel says he acquired two pairs of guinea fowls in 2020.
“They have reproduced rapidly,” he says.
He noted that he sells some and also catches for the pot.
His poultry now numbers over 40 guinea fowls and an even bigger number of chickens. The domesticated birds are not enclosed but roam freely in the fairly big mahangu field and the nearby bushes.
Interestingly, they “know” his voice. When he makes a specific vocal sound they all run to gather at an area where he feeds them.
“Feeding them is not very expensive and I have not yet noted any kind of disease among the birds,” he says.
