Origin & Heritage
West African by origin, kept across Jharkhand villages for generations. Ours roam free and roost in the mahua trees by evening.
Guinea Fowl
Guinea Fowl
The Farm Watchman
It earns its keep twice - clears the orchard of ticks all season, then eats like proper game: dark, iron-dense, and closer to a partridge than to chicken.
What It Eats
Almost entirely self-fed: ticks, grasshoppers, beetles and weed seeds off the orchard floor.
How It Is Raised
Completely free-ranging, roosting in the mahua trees by evening. The flock is the orchard pest control, so no spray is used.
Why It Is Worth It
A single flock strips ticks, grasshoppers and beetles off the orchard without any spray. The meat is dark, iron-dense and gamey.
Nutrition
About 110 kcal per 100 g.
23 g / 100 g
Protein
2.5 g / 100 g
Fat
110 kcal / 100 g
Calories
Higher than chicken
Iron
At a Glance
- Natural pest control, zero pesticide needed
- Dark gamey meat, richer than chicken
- Alarm-calls at any stranger near the coop
- Leaner than chicken, higher in iron
Recipes
Slow-Roast Guinea Fowl
2 hr
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 1 guinea fowl, whole
- 4 tbsp butter, softened
- 1 whole garlic bulb, halved
- 2 sprigs rosemary or a handful of curry leaves
- 1 lemon
- Salt and coarse black pepper
Method
- 1 Guinea fowl is lean and dries out fast, so push butter under the breast skin - this is the whole trick.
- 2 Stuff the cavity with garlic, lemon and herbs. Salt generously.
- 3 Roast covered at 160 C for 90 minutes.
- 4 Uncover, raise to 200 C for 15 minutes to colour the skin.
- 5 Rest it for ten full minutes before carving, or the juices run out onto the board.
