Growth characteristics of pearl gray guinea fowl as predicted by the Richards, Gompertz, and logistic models.

This study was undertaken to describe the growth pattern of the pearl gray Guinea fowl. Using BW data from hatch to 22 wk, 3 nonlinear mathematical functions (Richards, Gompertz, and logistic) were used to estimate growth patterns of the pearl gray guinea fowl. The logistic and Gompertz models are a special case of the Richards model, which has a variable point of inflection defined by the shape or growth trajectory parameter, m. The shape parameter m was 1.08 and 0.98 in males and females, respectively, suggesting that the growth pattern of the pearl gray female guinea fowl is Gompertz. The pearl gray guinea fowl exhibited sexual dimorphism for their growth characteristics. From the Gompertz model, the asymptotic BW, growth rate, and age at maximum growth were 1.62 kg, 0.22 kg/wk, and 6.65 wk in males, respectively, and 1.70 kg, 0.19 kg/wk, and 6.70 wk in females, respectively. The ages at maximum growth were 6.65, 6.47, and 8.12 wk for the Richards, Gompertz, and logistic models, respectively. The pearl gray guinea fowl females have a higher asymptotic BW compared with the males. The average asymptotic BW of about 1.57 kg for both sexes predicted by the logistic model was below the average predicted BW from the Richards (1.66 kg) and Gompertz (1.67 kg) models, respectively, at 22 wk of age. The inverse relationship between the asymptotic weight and both relative growth and age at maximum growth of the pearl gray guinea fowl is similar to that of chickens, quail, and ducks. Success in studying the growth characteristics of guinea fowl will contribute to the efforts of genetically improving this least-studied avian species.