Guinea fowl are increasingly farmed for their meat and eggs but their welfare needs are poorly understood compared to chickens, leading to significant welfare failures.
Guinea fowl welfare is a largely neglected area of farmed animal welfare. These birds retain strong wild instincts for ranging and social hierarchy management that cannot be expressed in typical commercial housing. Fighting-related mortality — birds literally pecking each other to death — is a welfare indicator of chronic stress from inappropriate conditions. As guinea fowl farming expands to meet consumer demand for premium poultry products, welfare standards need to develop in parallel with production growth rather than lagging behind as they have with chickens.