Birds maintain a high core temperature around 40°C. Most need to have their brains a degree or so cooler, but the Helmeted Guineafowl Numida meleagris can cope with a temperature difference of as much as 6.5°, which is unusual. With naked heads and a large helmet and wattles, they can lose plenty of heat by convective loss.
These commonly kept birds are hardy despite their origins in Africa. However the youngsters, known as ‘keets’, cannot cope with dewy grass in their first few weeks of life, they need to be kept dry.
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