A Detailed Explanation of Porcupine Farming Techniques and Management Methods

The whole body of the porcupine is a treasure; both its meat and its quills can generate profit, making it a highly valuable animal. Because porcupine profits are so high, the porcupine farming industry has gradually become an emerging industry in our country. The editor has compiled some knowledge on porcupine farming techniques to share with interested farmers here.

Porcupine Farming Techniques

1. Farming Conditions

Semi-free-range rearing: Choose a hilly slope facing south, with good drainage conditions, relatively thick soil, and forest trees to build the site. The size of the site depends on the designed stocking population. A male-to-female ratio of 1:3 to 1:4 is suitable. Place porcupine breeding stock and feed inside the enclosure, and the porcupines will dig their own burrows to rest and feed.

Artificial captive rearing: Build a roofed shed, with the breeding pens divided into inner and outer nest chambers. Lay a solid concrete floor (with bedding straw placed on the floor). The inner and outer nest chambers generally have a width of 2 m, a length of 3 m, and a height of 1.1-1.2 m; the inner nest is the place where porcupines rest and give birth, and the outer chamber is the area for their activity and sunbathing, with a drinking water pool built on the side of the outer chamber near the iron door. As for feed placement, put it in the inner nest chamber on rainy days, and in the outer chamber on sunny days.

2. Feeding Methods

Porcupines mainly eat the tuberous roots of plants, and also eat fruits, seeds, etc. Porcupines living in deep mountains feed on wild plants. Porcupines living in mountain forests near crops, in addition to feeding on wild plants, also steal and eat crops such as corn, sweet potato, soybean, peanut, pineapple and various melons.

Therefore, under artificial feeding conditions, in addition to the above feeds, pine roots, holly branches, etc. can also be provided. The total daily ration should be based on being basically finished each night with a slight remainder. Any small amount of feed left uneaten should be completely removed from the site the next day.

3. Nutrition Aspects

1. Increase the nutrient concentration of the feed, use easily digestible raw materials, add substances that can improve digestibility, and adjust the ratio among crude protein, energy and amino acids.

2. Strengthen the dosage of health-care drugs and vitamins to reduce stress and maintain health.

3. Reduce the heat increment (HI) and undigested protein (C U P) content in the formula.

4. Feed Aspects

1. Ensure the freshness of the feed: feed is prone to spoilage in summer, and livestock and poultry mostly refuse to eat spoiled feed. Ensuring feed freshness helps increase the feed intake of livestock and poultry.

2. Monitor feed intake: if the intake is far below the standard value, be sure to look for the cause in environmental factors or feed and nutritional factors, and deal with it immediately.

3. Regularly clean feeding equipment: bulk bins must be emptied before new feed is added, and all feeding equipment should be rinsed once every 14 days with a volatile antifungal agent (mixed acids).

4. Add antifungal agents to the feed: if the feed has a high moisture content or is used after long storage, mold inhibitors such as propionic acid and calcium propionate should be added. If the feed is suspected of being contaminated by mycotoxins, toxin adsorbents should be added. When pigs are suspected of having mycosis, therapeutic agents should be added, and care should be taken that the dosage is sufficient.

5. Disease Prevention and Control

Porcupines have strong vitality and almost never get sick. However, in late spring and early summer, green feed should preferably account for only 30% of the total daily ration, to prevent bloating and nitrite poisoning. At the same time, change the clean water once a day, and add 0.5% ciprofloxacin (powder) at intervals in the drinking water, regularly carry out intestinal deworming, replace bedding straw and disinfect the site.

Porcupine Costs and Profits

First-year investment: calculating an average of 2 cubs per female porcupine, 75 females × 2 = 150 cubs; based on 75 females, there are then 150 female pigs in total. The feed cost that year is 1 animal × 1 yuan/day × 30 days × 12 months (365 yuan/year) = 54,750 yuan. In the first year, the farming funds that need to be supplemented are 55,000 + 25,000 (labor wages) = 80,000 yuan.

Second-year investment: calculating an average of 2 cubs per female porcupine, 150 × 2 = 300 cubs; based on 150 females, there are then 300 female pigs in total. The first year's male pigs sold as commercial stock yield a profit of 75 × 1,000 yuan/animal = 75,000 yuan. The feed cost that year is 525 animals × 365 yuan/year = 191,625 yuan. In the second year, the farming funds that need to be supplemented are 191,625 - 75,000 + 30,000 (labor wages) = 146,650 yuan.

Third-year investment: calculating an average of 2 cubs per female porcupine, 300 females × 2 = 600 cubs; counting 300 female pigs, there are 900 female pigs in total. The second year's 150 male porcupines can be sold as commercial pigs for 150 × 1,000 yuan = 150,000 yuan. The feed cost for breeding pigs that year is 1,200 animals × 365 yuan/year = 438,000 yuan. In the second year, the funds that need to be supplemented are 438,000 - 150,000 + 30,000 (labor wages) = 318,000 yuan. At this point, the porcupine inventory is 900 animals; calculated at 2,500 yuan each, 900 × 2,500 yuan = 2,250,000 yuan.

Precautions for Farming Porcupines

1. Feeding in the early morning is the coolest period of the day, and feeding at this time is most able to increase feed intake.

2. Reduce disturbance to livestock and poultry: personnel movement and equipment movement should be cautious and careful; hot weather plus disturbance will cause even greater stress to the pigs.

3. Mating work should be carried out when the weather is cool.

4. For sows that have no appetite after giving birth, the piglets should be separated immediately, the pen washed clean, the sow kept cool, and if necessary, enema and uterine washing should be administered to lower body temperature.

5. Avoid overcrowding: overcrowding is the biggest factor in stress and heat generation, so stocking density must be reduced when raising them in summer.

6. Wet feeding is the most effective way to increase feed intake, but it must be finished immediately, otherwise it spoils very easily.

Porcupine Farming Prospects

1. From the perspective of economic value:

1. High edible value. Because of its high nutritional value, the porcupine has long been known as the “ginseng” of meats, and is a top-grade dish on modern dining tables, deeply loved by diners.

2. High medicinal value. Porcupine meat, porcupine quills and their organs can all be used as medicine, with extremely high medicinal value, so it can truly be said that the whole body is a treasure.

3. Unique ornamental value. Exhibited in zoos.

4. Craft value. Porcupine quills can be made into floats and high-grade ornaments.

2. From the perspective of modern dietary concepts: porcupine meat is tender and rich in nutrients; whether steamed, boiled, fried, stewed, simmered or roasted, it has a fragrant, fresh taste and a unique flavor, and can truly be called a top-grade mountain delicacy and game. The porcupine has excellent characteristics such as high protein, high glutamic acid, low fat, low cholesterol and good taste, which conform to modern people's scientific dietary concept of nutrition plus health care, and it is deeply favored by consumers.

3. From the perspective of the consumer market: at present, the only mature domestic consumer market is Guangzhou, where annual consumption is about 40,000 animals, consuming 75% of the country's commercial porcupines. There is still 90% of the domestic market waiting to be developed, which shows that the market potential is extremely great.

4. From the perspective of farming risk: the porcupine's immunity and disease resistance are very strong; it does not need vaccinations throughout its life, diseases are very few, and they are easy to treat. Since recorded history, no case of large-scale group disease and death has been found, so compared with other projects the risk is smaller.

After reading the above article, everyone has learned about porcupine farming techniques and farming prospects and other knowledge. Because wild porcupines are becoming fewer and fewer due to slaughter, porcupines have begun to rely on artificial breeding to avoid extinction. The huge profits brought by porcupines are also quite considerable, making this a popular recommended industry for farmers.