Key Technical Points for Feeding and Management of Blue Peafowl in the Late Brooding Period
From 31 to 90 days after hatching is the late brooding period. After 30 days of age, peachicks can basically adapt to natural temperatures in the early summer season. As the body's defense system develops and matures and the feathers become increasingly full, the influence of temperature conditions on the growth and development of young chicks becomes less and less noticeable. At this time, because the maternal yolk in the chick's abdomen has been completely digested, the chicks' growth and development speed up, and their demand for nutrients increases.
In the late brooding period, the ground brooding method should be adopted. When brooding on the ground, the rearing area of the exercise yard and the bird house can be designed in a 2:1 ratio. The bird house should be kept clean, dry and well ventilated, and the ground should be covered with 3 to 5 cm of fine sand. At a height of 1 m above the ground, install tree trunks with a diameter of 4 to 5 cm as perches. The house should be equipped with lighting to supplement insufficient light at night or on rainy days, appropriately increasing the young chicks' activity and feeding time. The ground of the exercise yard should be higher than the bird house and slope outward to facilitate drainage. The perimeter of the exercise yard should be enclosed with wire mesh with a pore size of 2 cm and a height of 2 m. To facilitate exposure to sunlight, the bird house and exercise yard should face south. At the same time, to avoid direct strong light in summer, deciduous trees and shrubs can be planted in the exercise yard.
From the late brooding period onward, artificial heating can be stopped, but chicks must be prevented from catching cold. Peafowl like to flock together, so groups should be reasonably formed, generally 30 to 50 birds per group. Stocking density changes with increasing age, roughly 0.5 to 1 bird per sq m. The duration of natural light should also be extended as the age of the peachicks increases. At this time, natural light can be used entirely, and artificial light can be added on cloudy and rainy days. The relative humidity in the bird house should be kept at 50% to 60%, and attention should be paid to ventilation.
Because the growth rate accelerates, the total demand for various nutrients gradually increases. At this time, there are mainly two forms of feed used: pelleted feed made by mixing multiple feeds, and powdered compound feed. Pelleted feed is not used much; when powdered feed is used, chicken brooding feed is generally selected. However, peafowl are after all different from chickens. To meet the needs of feather growth and development, the daily ration of peachicks should include more vitamin feed and inorganic salts related to feather growth and development than chick feed.