Construction Methods and Technical Points for Porcupine Farms

Farming porcupines is different from farming domestic pigs. Porcupines are wilder than domestic pigs, and wild porcupines are protected animals of the state and must not be hunted at will. However, porcupines are indeed excellent game meat, and their nutritional value is very good as well, which has led many people to set their sights on the porcupine farming market.

Construction of a Porcupine Farm

1. Layout of porcupine rearing pools  

The porcupine rearing pools use a side-by-side back-to-back layout, with a walkway left between the two rows of rearing pools. The walkway is 1.0-1.2 m wide, and a drainage ditch is set in the ground beside each row of rearing pools. The drainage ditch specifications are: width x height = 20 cm x 20 cm.  

2. Area of the porcupine rearing pools  

Each lactating female porcupine occupies a rearing pool area of no less than 1.2 sq m, and each adult porcupine occupies a rearing area of no less than 0.4 sq m. Each growing porcupine occupies a rearing area of no less than 0.3 sq m, and each young porcupine occupies a rearing area of no less than 0.2 sq m.  

3. Structure of the porcupine rearing pools  

The rearing pools are built with red bricks or cement bricks, the inner walls are plastered with cement mortar on all four sides, and the floor is a cement structure, which should maintain a 3-5 degree slope to facilitate drainage. On the side near the drainage ditch, a water outlet is left, with an outlet diameter ≈5 cm. Sturdy and durable drinking water facilities are installed in the rearing pool, at an appropriate location and a reasonable height, for ease of maintenance.  

4. Types and specifications of porcupine rearing pools  

According to the requirements of different growth and development stages of porcupines, the following types of rearing pools should be built:  

① Large pool. The large pool is a rectangular cement pool, with specifications of: length 2 m * width 1.2 m * height 0.8 m. The large pool is mainly used for rearing breeding porcupines.  

② Small pool. The specifications of the small pool are length 1.2 m * width 1 m * height 0.8 m. The small pool is mainly used for rearing porcupines in the growing stage.  

③ Domestication pool. The domestication pool consists of two parts, an inner chamber and an exercise yard. Between the chamber and the exercise yard there is a small hole with a diameter of 30 cm for porcupines to enter and exit freely. The inner chamber specifications are: length 1 m, width 0.6 m, height 0.8 m. Above the inner chamber, cardboard, wooden boards or asbestos tiles are used as a cover to imitate the dark environment of a porcupine den. The exercise yard specifications are: length 1 m, width 0.6 m, height 0.8 m. The exercise yard is mainly used for feeding porcupines, and no cover is added on top. 

Construction Methods for a Porcupine Farm  

1. Pig house: An ideal pig house is an important basic condition for doing a good job in pig farming. Whether the pig house is built reasonably directly affects the health of the porcupines, the performance of productivity and the level of the breeder's labor efficiency, so the work of building the pig house is crucial. To farm porcupines, we choose to build the farm on hilly sloping land facing south, with good drainage conditions, thicker soil layers and trees.  

2. Floor: The floor of a porcupine pig house should be sturdy, durable, moisture-proof and slip-resistant, so most pen floors use concrete flooring. Its characteristics are being sturdy and durable and easy to sweep and disinfect. However, it is not conducive to keeping female porcupines and piglets warm, so in winter wooden boards or straw can be placed on the floor.  

3. Roof: The roof plays the role of sheltering from wind and rain and keeping warm, and should have properties such as waterproofing, heat preservation and load bearing. Most porcupine farms use asbestos tiles or small green tiles in a double-slope roof.  

4. Drinking water equipment: Modern porcupine farms use automatic drinkers, which can supply the pigs with drinking water at any time and ensure the cleanliness and hygiene of the drinking water. Automatic drinkers are divided into four types: duckbill type, nipple type, sucking type and cup type. At present, the duckbill type automatic drinker is mostly used.  

5. Aisles and passages: A single-row or double-row pig house is provided with one aisle, and a four-row pig house is provided with two aisles. The aisle should not be too wide or too narrow. The aisle for breeding porcupines is 1.2 m wide, and for commercial porcupines an aisle of one meter is enough.  

6. Manure ditches: The manure ditches in the porcupine pens should be covered with slatted floors or steel bars, at least 20 cm wide, and the gaps must not be too wide; 2-3 cm is sufficient.  

7. Pools: Pool length (150-200) cm, width (120-180) cm, height (80-100) cm.

Profits from Porcupine Farming  

Raising porcupines is a rural farming project for getting rich with small investment, quick results, low cost and high benefits. One female porcupine produces two litters per year, with 2-4 young per litter. After one year of rearing, the slaughter weight can reach 15 kg. Calculated at a market price of 60 yuan per kg, the income per animal is 900 yuan.  

If one household raises 10 pairs of breeding porcupines, within one year they can produce 40 piglets, each reaching 15 kg at slaughter, totaling 600 kg. At a selling price of 60 yuan per kg, the total is 36,000 yuan. After deducting feed costs of 6,000 yuan, a net profit of about 30,000 yuan can be obtained. If a large-scale specialized household raises 100 pairs of breeding porcupines, after deducting feed costs and employee wages, the annual net profit is more than 200,000 yuan.

Market Price Analysis of Porcupine Farming  

Judging from the current market, porcupines hold a large market in our country. The porcupine is a very precious terrestrial herbivorous medicinal animal, combining meat, medicinal and ornamental value, and it also has high craft value. Therefore, porcupines are very favored by consumers, and people's various demands for porcupines are increasing day by day. The supply of porcupines is far from meeting the growing consumer demand.  

Since ancient times, humans have had the habit of eating porcupine meat. Nowadays, with the improvement of people's living standards and the rapid development of the tourism industry, the meat structure is also changing. People are very particular about the rationality of food nutritional components. Eating wild vegetables, wild grasses, wild birds and wild animals has become a new taste, a new refinement, a new fashion and a new trend. Hotels and restaurants in the southeast coastal cities of our country are especially fond of porcupine meat.  

Demand is increasing sharply. Guangzhou, Hong Kong, China, Macao, China and other regions regard it as a nutritional and health-care treasure, with high prices and an extremely strong market. Wild resources are increasingly depleted and facing extinction, and the government has listed porcupines as protected animals and prohibited hunting.  

Therefore, domesticating, breeding, developing and utilizing this porcupine, which has special value, special nutrition, a special flavor, special uses and is a treasure all over, has special significance. As a special breeding industry with the most development and utilization value, it has very broad market prospects.

Although porcupine farming is a project with very good prospects, before farming, you must first build a good farm. Of course, the farm does not need to be particularly luxurious; it should be based on the principle of simplicity and convenience, saving costs while also making daily feeding convenient.