How to Raise Moorhens? A Detailed Guide to Farming Techniques and Management Methods

Moorhens like diving and swimming, and their meat is firm and delicious, so many farmers have started raising this species.How to raise moorhens?

1. Moorhens love swimming and mainly feed on small fish, small shrimp and insects. The site chosen for the farm should be open and quiet, and there should also be water environments such as ponds, reservoirs or rivers. There also need to be grasses in the farm, so that there will be more insects, and then the moorhens' food will be more plentiful.

2. The general planning of the breeding base should be decided according to the number of moorhens being raised. If you are just starting out, the scale of the breeding base does not need to be especially large; it is about right as long as it is just suitable, and the scale can be gradually expanded after operations are running normally. The overall plan of the breeding base is divided into a rest area, an activity area, a free-range area and a hatching area. As for orientation, it is best to face south with the back to the north, so that the farm is warm in winter and cool in summer.

3. The chicken houses in the farm are generally divided into pens at about one hundred birds per pen, and each pen needs to be separated by walls or wooden fences, iron fences, enclosures, etc., with the positions of commercial birds, breeding birds and chicks reasonably allocated. Ventilation openings should be set up in the farm, and doors and windows need to be enclosed with fencing. The ponds in the breeding base should be equipped with water inlets and outlets to make changing the water convenient; a sand bath can also be set up, which allows the moorhens to get rid of parasites. Fencing should be put up all around the farm to prepare against escape, and if conditions allow, it is best to also put up overhead netting.

4. Newly bought chicks are relatively fragile, so they need careful care. We need to place the chicks in the built chicken houses to keep them warm, and feed them three times a day with fine feed suitable for moorhens to eat. After the moorhens' condition recovers, small fish or small shrimp can slowly be added to the food, or small shrimp can be fed once or twice a day. After they have shed the down on their bodies, they can be released for ranging once every three days, and after about half a month, the moorhens can be put on a free-range system.

5. Some fish and shrimp need to be stocked in the artificial river by yourself, and some green vegetables can also be fed to the moorhens in appropriate amounts, mixed with some feed, which can promote their growth.

6. Pay attention to cleaning up the sanitation of the breeding area to prevent disease. Not only must the sanitation of the chicken houses be cleaned, but all other areas of the farm must also be thoroughly cleaned, especially the sanitation of the water body. This is because moorhens spend a longer time in the water, and if the water body is not cleaned and disinfected, the impact on the moorhens is very great.

7. During the breeding process, be careful not to let them catch colds or develop inflammation; when the weather changes a lot, some preventive medicine can be mixed into the food. If avian cholera is found, isolate and treat them promptly.

Before raising moorhens, you must first apply for the relevant breeding permits before starting other work.