A Detailed Guide to Peacock Rearing Management and Disease Prevention and Control Measures
The peacock is a treasure from head to tail; it is a health food that is high in protein and low in fat and contains a variety of amino acids and trace elements. In ancient times, only emperors, generals and ministers could enjoy it. The blue peacock is not only highly nutritious but also has excellent medicinal properties, making it a good gift for relatives and friends, conveying beautiful and auspicious blessings. In recent years, many friends have devoted themselves to peacock farming. Let us take a look below at an introduction to peacock rearing management and disease prevention and control measures.
I. Peacock Rearing Management
1. Brooding period management
The brooding period for blue peacocks is 2 months, and artificial brooding methods are generally used. From 1 to 20 days of age, net rearing or cage rearing is used. Each net frame is 2.5 m long and 2 m wide, with the bottom net 60 cm high, and perches are set up both indoors and outdoors. Cage rearing is recommended, and chick cages can be used. After hatching, the chicks are placed in a brooder box. For the first 1 to 3 days, the temperature should be maintained at around 30°C, and at 1 week of age the warmth requirement is above 28°C.
When starting to feed, first give a 0.4% potassium permanganate solution, then feed chick starter and yellow mealworms. Chicks like to eat yellow mealworms. After 1 week of age, they are placed in tiered cages for brooding. The brooding cage size is 100 cm×70 cm×40 cm. From 1 to 2 weeks of age, 10 chicks are raised per compartment; from 3 to 4 weeks of age, 6 to 8 per compartment; from 5 to 8 weeks of age, 5 per compartment. After 8 weeks of age, they are transferred to grower peacock pens, with 10 to 12 per pen.
During brooding, a disinfected burlap piece should be placed on the cage bottom and changed frequently to keep it clean and dry. Feed and water are provided all day in the feed trough and water trough, and compound vitamin B is appropriately added to the drinking water. Yellow mealworms are supplied regularly every day. After 8 weeks of age, green feed is gradually provided. At 5 weeks of age, drinking-water immunization is carried out once with chicken Newcastle disease vaccine strain IV. Temperature and humidity control for cage brooding: 34 to 38°C from 1 to 10 days of age, 26 to 28°C from 11 to 20 days of age, 24 to 26°C from 21 to 30 days of age, and afterward, as the feathers increase, it can be the same as room temperature; relative air humidity is controlled at 60% to 70%.
Feed and feeding frequency: for blue peacocks from 1 to 10 days of age, feed 4 times a day, with feed consisting of cooked eggs, broiler feed, green worms, and supplemental feed; from 11 to 30 days of age, feed 3 times a day, with feed consisting of cooked eggs, green feed, broiler feed, green worms, and supplemental feed; from 31 to 60 days of age, feed 2 times a day. The feed is the same as that for 11 to 30 days of age, with the addition of corn grits, paddy rice, and so on.
The rearing quantity per group should preferably be 30 to 35 birds, and each young peacock occupies about 0.6 sq m of pen housing. Stocking density decreases as age increases. Free feeding and drinking are adopted. Keep the environment quiet, prevent flock panic, and establish a management method based on signal-conditioned reflexes. Regularly carry out disinfection, deworming and epidemic prevention, rodent control, and beast prevention work, and promptly isolate sick chicks.
2. Growing peacock rearing management
After 8 weeks of age, young peacocks are placed in grower peacock houses for rearing, with each pen about 30 sq m and 10 to 12 growing peacocks raised per pen. The pen floor is covered with 3 to 5 cm thick coarse sand to keep the pen dry and provide sand bathing. Initially feed grower chicken feed, gradually add grain and beans, supplement a small amount of cooked eggs or yellow mealworms daily, provide chopped green feed once a day, and place health grit in the pen.
Growing peacocks are raised to 6 months of age. If used for meat, appropriate fattening can be carried out, and at this time the feed-to-meat ratio is about 1:4. Growing peacocks are raised to about 1.5 years, gradually approaching sexual maturity, and at this time selection and mating work should be carried out. Choose individuals with normal growth and development, good health, strong legs, and moderate pubic bone spacing as reserve peacocks, while also considering the arrangement of the crest feathers and the color condition of the neck feathers and breast feathers. A male-to-female ratio of 1:2 to 1:3 forms one group, kept in a fixed pen until egg laying. At this time, energy feed should be appropriately controlled to avoid fat deposition affecting reproduction.
3. Adult period rearing management
The adult period refers to blue peacocks over 2 years old in the laying period or resting period. In breeder peacock houses, the male-to-female ratio per pen is 1:3 to 1:5, each group of peacocks occupies 15 sq m of pen space, and the pen area is 5 m×10 m, half indoors and half outdoors, with a net height of 5 m. The mesh size is 1.5 cm×2.5 cm, and shade plants should be planted in the exercise yard. Feed at fixed times and in fixed amounts, keep quiet, and pay attention to cleanliness.
II. Disease Prevention and Control Measures During Peacock Farming
Peacocks are wild birds and have developed strong disease resistance through long-term natural selection. In the process of rearing and management over the years, keeping the environment quiet, minimizing contact with the outside world, keeping the pens dry, clean, and hygienic, and regularly disinfecting the pens are the basic work for disease prevention. In addition, we have also found the following several diseases.
1. Pasteurellosis
This is an acute septicemic infectious disease of peacocks, mostly seen in young peacocks, occasionally occurring in adult peacocks, with acute onset and high mortality. It is more common in late spring and early summer. Adding oxytetracycline to the feed can be used for prevention, and streptomycin at 20,000-30,000 units/Kg can be used for treatment.
2. Internal parasites
Because peacocks like to eat insects, they are susceptible to nematode infections and coccidiosis. Our examinations found Acuaria and coccidia. Levamisole hydrochloride tablets are effective, with each adult peacock fed 3-4 tablets. Deworming should be carried out at least three times a year, and coccidiosis can be prevented and controlled with coccidiostat.
3. Use fowl plague vaccine for preventive inoculation to prevent infection with peacock plague.
4. Stress factors
Peacocks are not highly domesticated and are timid, and are easily affected by stress factors, resulting in accidental death.
5. Others
In addition, there are body lice, blackhead disease, vitamin deficiency, foreign body injury, and so on. All of these require us to carry out careful rearing and management, promptly discover problems, and promptly adopt effective measures for prevention and control.