A Detailed Guide to the Key Points of Feeding and Management of Pheasants at Different Growth Stages
The pheasant, also known as the common pheasant or mountain pheasant. Pheasant farming is a breeding project with low investment, quick returns and huge market potential, so farmers interested in raising pheasants are advised, before deciding to farm pheasants, to understand the technology and the market and, in light of their own conditions, to consider the matter comprehensively and prudently before making the investment.What are the key points of feeding and management of pheasants at different growth stages?
I. The brooding period
1. Timely watering and starting to feed
Pheasant chicks are started on feed 24-36 hours after hatching. Chicks that have been transported long distances should be placed in a warm house and given water 1.5 hours later; it is best to add 5% glucose or 0.1% potassium permanganate to the drinking water to strengthen their constitution, relieve stress and promote the excretion of harmful substances from the body. During days 1-3, drugs for preventing pullorum disease and E. coli should also be added to the drinking water for prevention and treatment (this point is very important). Chicks that do not know how to drink should be taught promptly so that they drink as soon as possible, and drowning of the chicks must be prevented. Feed is offered 1-2 hours after watering. For the first 1-2 days, it is best to use easily digestible corn meal as the starter feed. On the third day, 50% chick feed should be added for a gradual transition. After three days, they are fed entirely on chick feed. For the first four days, feeding from starter trays is best, then gradually switch to dedicated feed buckets. At the start of feeding, entice them to eat once every 2-3 hours, then gradually increase the interval; from 0-2 weeks, feed 6 times a day, and from 3-4 weeks, 5 times a day. Generally, as the age in days increases, feed intake also rises, and when they grow close to adult body weight, the feed requirement tends to stabilise.
2. Temperature and humidity control
Pheasant chicks, especially those within 7 days of age, are very sensitive to temperature; this is the technical core of brooding and also the key to the survival rate. Farms and specialised households can use flat rearing in cages inside a warm house, using heated flues or wall stoves burning coal to raise the temperature, but attention must be paid to ventilation in the house to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning of the chicks (it is best to use tunnel coal heating so as to avoid huge losses caused by power failure or inadequate heating.). Insulation standards: for pheasants within 3 days of hatching, the criterion is that they sleep evenly in the brooder box or brooding room; from 1-3 days the temperature is kept at about 37-38 degrees. After 3 days, the criterion is that they move freely and are very lively in the box (room). All insulation work must centre on this standard.
3. Density
As the age in days changes, body weight and water requirements also change accordingly, so rearing density should be adjusted in good time and the number of water and feed troughs increased. For flat rearing in net cages or box brooding, the density is: 50-60 birds per square metre at 1-10 days of age, 30-40 birds per square metre at 10-20 days of age, after which they can be transferred to multi-tier cages (4-tier cages for brooding egg-type pheasants), 20-30 birds per square metre at 21-42 days of age, and 10-20 birds per square metre at 43-60 days of age.
4. Ventilation and indoor environment control
Poor indoor air circulation and excessively high ammonia concentration directly affect the growth and development of pheasants and can induce chronic respiratory diseases, eye diseases and other illnesses. Ventilation should be carried out frequently, but draughts and cross-ventilation must be avoided, and wind must not blow directly onto the chicks. Keep the indoor air fresh, clean out manure and sweep the floor in good time, maintain a suitable temperature, disinfect regularly with the birds present, and reduce density promptly. Doing a good job of the indoor environment is one of the important measures for raising the survival rate of pheasant chicks.
5. Light duration control
Pheasant chicks are not very demanding regarding light. For newly hatched chicks, keep 24 hours of light from 1-7 days, and 20-22 hours of light from 8-30 days; thereafter, switch quickly to natural light according to the chicks' feeding situation.
II. Management during the growing period
The growing period of pheasants is the growing chick stage from 5 to 10 weeks of age. During the growing period, the wet-feeding method is mostly used, feeding 4 times a day: once at 5 a.m., then at 9 a.m., 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Each bird should have enough space at the feed and water to prevent crowding and the outbreak of feather-pecking. For growing pheasants kept for breeding, the amount fed must be controlled to prevent an increase in abdominal fat. If dry mash feed is used, attention should be paid to the supply of drinking water, keeping water available at all times, and replenishing it promptly once it runs out.
Although growing pheasants have already been taken off heat, they are still fairly sensitive to temperature, and rearing temperatures that are too low or too high will affect normal growth and development. The rearing temperature should be kept below 18-25 degrees C; if it is above 25 degrees C, density should be reduced and ventilation strengthened. For flat rearing, from 15 birds per square metre at 30 days of age, reduce by 5 birds each week until about 3 birds per square metre; for rearing in net houses with net floors, keep 6-8 birds per square metre, and 3 birds per square metre at 11 weeks of age; for free-range rearing, start at 40 days of age and halve the rearing density every two weeks until 2 birds per square metre. Medium-sized birds should be moved to new groups at 11 weeks of age, because the 11th week is the second moulting period, lasting as long as 2 months. During this period, feather-pecking among pheasants must be strictly prevented, otherwise the appearance quality of market pheasants will be seriously affected.
III. Key points of feeding and management during the breeding period
1. Pheasants that have entered the breeding period require rich nutrition, especially an adequate supply of animal protein feed. After laying begins, the protein content is gradually increased as egg production rises; at the peak of laying, the crude protein content in the feed can reach 18%-20%. While increasing the protein content, attention should also be paid to appropriately increasing the content of various vitamins and trace elements.
2. Because pheasants have been domesticated for only a short time and are fairly wild, both males and females have the bad habit of pecking eggs, and the females also have the trait of not laying in a fixed place, so the rate of broken eggs is fairly high. Therefore, eggs must be collected frequently, and any broken eggs or leftover eggshells should be promptly cleared out of the pen to prevent the spread of egg-pecking.
3. Maintain good and stable environmental conditions, following the “three fixed” rules, namely fixed personnel, fixed times and fixed management procedures. Movements in and out of the pheasant house should be gentle, and the net enclosure should be checked and repaired regularly to prevent wild animals from frightening and disturbing the pheasant flock; on hot summer days, put up awnings or plant climbing vines such as loofah and yardlong beans beside the net enclosure for shade, to avoid direct scorching sun and ensure normal sexual activity and mating frequency of breeding pheasants.
4. Breeding pheasants lay most of their eggs between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., accounting for about 86.7% of the day's egg production. Normal laying lasts 0.5-5 minutes per egg. First-time layers occasionally suffer difficult labour, so keepers should watch the flock's condition and assist promptly when difficult laying is spotted. The method is: first drip a lubricant such as glycerine into the cloaca, then hold the two sides of the egg with the left hand while pressing the abdomen forward with the right hand to help remove the egg; movements must be gentle, and this task requires two people. Because the cloaca of first-time layers is bloody, other pheasants will peck the vent upon seeing the red, so the flock must be observed at all times and measures taken promptly, applying gentian violet or black ink to the bleeding spot, or separating the bird for rearing.