How to Raise Black Guinea Pigs for Profit? 2017 Black Guinea Pig Farming Techniques
The black guinea pig is native to the mountainous areas of Yunnan and is a typical herbivorous mammal. It is small in size and looks like a rat. It can be used both as medicine and as food, and can be marketed after 3~4 months of raising. So how do you raise black guinea pigs for profit in 2017?
Black guinea pig farming techniques
The black guinea pig is a herbivorous animal. Various wild grasses, vegetables, tree leaves, melon rinds, plant stems and leaves, rice straw and other straw are all good feed for it. Feed it once each morning and evening, with a daily intake of about 150 grams per animal, appropriately supplemented with a small amount of grain, wheat, corn and other concentrated feed. It is a typical grain-saving small domestic animal. The vast rural areas have many grassy hills and slopes and very rich feed resources. Black guinea pigs can effectively use local grass feed, enabling every farming household to obtain huge economic benefits and high-grade wild game natural black nutritional tonics in a very short time.
Black guinea pig breeding techniques
Black guinea pigs reach sexual maturity early. Generally, female guinea pigs show sexual characteristics at 35——45 days of age, and males at 70 days of age. However, females are best mated for breeding after 70 days of age. Sex identification: a simple method is to press the perineal area with the hand; by checking whether a penis appears and the shape of the external genitalia, you can confirm male or female. When catching and examining them, press your right hand on the black guinea pig's back, hold its left shoulder with your thumb, and hold the right shoulder and chest with the other four fingers. After lifting it gently this way, support its body with your left hand. The female guinea pig's estrous cycle is 16 days, and estrus lasts 1——18 hours, averaging 9 hours. The female guinea pig's gestation period is 56——68 days, with 3——5 young per litter, and up to 6——9.
1. Seed selection. Breeding guinea pigs should be selected for a full body condition, thick and strong bones, straight limb shape, bright eyes, good nutritional status and development, glossy coat color, soft and elastic skin, symmetrical testes of equal size in males, and normal external genital development in females.
2. Mating. The duration of estrus in black guinea pigs is 1-18 hours, averaging 9 hours. Estrus mostly occurs between 5 p.m. and 5 a.m. the next day. After a female guinea pig mates in estrus, there is a gelatinous mixture at the vaginal opening. Based on the presence or absence of this plug, you can judge whether the black guinea pig has mated successfully. Under normal circumstances, black guinea pigs kept for original-stock breeding are all mated one male to one female, that is, only 1 pair of breeding guinea pigs is placed in each breeding pool. Females should be allowed to live and breed together after the young guinea pigs are weaned; the male can be placed in for postpartum mating within half a day after the female gives birth; both the mating rate and the reproduction rate are high. In large-group raising, 3 to 4 females are often placed with one male black guinea pig for mating. Never place two males together, to prevent fighting and affecting mating.
3. Reproduction. The female guinea pig's gestation period is about 68 days, with generally 3 to 7 young per litter. The young are weaned after 15 days and fed separately after weaning. Under normal circumstances, 60-80 days of raising is enough to reach market requirements. During pregnancy, in addition to increasing the quantity and quality of feed, the site must be kept quiet and clean, and idle people must not enter and leave at will. Ensure the daily ration is fresh, and feed small meals more often. In late pregnancy, place dry grass in the cage to let the female guinea pig build a nest in preparation for giving birth. The nursing period for young black guinea pigs is 15 days in summer and 20 days in winter. During the nursing period, the female guinea pig's feed nutrition should be increased. Black guinea pigs have a high reproduction rate and strong immunity. The service life of breeding guinea pigs is 3 years, and no immunization or drug prevention is needed during the raising process.
Preparation of black guinea pig farming sites
First is the raising facilities. There are many ways to raise black guinea pigs, adapting to local conditions. The commonly used methods are: cage raising, flat pen-style enclosure raising, and three-dimensional large-scale factory farming.
1. Cage raising. This raising method can be used for small-scale raising. Its advantages are that it can control breeding and feeding and maintain cleanliness and hygiene. The cage can be made of wooden strips, bamboo strips, or iron wire, with a size of 60 cm × 50 cm × 40 cm as appropriate.
2. Flat pen-style enclosure raising. It is suitable when there is a single-story house and the shed is wide. Inside the house, use bricks, wooden boards and the like to partition off pens of 0.5-1 sq m. It is best to spread some wood shavings or dry litter in the pens, which helps keep warm and absorb moisture. At present, this method is mostly used for raising.
3. Three-dimensional factory-style raising. Its scale is relatively large and relatively concentrated, making it easy to manage and operate, and many can be raised. Use bricks, wood, or iron strips to make 3-5 layers, with the bottom slightly sloped so that manure flows out, making management convenient. There are small doors in the pens and cages. Generally, the number to be stocked is determined according to the size of the cage or house. At low density, 8-10 per sq m; at high density, 10-20. Generally, one 100 cm × 50 cm unit can hold 1 male and 4 females; one 80 cm × 50 cm unit can hold 1 male and 3 females; one 60 cm × 50 cm unit can hold 1 male and 2 females; one 45 cm × 35 cm unit can hold 1 male and 1 female. For pen raising and box raising, the stocking should be appropriately sparser. Before stocking black guinea pigs, the houses should be sprayed and disinfected with a 0.02% potassium permanganate solution.
Black guinea pig feeding techniques
The Chinese black guinea pig has a very broad diet. It is a herbivorous animal that mainly eats green feed. Wild grasses, tree leaves, straw, and vegetables are all sources of food for it. Generally, feed it once in the morning and once in the evening, about 150 grams per animal per meal. To promote the growth of black guinea pigs, some complete mixed feed should also be given, with ingredients similar to rabbit feed. If making homemade mixed feed (concentrated feed), the raw material proportions are: cornmeal 40%, grain meal 10%, bran 30%, peanut shell meal 15%, fish meal 2%, bone meal 2%, salt 1%. Make the feed into pellets or mix with water into wet feed for feeding. The black guinea pig has a very mixed diet, and normal growth, development and reproduction all require sufficient nutrition. Since the black guinea pig is a herbivorous animal, it has a relatively high digestion rate for crude fiber. If green feed or dry grass and other plants are not supplied for a long time, skin peeling will occur, so feed supply should combine concentrated feed and green feed. Green feed: fresh tender grass, such as elephant grass, corn leaves, sugarcane leaves, tree leaves, green vegetables, fruit peels, carrots, sweet potatoes, etc.
Sanitation management of the farming site. Black guinea pigs love cleanliness. Whether raised in pens or cages, the environmental sanitation of the raising room must be well managed. Feeding troughs should be cleaned regularly to prevent food from becoming moldy, ensure the freshness of feed and drinking water, and eliminate contamination of feed and drinking water by wild rats, cockroaches and the like.
Black guinea pig raising and management methods
Raising and management are the key to black guinea pig farming, with the focus on preventing feed from becoming moldy and deteriorating. Mixed feed is best fed as soon as it is mixed. When pelleted feed is fed directly, clean water should be provided for drinking, or it should be mixed with feed and fed. Feed small meals more often, with a daily ration cost of about 40 grams per animal, fed twice a day, keeping the feeding trough clean and hygienic. After feeding concentrated feed, put in fresh green feed at the same time. Green feed is best cut and fed on the same day. The daily amount of green feed collected per adult is about 250 grams. Prevent feeding green feed contaminated by pesticides and the like.
The raising room should be kept quiet. Clean manure every day, and frequently scrub and wash utensils clean. The room temperature should preferably be maintained at 18°C-25°C, with a relative humidity of 45%-55%. Do a good job of keeping warm in winter. Prevent rats and snakes from entering the raising room, and create a comfortable living environment for the black guinea pigs. The keeper must be conscientious and responsible and pay attention to observation, handling problems promptly when found. Four-season management. Spring management:
1. In spring, the temperature is suitable. More green feed should be fed, breeding should be carried out promptly, and a certain density and indoor environmental sanitation should be maintained.
2. Summer management: Summer temperatures are relatively high. Do a conscientious job of preventing heatstroke and cooling down, strengthen indoor ventilation, keep the room clean and dry, remove manure promptly, reduce density, strictly disinfect, strengthen nutrition, and keep the black guinea pigs' physique stable.
3. Autumn management: In autumn, the sky is clear and the air is crisp, and the temperature is pleasant. Keep the indoor floor, cages and feeding utensils clean, draw up a good breeding plan, prepare more green feed, and prevent feeding deteriorated feed.
4. Winter management: In winter, the weather is cold. Do a good job of keeping warm, prevent wind from entering, and appropriately increase the raising density of black guinea pigs. Because the supply of green feed is insufficient in winter, appropriately increase the feeding of grain, bran and other concentrated feed.
Black guinea pigs eat grass, have a docile temperament, reproduce quickly, have fewer diseases, are simple to raise, require little investment and bring quick results. They are very suitable for raising by laid-off workers and surplus rural labor, and are suitable for all ages. Therefore, promoting black guinea pig farming has very good social significance. It can achieve good social benefits and economic benefits.