How are turtledoves artificially bred? These technical points must be mastered

The turtledove has upper body feathers that are mainly brown, with a grayish-brown head and neck tinged with wine red; the forehead and crown are gray or blue-gray, and on each side of the hind neck there is a patch of black feathers with blue-gray feather edges; the feather edges of the shoulder feathers are reddish-brown; the upper back is brown, and from the lower back to the waist it is blue-gray; the tip of the tail is blue-gray, and the central tail feathers are brown; the chin and throat are pink; the underparts are reddish-brown. Males and females have similar plumage colors. They inhabit forest areas in mountains, foothills, or plains, mainly moving in small groups of a few birds around forest edges, cultivated land, and nearby areas. In winter they migrate to the plains and often roost in groups with spotted doves.

Establishing the site

A high-altitude net cage should be set up on a sunny slope with good ventilation, dryness, and higher terrain. The net cage area is generally 40 sq m to 60 sq m, with a height of 2.5 m to 3 m, built with bamboo frames and bound with plastic netting. Inside the net cage, build a 1 sq m bird shed for turtledoves to shelter from rain on rainy days and from the sun in summer. For breeding bird sites, the net cage should be 1.5 m to 2 m above the ground, with artificial trees made from bamboo or branches, and artificial nests placed on them to facilitate egg laying by turtledoves.

Selecting breeding birds

Select 10-month-old adult birds that are large, robust, and disease-free as breeding birds, and raise them separately. The feed should contain more foods rich in protein, lecithin, and calcium to facilitate reproduction.

Egg laying

Wild breeding birds generally mate and lay eggs in spring and autumn. In artificial rearing, the method of artificially injecting female birds with estrogen can be used to promote estrus in a short period, so that eggs can be laid every month.

Incubation

Collect the eggs after laying and place them in an incubator for artificial incubation. During incubation, temperature and relative humidity should be adjusted well to ensure a hatching rate above 98%.

Nestling management

When nestlings have just hatched, attention should be paid to keeping them warm and providing timely drinking water. Use a potassium permanganate solution at a concentration of 2 parts per ten thousand as drinking water, replacing it every 4 hours. After nestlings hatch, they generally show foraging behavior at 6 hours to 8 hours; it is best to choose small, easily digestible foods such as millet or broken rice, and nestling pellet feed can also be used. After 1 week, 20% seeds of various plants such as barnyard grass seeds and paddy rice can be added to the feed ratio.

Because artificial breeding density is high, birds are susceptible to disease, so cleaning inside the net cage should be done well, regular disinfection should be carried out, feces should be cleaned up promptly, and regular epidemic prevention should be conducted. Sick birds found should be isolated and treated, dead birds should be buried deeply or burned, and all birds in that net cage should be disinfected.