How to Build a Hedgehog Breeding Facility and Preparations
Given the hedgehog's habit of living alone, keeping them in pairs is suitable for captive breeding, and if possible, an attempt should be made to keep them in a ratio of one male to several females. The following housing conditions are based on the standard for a paired hedgehog breeding facility.
The enclosure of the hedgehog breeding facility is of the closed type, and it is best for it to face south with its back to the north. Build brick walls, with a door on the south side leading to the exercise yard, and make a window on the east side. Concrete floor, an area of 2 sq m, and a wall height of 1.8 m. Cap the top with the same iron mesh as the fence. Plant some trees on the west side of the exercise yard. Place a wooden box both inside the enclosure and in the exercise yard for the hedgehogs to rest in.
The above plan takes into account hedgehog keepers entering the enclosure to manage the animals, so the height is 1.8 m. Another plan is for keepers to work outside the enclosure, so the enclosure does not need to be this tall. Specifically: the enclosure has an area of 2 sq m, a concrete floor, brick walls, and no window. The height is 80 cm, and the roof is made of wooden boards. Make a 30 cm x 30 cm movable lid in the roof boards for cleaning and feeding. There is a 25 cm×20 cm opening in the enclosure leading to the exercise yard. The exercise yard has an area of 4 sq m and a height of 80 cm; the fence roof and iron mesh are the same as in the above plan. The only difference is that a 30 cm×30 cm movable lid is opened in the middle of the roof for cleaning, feeding and other management tasks.
Management of the hedgehog breeding facility and hedgehog breeding techniques:
In the wild, hedgehogs are omnivorous and feed mainly on animal foods such as insects. Under captive conditions, they can be fed both animal foods and plant foods, depending on what they like to eat and what they do not like to eat. It is also necessary to see how well it works, whether the hedgehogs being bred are healthy and alert, and whether their droppings are normal. If everything is good and they can reproduce, it shows that the feed meets their needs. At this point, a rough feed table can be drawn up. Under captive conditions, animal feed can be tried as minced beef, minced mutton, minced camel meat, silkworm pupae, locusts, mealworms and so on, and some milk, vitamins, calcium, salt and other trace elements can be added. The key is to adapt to local conditions and decide according to the specific situation. Plant feed can be given as steamed corn bread made from various melons, vegetables, grains and mixed flour, or as pellet feed and raw mixed flour. The feeding amount likewise requires a period of experimentation before it can be determined. In addition, hedgehogs are typical nocturnal animals; they sleep soundly during the day and come out at night to forage. Therefore, feeding time should be after dusk, and after they have become accustomed to captive feeding, the time can gradually be moved earlier to 3-4 pm.
In winter, the temperature inside the enclosure of the hedgehog breeding facility must be kept above 10-15°C so that the hedgehogs do not enter hibernation. If there are no conditions for keeping warm, then before winter arrives, spread some clay or straw inside the enclosure; the hedgehogs will dig burrows themselves and enter hibernation, so that they can be left unattended for the whole winter. In early spring, after the hedgehogs wake up and emerge from their burrows, the mounds of soil and so on should be cleaned up, a disinfection should be carried out, and some new straw should be put in. In summer, when the temperature exceeds 32°C and it is rather hot and stuffy, water should be sprayed around the enclosure to cool it down, or a temporary shade awning should be added on top of their small house.
After early spring is the time when breeding hedgehogs come into estrus and mate, so more observation should be made. If the female hedgehog is found to have mated and be pregnant, she should temporarily be kept separately and the male hedgehog moved elsewhere; this makes it convenient to increase nutrition for the female hedgehog and also prevents disturbance by the male hedgehog. Two months after birth, the young hedgehogs can be separated and kept individually.
As for natural enemies, the main thing is to strictly guard against harm from weasels; the netting around the exercise yard must be able to block weasels from entering.
The hedgehog is an animal of the class Mammalia and the family Erinaceidae, with a body length of 22 cm, a tail length of 2 cm, a broad head, a pointed snout, and short ears (no longer than the spines). Hedgehog skin can be used as medicine; it has the effects of directing qi downward and relieving pain, and cooling the blood to stop bleeding, and is mainly used for counterflow vomiting of food, abdominal pain and hernia, and intestinal-wind hemorrhoids and fistula, etc. Its heart, liver and kidneys can also be used as medicine.
Hedgehogs inhabit shrub thickets and are also found near villages on the outskirts of cities. They like quiet, fear light and noise, hide by day and come out at night, and have a keen sense of smell. The hibernation period lasts as long as half a year, and they eat a large amount in spring, summer and autumn, gaining weight quickly. Their food is mainly insects, and they also eat young birds, bird eggs, frogs, lizards and melons and vegetables.
A hedgehog breeding facility can simulate the wild living environment and build an indoor-outdoor connected garden area. Indoors, provide heat relief in summer and protection from snow, frost and freezing in winter, and set up nests indoors for hedgehogs to rest quietly. Outdoors, set up light-blocking shelter objects on top, and on the ground plant shrubs and weeds and pile up earth mounds or rockeries, allowing hedgehogs to feed and move about. The rearing room is about 4 sq m, and the outdoor area is about 10 sq m.