Key Technical Points and Management Methods for Porcupine Farming Explained in Detail
I.Site Requirements 2.2. Progressive domestication: Feeding:
The area is (1.8×1.2m).Porcupine FarmingWindows are installed on the walls at both ends of the rearing room to ensure air circulation. On the floor of each rearing room, two rows of rearing pools are built along both sides of the long walls, with a 6.0m×0.7m walkway in the middle. The rearing pools are built with red bricks and finished with cement mortar, with specifications of 0.25m×0.25m×0.18m. On the side of the rearing pools facing the walkway, a 0.2m×0.2m drainage ditch is built for flushing during cleaning. A dedicated water dispenser is installed in each rearing pool to serve as a drinking water pool.
II.Domestication
2.1. Domestication by age groups:
During transport, the first batch of experimental porcupines had their cages covered with black cloth, and their environment was kept as quiet as possible. After arrival, the porcupines were first divided by body size into 4 age groups: those weighing over 13kg were the adult porcupine group, 5-13kg were the subadult porcupine group, 1-5kg were the juvenile porcupine group, and under 1kg were the piglet porcupine group. Based on the social living habits of wild porcupines, within the same age group, individuals of similar size were further divided into groups of 1 male and 1 female or 1 male and 2 females, and raised in one rearing pool for separate feeding and domestication. Artificially bred porcupines are domesticated starting from weaning, in groups of 2~4. After 3 months of age, they are again grouped as 1 male and 1 female per group and raised in one rearing pool for feeding and domestication.
Based on the burrowing habits of wild porcupines, in the early stage of domestication, the windows of the rearing room are covered with black cloth to keep the room dark, and cover boards are placed over the rearing pools to create a darkroom environment similar to the burrowing environment of porcupines. At the same time, the rearing room is kept quiet, and dedicated keepers are assigned for management. Then, sweet potatoes, miscanthus roots, bamboo shoots, fresh tender vegetables and clean water that porcupines like to eat are placed in the rearing pools to induce them to eat and drink, so as to strengthen their physique and eliminate fatigue and fear. After the porcupines' feeding and other activities have basically returned to normal, preliminary and appropriate basic domestication work is carried out during feeding, cleaning and other opportunities. At the same time, the food is gradually transitioned to compound feed and commonly used roughage. In the early stage of feeding compound feed (1~2 months), an appropriate amount of brown sugar or white sugar should be added to the compound feed formula to increase its palatability, and then the sugar content is gradually reduced until no sugar is added. Piglet porcupines should be domesticated with artificial nursing before their body weight reaches 1kg. Then, domestication is further strengthened by removing the cover boards from the darkroom, increasing the opportunities and time for them to see people, using foods such as sweet potatoes and bamboo shoots to tease and attract the porcupines, and gradually and consciously touching and stroking the heads of the porcupines to a limited extent, so as to eliminate their fear of people. On this basis, the black cloth on the windows of the rearing room is removed to give the porcupines a bright rearing environment, so that porcupines gradually adapt from the wild habitat environment to the artificial rearing environment. When approaching artificially bred piglet porcupines after weaning for the first time, gently stroke the hair on their heads, necks and under the jaws, and make gentle contact with them, so as to calm the piglet porcupines and prevent them from being frightened. For the first 5~7 days after leaving the mother porcupine, in addition to feeding them sweet potatoes, miscanthus roots, bamboo shoots, fresh tender vegetables and sugared compound feed that they like to eat, artificial nursing should also be carried out 2~3 times per day, so that they gradually transition in terms of food. During each artificial nursing, stroke them for 3~5 seconds while also providing verbal stimulation, so that food stimulation and behavioral stimulation are closely combined. After many such training sessions, the piglet porcupines gradually develop affection for people and reach the point of not being afraid of people.
2.3. Domestication by establishing conditioned reflexes:
Porcupine farming keepers should give signals when feeding the porcupines and when entering and leaving the animal houses, gradually letting the animals become familiar with the keeper's voice, smell and footsteps. Frightening and visits by others are prohibited. In this way, after a period of time, wild adult porcupines can establish preliminary conditioned reflexes. At the same time, the porcupines are domesticated to be fed at fixed times, in fixed amounts and at fixed locations, so that the porcupines eat a fixed amount of food at the specified time and fixed location. Before feeding, sounds such as whistling are also accompanied, promoting the formation of conditioned reflexes. Then, on this basis, the intensity of various stimuli is increased for the porcupines in a planned and step-by-step manner, the range of adaptation is expanded, and the wild habits of porcupines such as timidity, isolation, impatience and strong aggressiveness are gradually changed, so as to establish stable conditioned reflexes.