Common Moorhen Artificial Breeding Methods and Technical Points

With economic development, people's living standards have improved markedly, and under these circumstances everyone's pursuit in life has also changed to a certain extent, with greater emphasis placed on quality of life, so the demand for green, environmentally friendly foods and wild pheasants and other rare birds has grown ever larger, and the common moorhen is one of them. However, because breeding techniques are not up to standard, the annual output of common moorhens is not very high, so today Qinnong Network will teach everyone how to correctly breed common moorhens.

1. Breeding conditions

Wild common moorhens mostly come from northwest and northeast China and other places, because the conditions common moorhens need to live are reservoirs, rivers or reed beds. In such places there are many small fish, small shrimp and insects, so they do not need to worry about food. In fact, breeding common moorhens is relatively simple, but why is the survival rate still not high? That is because quite a few people still think the common moorhen is just like ordinary poultry, and that as long as they are let out to get some air in the market they can be kept dry. In fact this is not the case. Secondly, although common moorhens need to live in wetlands, the temperature cannot be too high or too low, and is best kept at around 20 degrees. Finally, the common moorhen is a relatively rare wild animal, so approval from the relevant national authorities is required to breed it legally.

2. Breeding preparation

Before breeding common moorhens, preparation is certainly needed. First, we need to choose a relatively broad lake area or river; of course, if there is none, we need to create an artificial river. Second, there are currently as many as twelve breeds of common moorhen, but each breed has a different adaptive capacity, so we need to choose the most suitable breed according to local climatic conditions. Also, common moorhens need fairly good living space when reproducing and giving birth, so we need to build nests in advance. Finally, the feed for breeding should be of high quality and fully prepared.

3. Feeding methods

The vitality of newly purchased chicks is relatively fragile, so they need our careful care. We need to place the chicks in a well-built chicken coop for warmth and feed them three times a day with fine feed suitable for common moorhens to eat. After the common moorhens' constitution recovers, small fish or small shrimp can slowly be added to the food, and small shrimp can also be fed once or twice a day. After the chicks shed their initial layer of down, they can be released once every three days, and they should be taught to forage for themselves. After about another half month, the common moorhens can be put on a free-range system.

4. Free-range methods

The common moorhen is different from black-bone chickens, white-feathered chickens and other such chickens. These chickens can live right in the chicken farm, but the common moorhen needs a place with water to grow better, and only in this way can its reproductive capacity be improved. After the common moorhen is two months old, we can put it into the river or pond built earlier, and raise it in a way that simulates the natural environment as much as possible. Because artificial rivers all need fish and shrimp to be stocked in them, we can buy some relatively cheap small fish and small shrimp to feed them, and in this way the small fish and small shrimp will also reproduce, so the supply can be continuous. In addition, common moorhens also eat insects, such as earthworms. Finally, some green vegetables can also be fed to common moorhens in appropriate amounts, mixed with some feed, which can promote their growth.

5. Disease prevention and control

Wild animals all have relatively strong vitality, so they generally rarely get sick, and even if they do get sick they will seek out food to treat themselves. Wild common moorhens are the same, but after artificial feeding, the common moorhen loses part of these functions, so symptoms such as colds or inflammation during production can also appear, and therefore we must treat them promptly. The breeding site should always be stocked with medicines for preventing and treating colds and inflammation, and when the weather changes greatly they can be added to the food, which can have a very good preventive effect. Finally, common moorhens, like ordinary chicken flocks, can also suffer from fowl plague, which is very serious because it is highly contagious, so we must discover the source of the disease in time and carry out isolation and treatment.