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Keeping and breeding pheasants at home for beginners
Breeding pheasants at home requires certain knowledge and skills from the poultry farmer. Not all poultry is suitable for meat.
Keeping pheasants at home
You don’t have to go hunting to enjoy delicious game. At home, it is quite possible to breed a hunting breed of pheasants, which was bred by selection. Birds of this breed gain weight faster and are distinguished by enviable egg production. You can grow them like regular chickens.
Even a novice poultry farmer can breed pheasants at home.
A spacious aviary is required for breeding poultry. Its construction has its own characteristics:
- the size of the cage per individual is 2 square meters. m;
- the roof is made of mesh;
- the place for construction is chosen dry;
- in the aviary they put a house for the bird, where she can retire.
Also, shrubs and trees should be planted around the perimeter of the enclosure, as female pheasants prefer to build nests in such places.
They keep families separately from each other, as pheasants are aggressive, males often arrange fights. A family is created from one male and a pair of females.
There is one significant advantage in pheasant breeding: the birds are not afraid of frost and tolerate winter well. They do not need an insulated bird house. However, pheasants require special feeding. The diet must contain corn, wheat, bran, sunflower meal, raw vegetables, fish oil and vitamins, greens. There is 80 g of feed per adult per day.
Breeding pheasants at home for beginners
For further breeding, males at least 1 year old are selected, however, males older than 2,5 years are not allowed into the breeding herd. In females, the productive period lasts from 8 months to 2 years. In 14 days after the creation of families, females begin to lay fertilized eggs, which are used for incubation. The only difficulty is the collection of eggs, since the females scatter them all over the walking yard.
A good bird should be well-fed, but not too fat or skinny. A sick individual with a dirty cloaca, feathers and nostrils is not taken to the breeding herd. In addition, skin color is important for breeding pheasants. If it is yellow, then there is a problem with the liver.
The chicks are kept in a spacious poultry house, where the temperature is maintained at 28 degrees, gradually lowering it to 20 degrees. Additional lighting is not required, otherwise the birds may peck at each other. At first, the chicks are fed with boiled eggs and herbs. They are transferred to an adult diet at the age of 2 months. At 6 months, the bird is considered an adult.
Pheasants’ egg-laying period lasts from April to August. Male and female are joined together in February so that they have time to settle down.
Breeding pheasants may seem daunting at first glance. However, even novice poultry farmers can handle this without much hassle. A video about pheasants will answer all your questions.