Hunting pheasant: breed description and characteristics, breeding and care

Hunting pheasants are bred in small numbers in different regions of the country. Farmed game is sold to hunting farms or sold to restaurants. Romanian and Hungarian breeds with beautiful plumage are especially suitable for breeding. The hunting pheasant is a bird obtained by crossing several subspecies of the common pheasant.

Description and characteristics of a hunting pheasant

Birds intended for hunting should have beautiful bright plumage. The Romanian hunting breed has iridescent, blue-green feathers, a red spot near the eyes, an emerald strip on the neck, and brown transverse strokes on the long tail.The Hungarian pheasant has golden brown plumage. His head is blue with a scarlet spot near the eyes, there is a white collar on the neck, the tail is long, decorated with transverse dashes. There are white hunting birds.

For hunters, pheasants with bright, colorful plumage are of the greatest value. True, only males have beautiful feathers. Females have pale brown-ash plumage. They are mainly bred for their meat and eggs. Males acquire colorful plumage only after molting, reaching 5 months of age. The average weight of adults is 1.3-2 kilograms.

Good and bad sides

Pros and consobtaining gourmet meat (can be sold to restaurants);the opportunity to sell game to hunting farms;obtaining eggs and raising chicks (can be sold on the market);birds are fed the same food as chickens.it is not always possible to find a market;for the maintenance and training of game, it is necessary to build a spacious aviary;pheasants are ready for mating only at 8-12 months of age.

Maintenance and care requirements

Hunting pheasant is a luxurious bird, for the maintenance of which it is necessary to build a spacious aviary, with an area of 1.5-2 square meters per individual. The walking area should be fenced on the sides with a metal mesh and covered with a nylon net. The height of the enclosure must be at least 2.5 meters. On the paddock pheasants should train to fly.

If the birds are kept in cramped entrances, then it will be impossible to teach them to fly. A game that cannot take off will not give pleasure to hunters.

On the territory of the enclosure, you can build a poultry house or a canopy to protect birds from rain, wind, heat.The game house is built of wood or brick, inside it should be perches and nests. On the territory of the walking area, feeders and drinkers are installed, as well as wooden snags, on which the birds will learn to fly. You need to clean the aviary as it gets dirty, that is, every 2-3 days.

What do they eat?

A hunting pheasant eats the same thing as a chicken. Small chicks are fed with chopped boiled eggs, cottage cheese, millet, yogurt, chopped onion feathers. Adult birds are given crushed grain (wheat, corn, barley), feed for chickens. Pheasants love chopped vegetables (pumpkin, zucchini, fodder beets), fresh greens.

In the aviary there should always be small pebbles, s alt, chalk, sand, grass. In winter, birds can be given spruce needles and pharmaceutical vitamins and minerals. The hunting pheasant is fed 2-3 times a day. There should always be clean drinking water on the territory of the walking area.

What do you need to breed pheasants?

Before you start raising hunting game, you need to buy small chicks. Buy pheasants at the age of 1.5-2 months. These birds cost about $5. You can buy pheasant eggs and get chicks using an incubator. The chicks hatch in a month. Eggs cost one dollar apiece. Adult 5-month-old pheasants ready to hunt are sold for $10-$20 each.

You can start breeding game on your own. True, for this you need to have at least one male and 1-6 females on the farm. Birds are ready for mating at the age of 8-12 months. It is not recommended to buy pheasants older than 3 years for breeding. The mating season for birds begins in the spring. In one season, the female can carry up to 25 eggs. She goes anywhere. Every day, the female lays 1-2 eggs in different places of the walking area. Laid eggs are periodically recommended to be collected around the territory of the enclosure and taken to the nest for a brood hen.You can buy an incubator to breed chicks.

Hatched chicks are recommended to be kept separate from adult birds. The temperature in the room where the chicks are located is 25-28 degrees Celsius. Small birds are best kept in a cage at first. Grown up pheasants should move freely around the enclosure, spend a lot of time outside, be able to train and fly up to the bushes and trees growing on the territory of the walking area.

Frequent diseases of the breed

Pheasants intended for hunting have good immunity. In a fenced aviary, domestic game does not have the opportunity to contact wild birds, respectively, it rarely becomes infected with infectious diseases. Vaccines are used to prevent dangerous diseases that can lead to death.

Birds are vaccinated at an early age against diseases that are epidemic in a particular area. He althy pheasants are given vaccines (drink drugs) against smallpox, pseudo-plague, infectious laryngotracheitis. Game is vaccinated against Marek's disease, pasteurellosis, salmonellosis. Sick individuals are treated with antibiotics (Furazolidone) or sent for disposal.

Besides contagious diseases, birds can get sick due to poor feeding and care. To prevent skin diseases, problems with the digestive system of game, it is recommended to give high-quality crushed food, water for drinking and regularly clean in enclosures.

Pheasants are prone to invasive diseases. Birds get scabies caused by mites. Some individuals suffer from helminths, fleas, lice, and lice. For treatment, antiparasitic drugs, antihelminthic drugs, sprays for the destruction of parasites (Milbenzerst uber aerosol, birch tar, Levamisole) are used.

Recommended