Pheasants At Home

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Well, since we have begun to disassemble decorative birds, then perhaps I will tell you about pheasants. They, like quails, are domesticated by humans, although they are a wild bird. Now a person can breed almost all animals suitable for human consumption in his backyard

Pheasants belong to the peacock family, the order of chickens. They have beautiful plumage, songbirds. This bird will be an adornment of any personal plot. More recently, they began to breed birds on farms, personal plots and dachas, previously they were bred exclusively for hunting.

The body length of a pheasant is on average 80-90 cm, weight is up to two kilograms. As a rule, males are larger than females. Pheasants have a beautiful long wedge-shaped tail; males have spurs on their legs. The hock of a common pheasant is not feathered. Males have bright plumage from sandy to turquoise. The pheasant spends most of his life on earth. Lives in forests, near lakes and bodies of water, often hiding in bushes. A fast-footed bird that, if something happens, will run away from you even in an area with densely overgrown bushes. The pheasant does not fly well, but they still clip their wings on farmland.

Keeping pheasants

Generally, the keeping of pheasants is not much different from the keeping of other poultry. The pheasant is a hardy bird, they do not need insulated sheds or poultry houses. They perfectly tolerate cold weather, they can sleep on the ground. But you and I understand that in the conditions of home breeding, premises will still be needed. Pheasants are social birds, they are kept in large groups (families). The aviary must be clean - this is the main criterion for maintaining the health of these birds. Cages and aviaries are cleaned every day. Feeders and drinkers are also washed. If sanitary standards are not followed, your birds will acquire ticks and bedbugs. The aviary should be surrounded by a netting or finer mesh so that the birds do not try to escape. You will also need a sand bath, let it be a shallow box. Add sand and ash to the bath in a ratio of 2 to 1. Pheasants love to take such baths, it helps to get rid of parasites. As for the poultry house, I will say that in the warm season, additional lighting is not required, but in winter it will be needed. In winter, daylight hours need to be increased to 17 hours a day, otherwise your birds will slow down their body weight gain, ceasing to consume the required amount of feed. You can heat the house in winter with ordinary heaters, but do not be too zealous, because overheating is not desirable. The pheasant is not a stress-resistant bird. She has good hearing, vision and memory. She remembers the person who feeds her, cleans her aviary. Pheasants will not like the raised tone of voice, and sharp movements. Do everything calmly, in a measured rhythm of life. Pheasants also begin to stress due to changes in the feeding regime, temperature regime. Make sure that everything remains as in the first minutes of the bird's residence with you.

Feeding

Feeders are installed in an enclosure under a canopy to prevent rainwater from getting into them. The trough should be trough with a small lid to prevent the bird from spilling or contaminating the feed. Feeders are installed at a short distance from each other, this will give the birds the opportunity to eat calmly, without crush and injuries. Pheasants are fed with conventional compound feed intended for all poultry. You can pamper your pheasants with "snacks": fish, pieces of meat or minced meat, maggots and worms. On average, one pheasant will consume 100 grams of feed per day, the feed should include: corn, wheat, carrots, potatoes, minced meat, meat flour, fish oil, lime, salt. Pheasants are fed 2 times a day. Water is poured into cup or flow-through drinking bowls. Pheasants are also very fond of Colorado beetles, therefore, if you have a plot planted with potatoes, you can release birds (naturally with clipped wings) to this area, they will help you with beetles without harm to the potatoes. And they themselves, feeding on beetles, will grow in size.

Meat

Pheasant meat is not very high in calories and at the same time useful. There are 253 calories per 100 grams of the product. The meat is dark in color, juicy, not fatty. No prior marinade required. Pheasant meat contains vitamins of groups A, B, PP, H, E. Mineral substances - fluorine, tin, iron, iodine, copper, manganese, zinc, potassium, magnesium, and other equally useful substances. Cholesterol in this meat is almost completely absent.