How to feed adult pheasants. How to feed pheasants - helpful tips. How to start growing a home pheasant

Although pheasants are found in the wild, a balanced diet is important when kept in captivity to help maintain egg production and improve weight gain. Feeding pheasants at home plays a key role in raising these birds.

By following the tips in this article, you will learn how and how to feed pheasants, and examples of diets and dietary rules in summer and winter will help you grow a productive livestock.

Features and rules for feeding pheasants at home

At home, an aviary is used for keeping, and wet mash is used as feed, which may include the following components (Figure 1):

• Food waste;
• Compound feed;
• Cereals (barley, millet, wheat, sorghum, corn, and chopped peas)
• Animal feed (cottage cheese, chopped meat from insects and their larvae);
• Juicy food (chopped vegetables and fresh herbs).

Care and feeding involves the development and use of a special diet. It should include a variety of products that will provide good growth birds.

Conditions

The diet significantly depends on the time of year, since in summer period these exotic birds must consume up to 40% of their total daily green feed. And in winter, the diet for the most part should consist of vitamin supplements, which are necessary for full-fledged life.

Note: From the very beginning of the spring-summer period, it is worth adding sunflower oil, chalk and various fresh berries to the diet. This will help not only speed up the growth of birds, but also make their meat more juicy and tender.

Recently, well-known manufacturers of compound feeds have begun to produce feeds saturated with various useful substances and all the nutrients that can provide a pheasant good nutrition... In addition, feeding with the use of industrially produced compound feeds significantly reduces labor costs for bird care.

Nutritional norm

In their natural habitat, pheasants eat a lot, but feed fractionally. Thus, they are constantly on the lookout for food. These exotic birds can eat frogs, small snakes or even mice, but at the same time they perfectly eat various seeds of cultivated or wild plants (Figure 2).

With the onset of the autumn-winter period, it is necessary to give 75 g of compound feed per head per day. Such a daily food intake is several times less than the indicator for chickens over the same period. However, with the approach of spring, the rate increases to 105 grams per individual, which is associated with the beginning of the breeding period.

In the summer period, the diet consists of 30-40% green fodder. Also at this time of the year, it is worth adding sunflower oil, chalk (2-3 grams per individual) and various berries to bird feed.

Feeding pheasants at home: video

Feeding pheasants is easiest to evaluate from video. In it you will find useful information on the selection of products and the preparation of a ration for birds.

How to feed pheasants in winter

The average feed rate per day is about 75 grams. For nutrition, you can use special compound feed, but then you need to add a large amount of animal protein to them. This diet is ideal for speed dial live weight of birds. Also, in the winter cold, you can feed these birds with chopped vegetables, root crops and sprouted oats.

V very coldy it is recommended to give sunflowers, corn and millet, as well as dried herbs (dandelion, clover). Adding apples and rowan fruits to the diet will benefit the metabolism of birds. It is also worth giving out sunflower seeds and adding chalk without fail, which improves the plumage condition and improves the strength of the eggshell.

Features of the diet

Only high quality feed should be included in the diet. It is not recommended to eat cereals with rodent feces, mold, ergot and other impurities.

Note: Before dispensing cereals, they must be thoroughly sieved and washed, and then dried in the sun or in a gas oven (temperature no more than 60 degrees).

Pheasants are very fond of eating green food (plantain, woodlice, dandelions), and in addition they can be combined with kitchen food leftovers (cottage cheese or bread). It is also worth adding millet, corn and sunflower to the daily rate.

How many times do you need to feed

Having decided what to feed pheasants at home, you should establish a clear schedule for the distribution of food. The average consumption rate per head is 75-80 grams per day. However, the rate can be reduced if food debris is found in the feeders, which should not happen. The amount of feed should be sufficient to completely saturate the stomach of exotic birds.

Forage based on mash should be given only in a warm state, and it is customary to give out products twice a day: in the morning they give wet mash, and in the afternoon, grain mixtures are poured into the feeders.

Feeding rules

Pheasants should be fed according to pre-prepared rations and exactly in time, since the birds quickly get used to the given regime (Figure 3).

Pheasants get used to a certain type of food gradually, so it is not recommended to make a sharp change in food, as this can negatively affect the state of the digestive tract of birds (cause indigestion).

How to feed pheasants in captivity

You can also add such grains to the diet.:

• Barley;
• Wheat;
• Sorghum;
• Millet;
• Chopped peas and corn.

Also, animal feed should be added to the diet, which birds eat very willingly. These include:

• Cottage cheese;
• Insects in any form;
• Chopped meat.

Features of the diet

The diet must be nutritious enough to meet the needs of the farmed birds. It also needs to include vitamin supplements. However, you can prepare feed yourself and take as a basis recipes for ready-made compound feeds or use industrial branded mixtures.

The menu should contain proteins, which are the basis of any live food. Large amounts of protein are found in animal feed, corn and soy flour. Also, the diet should include macro (calcium, phosphorus, sodium) and microelements (manganese, zinc, copper, iron, iodine, cobalt), which are in crushed shell or chalk.

Feeding rules

The main rule of feeding is the high quality of the food and the exact timing of the food delivery. During the day, the birds are fed twice: in the morning they give out wet mash and in the afternoon, different grain mixtures.

Note: In the evening, the feeders should be inspected for the presence of grain residues, and if there are none left, then the feeder should be filled. The poured grain should be sufficient until the morning mash is dispensed.

Drinkers should always be filled with fresh water, which should be changed 2-3 times a day. This frequency of water change is associated with fluid contamination and the possible formation of infections in it. In Figure 4, you can see examples of pheasant feeders.

Features of feeding pheasants in summer

In summer, pheasants willingly eat greens and various root vegetables. Root vegetables should be chopped or grated. However, my favorite food is shredded corn and various wild plants. Also, birds love to peck cabbage, apples and pears.

Feeding rules

Raising pheasants in captivity is closely related to the organization of walking in an open-air cage, in which you can plant wheat or other green food. In their natural habitat, they can feed on frogs, snakes or insects, as well as various wild plants.

Common pheasant.

Homeland - Mongolia, China, Japan, Caucasus, Russia. These birds also live in Ukraine.

Outwardly, they resemble a chicken, but unlike it, they have a long tail. Common pheasant weight 720 - 1800 g.

As you can see in the photo, all breeds of this type of pheasant have a beautiful, bright color:

Pheasants settle in densely vegetated areas near water. They are very shy and careful, but they are not afraid of human closeness, they run well. They spend most of their lives on the ground, eating the seeds of harmful weeds and insects.

In late February - early March, they begin to prepare for nesting. Females nest in a sheltered place on the ground and lay 7 to 18 eggs of olive-brown color with a shiny greenish tint. The female incubates the clutch for 21-30 days, losing up to 40% of its mass, leaving the nest only for feeding. Chicks appear pubescent with dense fluff and can immediately run and peck food. This is one of the best pheasant breeds to breed on home farms.

Royal pheasant.

This is the largest pheasant. Lives in the mountains of Northern China. The color of its plumage is golden brown. The collar is black, the crown of the head is white, the tail is long - up to 15 m, and the total length exceeds 2 m.

Royal pheasants are acclimatized in a number of places in Europe as game birds. Here you can only see it in zoos.

The following breeds of pheasants are most common:

Pheasant Diamond

Pheasant Silver

Pheasant Mirror

Pheasant Peacock

Pheasant Big agrus

Look at the photos of the pheasant breeds, the description of which is given above:

Aviaries for raising domestic pheasants on the farm

For keeping pheasants on the backyard, aviaries are used, where in conditions close to natural, where birds can find such food that they like and is especially well digested. It is in the open-air cages arranged on the backyard that there are no difficulties with greens, sprouted seeds (when eating seeds from the feeders, birds scatter them, they sprout, and from time to time the ground is covered with fresh tender shoots of plants). Animal food is also available to those birds that live in the outdoor aviary, rather than sitting in cages. In the soil, on the branches of bushes and in the grass, they constantly find various small insects and their larvae.

The video "Breeding pheasants" shows the conditions in which birds need to be kept:

When breeding pheasants, the amount of feed required per day is determined empirically, since a bird of even the same breed and age, with the same method of keeping, has a different appetite. By carefully observing your pets, you can determine their need for food. The bird should eat the entire daily ration of feed without a trace. For the cultivation of a hunting pheasant, for example, an average of 80 g of feed per head is needed. At home, when breeding pheasants, birds are fed twice a day: in the morning they give soft food, in the afternoon - a grain mixture.

Diet for feeding pheasants and pheasants in the first days of life

In open-air cages, pheasants are fed with wet mash, using kitchen waste, compound feed, as well as grain feed: wheat, barley, sorghum, millet, chopped peas and corn.

From animal feed, these birds actively eat cottage cheese, minced meat, insects and their larvae, finely chopped vegetables and root crops, fresh herbs.

Table "Approximate diet for growing domestic pheasants in the autumn-winter period":

In the autumn-winter period, or the dormant period, usually 75 g of feed per day is consumed for each head. This period usually lasts from the moment when the young grows independent until the beginning of early spring. However, from about the end of January, when preparing birds for the breeding season, the diet of pheasants should be slightly changed, increasing the average rate by one head to 80 g, as well as the share of cake and meat and bone meal by reducing the share of grain. In addition, they add carrots, boiled potatoes and increase the proportion of mineral feeds (chalk, calcium gluconate).

The spring-summer period usually begins in April, depending on climatic factors. At this time, the birds need to be fed vigorously.

Table "Approximate diet for the maintenance of pheasants in the spring-summer period":

Throughout the year, pheasants need to be fed sprouted grains and fresh herbs such as greenhouse-grown lettuce. The table "Approximate diet for feeding pheasants in the first days of life" shows an approximate diet for young pheasants.

Table "Approximate ration for feeding pheasants in the first days of life":

Breeding pheasant chicks under a brood hen and egg incubation mode

The easiest way is to breed pheasants in private households under a brood hen. You can use poultry for this.

In order to always have enough good brood hens on the farm, they need to be raised with pheasants. The hatching of pheasants under the hen can be carried out both in the poultry house and in the open air.

If the poultry breeder decided to hatch pheasants outside the poultry house, for example, in the yard, then for each hen a nesting cage is made with a retractable wooden lattice and a small portable aviary, which is placed close to it. For good care when keeping pheasants, the floor of the cage should be wooden, since the earthen hen tears with its paws and at the same time, due to the tightness, crushes the chicks. If pheasants are taken indoors, then nesting cages are placed near the walls on the floor on bases 25-30 cm high and at a distance of at least 1 m. Baskets and boxes can be used as nests. It is better to darken the brood cages slightly to help the brood hens feel more relaxed. Each nesting cage is marked with a number - this makes it easier to monitor the progress of incubation. A tablet is nailed to it and notes are made on it with chalk.

Twice a day, at a strictly defined hour, they bring food and water to the brood hens. If they sit on the nests very tightly and do not eat food, then they are removed from the nests and fed in turn, but they are placed in the nest box not before they have time to empty their intestines and bathe in an ash-sand bath. During the feeding time, which lasts from 15 to 30 minutes, the nest is examined, the broken eggs are thrown away, and on the eighth day of incubation, the suitability of the eggs for further incubation is checked through the ovoscope.

Pheasant chicks are born wet and completely helpless. Hens, feeling wet chicks under them, begin to worry, often get up and at the same time can crush eggs or chicks. To save pheasants, they are taken from the brooding hens at the time of hatching and put in a basket lined with hay, covered and taken out into a warm room, or planted under an electric heater. When hatching pheasants in the incubator, the temperature is maintained at 38.4-38.3 ° C for the first 20 days. From the 21st day, the temperature regime of incubation of pheasants decreases to 37.8 ᵒ C. The relative humidity of the air should not exceed 50-60%, and from the 21st day of incubation of pheasants - 75-80%. The incubator should be equipped with instrumentation.

When laying eggs weighing 30-35 g for incubation, the hatched pheasant should weigh from 16 to 25 g, since part of the egg mass during incubation goes to evaporation and part to the shell.

An important criterion for assessing the quality of day-old young animals is the state of the umbilical cord area, i.e., the place of attachment of the membranes. An open umbilical cord is the result of overheating at the end of incubation, bleeding occurs and, as a result, contamination of the wound - inflammation, ending in the death of young animals.

Healthy young animals are mobile, with a pronounced reflex to search for food, accuracy and quickness of orientation in environment... Pheasants suitable for cultivation are sent for cultivation, avoiding a delay in feeding and drinking for more than 8-12 hours after hatching. After drying, weak chicks are sent for growing in a separate group.

When transporting chicks from the hatchery at any time of the year, the boxes with them should be insulated. Chicks are very sensitive to a drop in temperature, therefore the slightest cooling of them leads to the departure of the young. You can also grow pheasants under local heaters - brooders, installed on the floor or in cages and under hens.

In the poultry house, each brood with a brood hen is fenced off from the others with a net or plywood up to 2 meters high, a nesting cage is placed in the section, a nest made of hay or straw is made at the bottom, and a hen that is sitting there is planted there. First, liners are placed under it, and in the evening they are taken out, instead of day old pheasants are planted and the cage is closed with a wooden lattice. A feeder and a drinker are placed in the section so that the brood hen can reach them. It is better to use finely chopped straw or shavings as bedding.

The temperature regime is maintained depending on the age of the chicks, adjusting it different ways: turning the heating elements on or off by raising or lowering the brooder.

Table "Temperature conditions for caring for small pheasants":

The temperature regime under the brooder should be changed gradually, avoiding sudden changes. The light regime should be close to natural, as its lengthening leads to cannibalism among the chicks.

O temperature conditions can be judged by the nature of the behavior of the pheasants. At low temperature they are grouped in small groups, since in the center of such groups the air temperature is maintained at the level of 27-30 ° С.

When reared in a poultry house, young animals grow faster and consume less feed, since the temperature in the house is always higher than outside. If the chicks are kept in the garden under the brooder, then they emit more heat into the space. In order to grow hardy and healthy young animals with well-developed thermoregulation, you need to keep pheasants in rooms with an air temperature of 15-18 ° C or in an open-air garden plot. In such conditions, they themselves will choose the place where they are, in addition, their body will be able to more easily adapt to the negative effects of the environment.

In the first days of life, chicks are very tender and weak and need careful care. It is necessary to ensure that they do not accumulate in the corners of the enclosure, do not drown in the drinker. During this period, hard-boiled chicken eggs, small mealworms are used to feed pheasants, and yogurt can be given as water. During the day, young animals are fed every 2 hours, giving food in small portions so that it does not lie in the trough for a long time, and at night - 1-2 times, but the portions are increased and the electric light is turned on for 30-40 minutes.

Pheasants are very mobile and do the first flaps of their wings at the age of 10-12 days. At the age of 6-7 weeks, their feathers fully grow back and they are able to fly freely.

How to feed pheasant chicks during this period? Food during this period should be more diverse: along with animals and soft feeds, young animals are also fed grain crops - millet, oatmeal, crushed corn, barley chaff.

Stocking density of young stock in the first days of rearing: at the age of 1 to 10 days per 1 m2 should be no more than 25-30 individuals, from 11 to 30 days - 10-15, and from 31st to 85th day - 6 individuals ... When the pheasant chicks are one month old, they are transferred to a stationary aviary, but kept separately from adult birds. At the age of up to 2 months, they need to be locked in the poultry house at night, and at the onset of the morning they should be released for a walk in the aviary.

How to feed little pheasant chicks in the first days of life

During the first 2-4 hours, chicks do not need food. And only then they begin to feed them with food, which contains:

• 40% protein mixture with added antibiotics;
• 35% boiled chopped chicken eggs (in the first 2-3 days, only white, and by the end of the week and yolk);
• 10% grated carrots;
• 14% finely chopped nettles, lettuce.

How to feed pheasants in the first seven days of life? During the first week, pheasant chicks need to be fed 5 times a day, and the next - four times. Instead of this mixture, you can also feed the chicken feed.

When breeding and keeping pheasants, the consumption of the mixture per day for 10 birds is:

• The first week - 20-70 g;
• The second- 70-90 g;
• Third- 90-135 g;
• Fourth- 135-200 g;
• Fifth-200-300;
• Sixth-ninth weeks - 300-350 g.

From the second week, pheasants begin to gradually accustom themselves to grain feed, first they give small grain (millet, clover seeds), and then large grain (wheat, rye). Pheasants also need clean drinking water, crushed charcoal and small pebbles. There should be fine sand for swimming under the canopy.

Watch the video "Breeding and keeping pheasants", which shows how to care for these birds on a home farm:

Pheasants are domesticated birds and are a fairly common object of hunting farms. Poultry meat is very valuable and considered a delicacy. Kings and emperors often preferred pheasant meat, which is why it is considered a royal dish. Today, pheasant birds are bred in industrial farms or in personal plots, mainly for meat and eggs, and occasionally for sale to hunting farms.

If the livestock of an industrial economy can reach 10 thousand individuals, then the household method implies keeping several dozen birds for their own needs and for sale. For those who want to start growing pheasants, you need to know a few nuances. So where to start when breeding and keeping pheasants at home? First of all, you need to decide on the breed.

Breeds

Common pheasant... Often this breed is also called steppe. This bird has extremely bright and colorful plumage, the colors of which change depending on the range. The body of a bird is similar to that of a chicken, only larger. The tail is long (up to half a meter), wedge-shaped. The breed is widespread from Primorye to Ukraine and Moldova. To the north, there is only a hunting pheasant, which is a hybrid.

Hunting pheasant... The head and back of the neck of the male are blue-green. The neck and back are purple, the chest is gray with black spots. The tail is long, thin with a dark purple edging on the lateral feathers. Females of the hunting breed are gray-brown, with transverse brown stripes on the neck, pheasants have the same color.

... This is a large bird, the body of which is covered with dark brown almost black feathers, the feathers on the peritoneum are slightly lighter. Her tail is lush, gray-white in color. These birds are distinguished by "ears" - peculiar feathers on the head, turned up. Females look almost the same as males, only smaller and have no spurs.

Copper pheasant... It features bright brown plumage with a bronze or copper tint. The feathers have black stripes that form spots on the bird's body. The skin around the eyes has no feathers and is colored red.

Pheasant green... It is also called Romanian, Hungarian or emerald. It is impossible to give an exact description of the appearance of this bird, since the shades of plumage can vary significantly depending on the subspecies. However, all green pheasants have a characteristic emerald-colored feather color. This bird is bred mainly for dietary meat.

Silver or silver pheasant painted in black and white. Its back of the head, neck and belly are black, and its back and tail are white. There are black stripes on the feathers of the back. The skin around the eyes is naked, red. Females are usually inconspicuous, their plumage is gray-brown with an olive tint. There are horizontal stripes on the tail and peritoneum feathers.

How to choose

It is better to buy pheasants from breeders who breed them. Moreover, it is desirable buy birds from different breeders to avoid crossbreeding... Such birds, as a rule, have weak immunity or are infertile. Better to acquire from 2 to 4 pairs of birds to practice their nursing and feeding skills. Only then can the livestock be brought to the required amount.

When choosing birds, rely on the following rules:

• You should not buy individuals older than two and a half years. Their highest productivity falls on the period before reaching this age.
• On feeling, the pheasant should be fleshy and strong, without excess fat deposits and not overly bony.
• Feathers around the cloaca should not be wet and dirty, this indicates an illness.

Conditions of detention

It is worth starting breeding pheasants with several pairs. For this purpose, the best fit birds of silver breed... Females can be used to hatch eggs, however, they are not the best brooders. Therefore, one can apply incubator or purchase a brood hen.

Birds are kept for a walk or in cages. It makes sense to acquire cages only if you need only their meat from the birds. Without movement for a long time, the pheasant will quickly gain weight. During breeding, the population density should be 1-3 individuals per square meter. For gaining mass, you can use special feed with protein.

In order to increase the number of pheasants, you need to provide them with walking space. Usually an aviary is used for this. The best place to build an aviary is sand. The aviary is built with the following calculations: sleeping area - 2 square meters per individual, walking area - 10 square meters per individual. The walls of the enclosure are made of metal mesh, and covered with nylon on top. To prevent the birds from getting wet from the rain and overheating in the sun, some part of the enclosure should be covered with a canopy.

The content of pheasants in winter is practically the same as in summer. If you breed pheasants of non-exotic origin, you will not need a separate room for keeping them in winter. Almost all breeds are fine tolerate frosts down to -25 degrees... However, a special construction will not be superfluous. So that the bird does not lose weight due to frost, it is still better to take care of a reliable shelter.

Aviary sizes are calculated as follows: usable area per individual - 1.5 square meters... For a couple who are hooked up for the sake of reproduction, a large area is required. They need at least 9 square meters, but it is better to expand it to 18. This is due to the fact that during the period when the female incubates the eggs, the male walks alongside, protecting her from potential enemies. If the area of ​​the enclosure is too small, individuals may become aggressive towards each other..

Poultry house sheathed mineral wool or foam. If the outside temperature is below -30 degrees, then a heater is required. When installing the heater, make sure that it does not come into contact with birds.

How to feed pheasants at home

Newly born pheasants are fed a finely chopped egg with the addition of herbs or mealworms. The period between feedings should be 2 hours. At night, the chicks are fed twice, with the lights on for 30–40 minutes. The feed can be supplemented with compound feed produced for chickens. When the pheasant chicks are two weeks old, millet porridge can be added to the diet.

Young pheasants (over two weeks old) can be fed:

• ground corn;
• millet;
• porridge;
• bread crumbs;
• dandelion and clover;
• calcium supplements.

Adult pheasants are recommended to be fed mixed feed for chickens... In nature, these birds love to feast on insects and small animals, so they will not give up snails, Colorado Zhukov, and sunflower seeds, corn and millet... There must be solid foods in the diet, so add cake.

If you feed pheasants with mixed feed for chickens or broilers, be sure to add animal protein to the diet. And also the birds eat with pleasure cottage cheese, meat porridge, minced meat, blood mash... Will not interfere and root vegetables, oats, vegetables... Typically, the daily feed rate per bird is 75 grams. During the breeding season, the dose is increased to 85 grams.

A complete pheasant feed should be balanced as follows:

• 20% protein;
• 1.7% calcium;
• 0.9% phosphorus.

In summer, birds get vitamins from vegetables and herbs, but what do pheasants eat in winter? In winter, the diet should change slightly. In summer, there is no problem with adding greens, unlike in winter, and pheasants need it so much. Instead of greens, add a few drops of fish oil to the food. Instead of the vitamins that birds get from vegetables in summer, add ascorbic acid (5 grams of acid per kilogram of feed). If you put a little sugar in the porridge, it will strengthen the immune system.

How to sell products

The main task in any trading business is the sale of manufactured products. Since pheasants are raised for meat and eggs, this market needs to be studied in more detail.

Breeding pheasants at home, first of all, provides an opportunity to receive part of the eggs for yourself, and sell the other part. Some of them will be spent on reproduction of offspring, out of 50 eggs per season, about 10 hatch. The rest 40 can be safely taken without prejudice to the livestock.

Pheasant eggs are considered dietary and healthier than chicken eggs. Moreover, they do not cause allergies. This is why pheasant eggs are quite expensive. The cost fluctuates depending on the season, but never drops below 300 rubles per ten.

The carcasses of these birds are delicacies and are quite expensive. Usually pheasant meat is bought by restaurants, it is better to conclude agreements with them in advance. Selling these poultry carcasses can be a good profit. One carcass costs from 1800 rubles. The price, of course, depends on how much the carcass weighs and how old the bird was.

The rarest type of sales is the sale of poultry for hunting farms. Those who like to hunt pheasants turn to special clubs that provide them with services for hunting these birds. This pleasure is not cheap, and one adult pheasant in such a farm can be sold for at least $ 60.

Business development costs

Any business involves some initial investment of material resources. A pheasant farming business will have the following cost categories:

• head purchase costs;
• equipment costs;
• the cost of materials for the construction of poultry houses;
• feed costs;
• information for the sale of meat.

The purchase of the required number of heads (on average 50 per farm), the purchase of an incubator, the construction of poultry houses and aviaries will cost you about 160 thousand rubles. The cost of feed is comparable to the cost of feed for ducks and is approximately 20 thousand rubles per 50 heads. The same amount will have to be paid for the purchase of certificates for the sale of meat. The total is a little more than 200 thousand rubles.

So now you know how to breed pheasants. Naturally, this requires some effort and investment. But, taking into account the cost of eggs and meat, it can be assumed that a business project for breeding pheasants will pay for itself in 1.5-2 years.

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Pheasants - omnivorous bird, which eats insects as well as seeds of wild herbs, berries and fruits. The bird does not disdain earthworms, beetle larvae or even a small frog. The pheasant requires a high-protein diet, with a lack of protein, it lags behind in growth, shows aggression, the plumage growth slows down in young animals.

In general, the process of the appearance of feathers can be judged on the balance of the diet. So, in pheasants aged 10-12 days, the wings should cover the body and close on the back. In young animals at the age of one month, the plumage is fully formed, and it is possible to distinguish males from females, and by the age of two months juvenile molt begins, which can be determined by feeling the hemp appearing on the chest, neck and back.

Feeding young pheasants is most similar. In the first five days, pheasant chicks are fed a wet mash of boiled chicken eggs, a small amount of steamed millet and wheat cereal without films, adding fish oil or Trivit to the mixture. From the second day, finely chopped green onions, then other valuable greens - clover, dandelions, yarrow, nettles.

They set the mash at least six times a day, removing the leftovers after 20 minutes, while noticing the amount of food eaten, they try to give the required amount - no more, no less.

From the fifth day in the diet of young pheasants, you can include compound feed for chickens of meat and egg breeds (not broilers).

Pheasants rise well when drinking milk whey, dacha sour milk and adding cottage cheese to the mash. If possible, fermented milk products, which are sources of proteins and vitamins and other valuable substances, are fed as long as possible and in a larger volume, then replacing them and replenishing the deficiency nutrients meat and bone and fish meal, sunflower or soybean meal, mineral supplements.

The main grain component of feeding young pheasants, as well as fattening adult bird, is ground corn, and if its availability is limited, it is replaced by wheat up to half of the norm.

In the autumn-winter period, boiled potatoes, wheat bran, grated vegetables - carrots, beets, pumpkin, hay dust are introduced into the diet of pheasants, preparing nutritious mash and making the content cheaper.

By the beginning of the productive season, the protein-vitamin composition of the diet is enhanced - meat and bone or fish meal, water-soluble vitamins are introduced, nettle brooms are hung, grated hay of clover and alfalfa is added to the mash. Good way to fortify the diet - to feed the bird with sprouted wheat grain.

Below are suggested approximate indicators of feed consumption when keeping pheasants at home. The need for an adult bird in concentrated feed is about 70 g per day.

Approximate rations feeding pheasants, g per head per day

Pheasants' addiction to collecting insects and their larvae can be used to clear the garden and garden from pests, and get good yields. This bird perfectly eats any insects, including the Colorado potato beetle - to attack nightshade crops of potatoes, peppers, tomatoes. For this, the chicks are gradually fed from the age of ten days, mixing the larvae of the Colorado potato beetle and crushed adult insects into the food.

Then the bird is cut off one of the wings and released for planting vegetables, fenced with a fence at least one and a half meters high. Pheasants not only qualitatively free potatoes from Colorado beetles at any stage of development and inadvertently crawling out bears, but also superbly gain weight on this affordable diet, rich in protein. In addition, this bird is not inclined to sow in the ground and does not spoil the landing.

Dear readers, you have the opportunity to post your story about keeping pheasants and it will be published on the site with an indication of your authorship. To do this, send your free story with a photo of the bird using the contact form. If you are a breeder and sell young animals or eggs, you can put this information as well, and do not forget to indicate the region of residence and contact information.

The diet of pheasants is in many ways similar to the diet of chickens. For feeding, you can use both ready-made and homemade food.

Pheasants are quite unpretentious, willingly feed on waste from the table (the remains of greens, vegetables, bread).

If you decide to prepare your own food, be sure to consider the time of year.

• In summer, the pheasant ration should consist of 30-40% green food,
• In winter, in addition to a balanced feed, vitamins are essential supplements.

Approximate feeding ration in%

This recipe allows you to easily compose a diet yourself.

In the cold season, pheasants need about 75 grams of food per day per individual.

The composition can also include the following components:

• insects,
• ground meat,
• cottage cheese,
• greens,
• chopped vegetables.

During the preparation of birds for breeding, boiled potatoes, carrots and mineral feed should be included in the diet.

With the beginning of the spring-summer season, birds need sunflower oil, chalk, as well as various berries.

Many manufacturers produce ready-made feeds, in which the composition is balanced and allows the pheasant to receive all the necessary nutrients.

Here is an example of a complete feed for adults:

When buying ready-made feeds, carefully choose the manufacturer, since the health of the birds directly depends on the quality of the feed.

What are the nuances to consider when feeding decorative pheasants

Ornamental pheasants are more demanding on food, so their diet should be treated with special responsibility.

Birds are very fond of green food, for example, plantain, dandelions, wood lice. You can supplement green food with leftovers from the kitchen, for example, cottage cheese or bread. Be sure to include corn, millet, sunflower in the diet. Offer fruits and berries to the birds as treats.

In the winter season, sunflower, corn, millet are essential. Dried herbs are also required - you can use dandelion, clover.

Birds will benefit from apples and rowan berries. In severe frosts, include sunflower seeds in your diet.

Be sure to give chalk. In the spring, limestone and crushed shell rock will improve the condition of the feathers and the strength of the shell.

Choosing a feeder and drinker

The most practical trough for feeding pheasants. Do not forget that the feeder should be comfortable, the bird easily got food. The end walls must be higher than the side ones in order to install the turntable. It will prevent the bird from sitting on the feeder and contaminating or throwing away the feed. The feeder is 2/3 full.

Tray models can be used for chicks. They can be plastic, sheet metal or plywood. The sideboard should be no higher than 2 cm, with a total size of the feeder of 30x70 cm, it will be possible to feed 20-30 pheasants of 30 days of age.

Any drinker can be used. For example, grooved, flowing, pheasant drinkers... As materials for their manufacture, plastic, glass can be used. Vacuum drinkers will be convenient for chicks.