Probably everyone has heard of such a bird as the royal pheasant. Its main advantage is amazing beauty. And it almost became the cause of the extinction of birds - in their natural habitat they are actively hunted. However, pheasants were domesticated, and today they can be seen in many farms around the world, including Russia.
Appearance
Perhaps the most beautiful bird bred by man for meat is the royal pheasant. The photos attached to the article will make sure of this.
The first thing that catches your eye when looking at the male is the tail. The length of the bird can be 200-210 centimeters. And of these, it is the tail that accounts for about 120-140 centimeters. After molting, the length increases a little more. Pheasant females are slightly smaller, and their tail length does not exceed 50 centimeters. The weight of adult males is approximately 1.5 kilograms. Females weigh about 1 kilogram.
Head and neck combine sectionswhite and black. The wings and body are covered with white and golden feathers with small patches of black and chestnut. The tail feathers are white, but have yellowish edges and pronounced black transverse stripes.
The legs are gray and the beak is almost white.
As you can see, the sight is really impressive. Alas, this is what almost caused the extinction of the royal pheasants.
Where do they live
The only place in the wild where this magnificent bird lives is China. You can meet them both in the central and in the northeastern regions. They prefer mountains and foothills, densely covered with forests. They usually inhabit deciduous forests, but in some cases they also settle in coniferous forests. They are found at altitudes from 300 to 1800 meters.
Interestingly, the UK also has a small colony of these magnificent birds. However, it was created by accident - as a result of the fact that several individuals escaped from people and settled in the wild. The mild climate, the almost complete absence of dangerous predators and the love of people allowed them to survive and reproduce successfully.
Lifestyle
If you make a description of the royal pheasant, then we can say with confidence: this is a sedentary bird that does not like to move long distances unless absolutely necessary. Birds are amazingly hardy - they perfectly tolerate both high and low temperatures.
In winter and autumn they gather in small flocks - up to 10 individuals. In the spring, when laying time approachesand incubation of eggs, are divided into small groups. Moreover, the males are pronounced polygamy. Having fertilized one female, he hurries in search of the next, and so on. The male does not take the slightest part in caring for children, protecting them and feeding the female while incubating the eggs.
Most of the food is found on the ground, but they prefer to spend the night in the trees, so as not to become a victim of nocturnal predators.
Pheasant males are assigned a certain territory, which they zealously protect, often arranging very fierce skirmishes if a stranger has entered his land. Even if the bird for some reason left its usual habitat, you can be sure that at the first opportunity it will definitely return.
Surprisingly, for all their beauty and seeming sluggishness, they are quite aggressive - they boldly rush not only at males of their breed that have violated the border, but also at various animals, as well as people.
Prevalence in nature
Unfortunately, it was the beautiful feathers of the royal pheasant that almost caused its extinction in the wild. In China, locals actively hunt for it, not only because of the delicious, tender meat, but also to get feathers that are used for jewelry.
Officially, there are about 5,000 individuals left in the wild today in China. And some sources claim that this figure is even more frightening - no more than 2 thousand birds.
Although the killing of wild pheasants in China is prohibited by law, it does not stoplocal hunters and just peasants who want to eat poultry meat. Therefore, every year the number of royal pheasants is reduced.
Captivity
Fortunately, the complete destruction of these birds does not threaten. If only because they were domesticated in Europe and reproduce perfectly in ordinary farms.
Surprisingly, they are only slightly more difficult to breed than chickens. So, if you want to breed royal pheasants, you need to take into account the peculiarities of their content.
First of all, you need an aviary - 15 square meters is enough for a small flock. If you want the birds to show themselves in all their glory, it is advisable to have an aviary with an area of 60 square meters or more - here the male pheasants will be able to grow a longer tail, and it is he who is the main decoration. In general, there should not be more than 1 individual per square meter. And this despite the fact that you are ready to provide them with quality food - with such a dense population, they obviously will not be able to find enough food on their own.
Very convenient that they are polygamous - you can keep only one male per flock of 10-15 females.
In the enclosure, it is worth installing several perches at different heights - from 150 to 200 centimeters. Having fed during the day, pheasants prefer to fly up into trees at night. In captivity, trees can be easily replaced with a regular perch of sufficient thickness.
It is advisable to sprinkle the floor of the enclosure with a thick layer of sand so that dirt does not appear, otherwisetails will always be dirty, faded and ugly.
Diet
Of course, many enthusiastic farmers are interested in trying to work with such an unusual bird as the king pheasant. Breeding them is inextricably linked to a proper diet.
In nature, they eat various berries, acorns, seeds, and do not disdain insects and invertebrates if they can be caught. In winter and early spring, when food becomes scarce in the forest, pheasants can often be seen on agricultural land, which is an additional reason for their destruction.
When breeding on a farm, it is desirable to give birds more freedom of movement - then they themselves will collect insects and eat grass. But still, additional feeding is also very important. The optimal diet is considered to include:
- shredded corn - 55%;
- shredded wheat - 30%;
- fish dust - 10%;
- yeast and meat and bone meal - 5%.
One bird should have about 75 grams of feed per day. You also need to give them a large amount of grass, which they eat with appetite.
From the middle of spring, you can add various berries, calcium and a little sunflower oil to the standard diet. Then the pheasants will grow faster, and their meat will acquire a particularly tender and pleasant taste.
Reproduction
Of course, when characterizing the breed of the royal pheasant, it is impossible not to touch upon such an important area as reproduction.
As mentioned above, males are polygamous and capable offertilize a large number of females.
The latter create nests directly on the ground, usually by simply digging a hole of the right size. The clutch may consist of 7-14 eggs. It has long been noted that the larger the female, the more eggs she incubates at a time. The eggs take approximately 24-25 days to incubate.
In many farms, in order to increase the number of eggs laid by a female pheasant during the warm season, incubators are used. They lay only fresh (not older than a week) eggs stored under certain conditions. Eggs are not washed, but in order to prevent infection from entering the incubator, they can be briefly lowered into a warm solution of potassium permanganate. The incubation temperature is 37-38 degrees. Therefore, a conventional incubator used for breeding chickens will do. You also need to provide a sufficiently high humidity - up to 80%. It is very important to turn the eggs at least 4-5 times a day so that they warm up evenly. Starting from the third week, the incubator is opened daily for 10-15 minutes for ventilation.
With proper care, hatching can be up to 90%.
Care for young animals
Adult royal pheasants do not need special care. But the young - very even. You need to make sure that they are warm enough - if necessary, install additional heating or put a container of hot water wrapped in a thick cloth so that the chicks can warm themselves at night. It is important to ensure that there are not too many young animals - no more than 25 individuals per square meter. Otherwise, the weak will simply be trampled overhe althy and arrogant relatives. Gradually, the area must be increased - from 10 to 30 days, a maximum of 15 individuals should fall on the same area. And after a month - no more than 6.
It is also very important to make a suitable diet - you can not give the same food that adults eat.
Ordinary chicken eggs are a good choice - they need to be hard-boiled and finely chopped. In the first days of life, only protein is given, but starting from the second week, it is already possible to give the yolk. You can also add young nettles to the diet - it is advisable to pre-pour boiling water over it so that it does not burn, and chop finely. Over time, young animals can be accustomed to grain, they usually start with millet and gradually transfer to rye, wheat.
Conclusion
Our article is coming to an end. From it you learned everything about the royal pheasant - characteristics, distribution, features of captivity and habitats in the wild. We hope that the article was useful to you and enriched your stock of knowledge.
