Reproductive characteristics of pheasant

In the breeding of pheasants, the reproduction of pheasants is very important. In order to do a good job in the breeding technology of pheasants, we must understand the reproductive characteristics of pheasants. Here are the reproductive characteristics of pheasants.

Pheasant

I. signs of sexual maturity

The sign of pheasant sexual maturity is the first successful mating of male pheasant and the first egg laid by female pheasant.

In the wild, pheasants generally reach sexual maturity 10-11 months after hatching, and male pheasants reach sexual maturity about 1 month earlier than female pheasants. Under natural light and natural climate, pheasants hatched in June can mate and lay eggs in April of the following year. In the wild, pheasant spouses are mostly one male and two female, and there are also one male and one female, living together in an occupied area. Pheasants generally reach sexual maturity early under the condition of artificial domestication. For example, the American colorful pheasant reaches sexual maturity at the age of 4-5 months. After the colorful pheasants of the United States were artificially raised all over China, the period of sexual maturity changed with latitude, and there was a difference of about one month between the south and the north.

II. Breeding period

In the wild, the pheasant breeding period is between March and July every year, and the difference between the south and the north is about one month. Under the condition of artificial feeding, due to the improvement of nutrition, temperature, light and other conditions, the pheasant began to mate and lay eggs earlier every year, but the date of stopping laying was postponed and the breeding period was prolonged. During the breeding period, pheasants choose to nest anywhere in trees composed of tussah, stick, poplar, birch and vetch, and spread hay and leaves in the concavity of the ground. Most of the nests are covered with vines.

Third, the male pheasant competes for a couple

The male pheasant has a strong mating phenomenon during the breeding period. in the pecking fight between several male pheasants, the winner is usually called "royal pheasant". Once the "royal chicken" is identified, there will be no more fighting in the short term. However, after a period of time, some chickens still have the phenomenon of "fighting for the king", until the "royal chicken" is reproduced.

IV. Mating

In the wild, pheasants often mate with multiple mothers (1: 2-4) during the mating and breeding period, form a "mating group", live together relatively stably, mate, lay eggs, and hatch eggs. Only a few are a male and a female.

Under the condition of feeding, the ratio of male and female spouses of pheasant during mating and breeding period is one of the important factors affecting the fertilization rate of breeding eggs. Wild pheasants began to mate and reproduce from March to April every year, with the most mating times from May to June, and stopped mating and reproduction from June to July. Captive-raised American colorful pheasants begin to mate in March every year. Generally, about 50% of adult female pheasants receive mating in mid-April. Mating is more frequent and frequent from May to July. After early August, mating gradually decreases and stops in September. In the course of the day, pheasants mate more actively in the early morning and evening.

The male pheasant courtship posture is varied, for example, the male pheasant walks quickly around the female pheasant and looks back to observe the reaction of the female pheasant; or the male pheasant repeatedly pecks the food or sand grains around the female pheasant, picks it up and puts it down, and makes a "grunt" and "grunt" call to entice the female pheasant to get closer to him. Or raise your head, droop your inner wings, and kick back with one foot, gradually getting closer to the mother pheasant.

The mating of pheasants is completed in about 10 seconds. During mating, the male pheasant has fluffy neck feathers, first raising its head and chest, erect its tail feathers, quickly chasing the female pheasant, approaching the female pheasant from the side, and sagging its inner wings and flapping its outer wings in circles around the female pheasant. If the female pheasant stands still or crouches, the male pheasant jumps on the back of the female pheasant, holds the feathers on the top of the female pheasant's head, raises the tail, the tail feather deviates to one side, the male pheasant's tail falls, the female pheasant lies down, the tail feathers open, wait for the male and female pheasant cloaca mouth to coincide with mating, and instantly the male pheasant ejaculates and completes the mating. After mating, the female pheasant shakes its feathers and the male pheasant walks away.

5. Spawning

Wild pheasants, female pheasants lay 2 nests of eggs every year, individual ones lay 3 nests of eggs, each litter lays 6 eggs and 14 eggs. The egg is light olive yellow and oval in shape. the weight of the egg is 24028g, the long diameter is 40.743mm, and the short diameter is 32.7 44.8 mm.

Under the condition of artificial breeding, pheasants began to lay eggs at the end of April. May, June and July are the peak periods for egg production, accounting for 80% to 85% of the annual egg production. The egg production decreased gradually after the beginning of August, and the egg production in September was basically over. Generally speaking, the annual laying number of female pheasants is 2025 eggs. Colorful pheasants in the United States are raised by lighting control. There are two laying periods every year, each laying 3040 eggs. A female pheasant can lay 70,80eggs, or even more than 100 eggs a year.