Reindeer reindeer breeding and breeding

Reindeer (Kangifertarandus) belong to Artiodactyla, Cervidae, which is native to the Arctic and near-Arctic regions. In China, reindeer mainly live in dense forests on the northwest slope of Daxing'an Mountains, with strong cold tolerance in areas with longitude of 120 °15 °E and latitude of 53 °15'N. The economic value of reindeer is very high, and its antler, skin, meat and milk can be used. at the same time, it has high ornamental value in the zoo because of its strange appearance and tame. Reindeer have been reared in Harbin Zoo for nearly 20 years, but the breeding effect is not ideal due to various reasons. Since 1995, it has been raised and bred by scientific management methods, and remarkable results have been achieved. From 1995 to 1998, a total of 11 reindeer were bred. The reproduction rate of adult female deer with reproductive capacity reached 100%, and the survival rate of young reached 100%.

1 feeding environment and methods

1.1 Natural profile

Harbin is located at 125 °15 °E from 127 °30 °E, 45 °20 °N from 46 °20 °N, with an average annual temperature of 4.5 ℃, average precipitation of 581.2mm, sunshine hours of 2461.9 hours and annual average wind speed of 3.4m/s. As reindeer grow in the Arctic and near-Arctic regions and are suitable for living in cold areas, such environmental characteristics are suitable for the growth, development and reproduction of reindeer.

1.2 feeding environment and management methods

1.2.1 breeding environment

The reindeer in our park are raised in Dalu Garden, which is introduced by Inner Mongolia Mangui, a total of 5 (3 ♀, 2 ♂), the cage area is 360m2, there is a shelter facing northeast, and the area is 25m2, the enclosure is shaded by tall trees, the ground is made of red brick, and the playground is equipped with two cement chutes higher than the ground 50cm 100cm × 35cm × 40cm, and two sinks welded by thick iron plates.

1.2.2 feeding standard

In the wild, reindeer feed mainly on litmus all the year round, followed by the tender branches and leaves of woody plants. In artificial feeding, the environmental conditions have changed greatly, not only the amount of exercise has been greatly reduced, but also it is impossible to choose food at will. In order to balance its nutritional consumption, it is necessary to properly supply a certain amount of concentrate fodder. At the same time, it is also necessary to ensure an adequate supply of roughage. After years of exploration and practice by scientists and technicians, the reindeer feed standards of Harbin Zoo were established as follows: from May to September, each male deer was fed with pellet feed 2.00kg, female deer 1.75kg, prism grass or fresh paspalum grass. From October to April of the following year, the male deer were fed with 2.25kg, 2.00kg and dried tussah leaves, and each deer was supplied with 1.5~2.00kg carrots, kohlrabi or cabbage according to the situation. The feed is fed in two stages throughout the day, 8 ∶ 30 am and 16 ∶ 00:00

1.2.3 feeding and management methods

The reindeer reindeer have strict requirements on the environmental hygiene of the cages, so they must thoroughly clean the cages, wash the material trough and sink after going to work every day. Ensure that there is enough clean drinking water in the sink and thoroughly disinfect the cage and eating utensils every 2 weeks. Special attention should be paid to heat prevention in summer. When the temperature exceeds 28 ℃, you can sprinkle water on the ground to cool down, and you can also give the deer a bath. The reindeer are in estrus from mid-September to mid-November every year. In order to prevent the same-sex deer from causing accidental casualties in the fight for mates during mating, two stubbles of antler should be sawed off in mid-late August. There is no need to warm the deer house in winter, you can add more bedding grass in the shelter. Make sure you have plenty of water in winter. In the cold winter in Harbin, the water in the flume freezes and freezes very quickly. In order to ensure drinking water, warm water can be given and changed frequently. At the same time, some clean snow can be kept in the enclosure for food. In addition, the proportion of salt can be appropriately increased in feed to increase drinking water.

2 reproduction

2.1 Age of sexual maturity

The female deer is sexually mature at the age of 1.5, and a few well-developed deer can participate in mating in the same year. The reproductive ability is very strong, and the general reproductive life span can reach 14 years. The stag is sexually mature at the age of 2.5 and can participate in mating at the age of 3. In Harbin, the life span of reindeer can reach about 20 years old.

2.2 estrus

Reindeer are in estrus from mid-September to mid-November every year, with mid-October as the peak period. During this period, the Bucks were ferocious, often fighting for couples and attacking people on their own initiative. at the same time, they showed obvious thickening of the neck, chasing female deer all day, sniffing their genitals, and often "howling" and "howling" at the same time, urinating frequently, and seldom ate except for increased drinking water. After the mating period, the stag lost a lot of weight. The estrus performance of the female deer was not very obvious, the vulva was slightly edema, there was a small amount of mucus, approached the male actively, and the feeding change was not obvious. the pregnancy rate of the female deer was higher at 13-22 days after estrus, and the best part of estrus lasted for 2-4 days.

2.3 mating

Reindeer breeding should choose a healthy male deer, using a multi-male way. Reindeer mating is mostly in the early morning or evening, the environment is quiet, the weather is cool, the mating duration is about 20 seconds, and the number of mating per day is variable. During the mating period, some apples and vitamin E should be fed appropriately to improve the pregnancy rate.

2.4 pregnancy and childbirth

2.4.1 pregnancy

The gestation period of reindeer is 225,240 days. In the early stage of pregnancy, the change of feeding exercise state of female deer was not obvious, but the feed intake increased in the later stage of pregnancy, gradually obese, bright coat, gentle and quiet temperament. During pregnancy, attention should be paid to the supplement of vitamins and minerals, especially the supplement of calcium and phosphorus and their proportion adjustment. In addition, be careful not to be frightened and avoid catching animals as much as possible to avoid miscarriage.

2.4.2 giving birth

Reindeer usually give birth in May to early June, most of them are one cub, and the two cubs are rare. One month before delivery, the abdominal circumference was obviously enlarged and the breast was slightly swollen. one week before delivery, the female deer liked to walk quietly or slowly, the vulva was slightly edema, and there was a small amount of mucus outflow, breast swelling and prominent nipples. Prenatal 1-2 days, like to lie still in the inner house, loss of appetite, sometimes restless, frequently lift the tail. Most of the female deer give birth in a standing position, sometimes lying down, giving birth at midnight or early morning, first delivering the front hooves of the young deer, then the head, and finally giving birth, the whole process takes 1-2 hours. First-time female deer sometimes take a little longer. The female deer licks her young deer after delivery, and there are feeding requirements after 10 minutes. After 40-90 minutes, the placenta fell off and was generally eaten by the doe. Postpartum deer calves are capillaries soft, brown, no coarse hair.

2.5 raising young

After birth, the young deer can stand up after licking the mother deer for about 20 minutes, and the colostrum can be eaten for about 2 hours. If the postpartum female deer does not have enough milk, it can be fed to the female deer lactation tablets to increase the lactation, the dosage is twice the dose for human use. Some female deer first birth maternal nature is not strong, do not feed the young deer, can catch the female deer, forced to breast-feed the young deer, after several times can generally breast-feed themselves, but should pay attention to make the young deer eat colostrum in time. The young deer can play with grass about half a month after birth, and a small amount of grass can be eaten after a month. The young deer had horn marks on their heads after birth, and the antlers grew out after 7 days. The antlers grew to 5~10cm at 1 month old, reached 10~20cm at 2 months old, and fell off into dry horns at 4 months old.

3 results and discussion

3.1 Reindeer is a near-Arctic animal that is resistant to cold and heat. Therefore, it is necessary to create a good living environment for the zoo and sprinkle water to cool it or build a bath in summer.

3.2 from wild to captive reindeer, the balance of absorption and metabolism should be met as far as possible, and the full price feed should be supplemented appropriately. The feed should be adjusted timely for different individuals in different periods.

3.3 during estrus mating, the horns of the stag should be sawed off so as not to cause animal and human casualties. The oestrus of the reindeer is from mid-September to mid-October, the sexual cycle of the female is 13-22 days, the best part of estrus lasts 2-4 days, the gestation period is 225-240 days, and the lactation period is 165-180 days.

3.4 reindeer are mated and reared in a way of multiple males and females, and a healthy male can form a breeding group with more than 10 females.