Special Poultry Standardized Production Technology

Author: Gu Zilin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: The history of raising special birds in China is long, but traditionally, the industry has been limited to ornamental purposes, catering only to the entertainment needs of a few. It has been characterized by a small number of practitioners, small scale, low quality, and negligible economic benefits. With the rapid development of China's economy and the gradual improvement of people's living standards, there has been a growing demand for higher quality of life. Especially with the diversification of meat product demand in the international market, the special bird farming industry in China has experienced rapid development. Today, special bird farming has become an industry that cannot be ignored, with extremely optimistic prospects. Special birds include a wide variety of species with broad uses, serving as food, medicine, ornamental purposes, or as means to increase economic income. Today, they have become an important component of animal husbandry. Since special birds are domesticated from wild avian species, and the domestication history of some is relatively short, their level of domestication is still low. Therefore, in terms of farming techniques, some aspects are not yet systematic or complete. Although researchers both domestically and internationally have conducted some studies on special bird farming and achieved certain results, including breed selection, nutritional needs, and disease prevention, for most family farmers, farming still relies on experience and exploration in practice. This approach is often, arbitrary, and lacks standardized techniques, resulting in unstandardized products, which hinders the rapid and healthy development of the special bird farming industry. For many years, special birds have been exported as commodities from China. When artificial farming was still relatively backward and the scale of farming could not meet domestic and international market demands, people mainly relied on capturing wild birds to gain immediate economic benefits. Due to the continuous deterioration of the environment, the intensity of capture and the self-reproductive capacity of the animals created a significant disparity, leading to severe destruction of wildlife resources and pushing some species to the brink of extinction. Protecting wildlife and maintaining ecological balance have become a global call. Therefore, strengthening the research and popularization of special bird farming techniques is a common task for our scientific community. With China's entry into the World Trade Organization, the special bird farming industry has gained a favorable development space. The increasing demand for special birds in the international market necessitates standardized farming practices to meet export requirements. To address the urgent needs of special bird farmers and guide them toward scientific, standardized, and large-scale farming, we have compiled Standardized Production Techniques for Special Birds. Given the diversity of special bird species, we have selected four that have a longer history of domestication, more systematic techniques, larger breeding numbers, higher industrialization levels, strong market demand, and significant development potential. These are pigeon, Silkie chicken, quail, and pheasant. The materials are organized around the theme of standardized production, covering aspects such as standardized breed selection, standardized breeding techniques, standardized feed formulation, standardized feeding and management, standardized environmental control, standardized farm building, standardized health and disease prevention, and standardized product processing, storage, and transportation. During the compilation process, we have summarized the extensive experience of the authors in research, teaching, and production, incorporated the latest domestic and international research findings, and referenced valuable materials from fellow professionals.