According to many experts, one of the most beautiful birds successfully bred in captivity is a diamond pheasant. Photos attached to the article will allow the reader to verify this. It is important that they can easily adapt to the climate of many regions of our country and will become a real decoration of any farm.
Appearance
Of course, the main decoration of a diamond pheasant is its tail. With an average body length of 150 centimeters, about 100 of them fall precisely on the tail. Without exaggeration, it is luxurious - the black-and-white pattern captivates and, alas, is the reason that the bird is almost exterminated at home. The female tail is much less beautiful - although they themselves are larger, its length rarely exceeds 40 centimeters.
The weight of the birds ranges from 1 to 1.5 kilograms, which makes them very interesting from a gastronomic point of view.
The plumage of the male is striking in its beauty, saturation and brightness. The head is colored bright orange and black on the sides. The gray, not too large, but sharp beak stands out. There is a variegated hood in black and white - very beautiful and elegant. Chest and back are blue-black. The lower back is deep orange. However, they acquire such a rich color only in the second year of life.
Females, like most bird species, are much less beautiful - gray or brown alternates with black, so that they are closer in color to the usual discreet sparrow.
Habitat
When you know the description of the diamond pheasant, it is worth saying a few words about the habitat of this amazing bird.
In nature, they live mainly in China, but small populations are found in Nepal and Myanmar. Alas, in the homeland the birds are almost exterminated. Local peasants hunt them simply because of the delicious meat. Bright feathers also bring a lot of problems to unfortunate pheasants - quite often hunters want to get not so much meat as elegant plumage.
Fortunately, several copies were delivered in the nineteenth century from China to England. Here they took root - as it turned out, high humidity and a relatively low temperature do not cause serious problems for birds. At first, the content of diamond pheasant in parks and rich estates was popular - in the wild, they did not occur at all. But once, several birds managed to escape and settle in deciduous and coniferous forests, abundant in shrubs. There was enough food (pheasant eats buds, seeds, young shoots and leaves with pleasure), and relatively few natural enemies. Therefore, today with some luck, the bright plumage of birds can be seen in many forests of Great Britain.
Place to keep
Before you start a diamond pheasant, it will be useful to know the features of maintenance and breeding. It all starts with an aviary. It should be large enough - a bird, whose body length is one and a half meters, needs a spacious room. Otherwise, the pheasant begins to hurt, and some males are left without their luxurious tail. Of course, this should never be allowed.
Therefore, first you need to prepare an aviary - its area should be at least 10 square meters. It is desirable - several times more. One corner should be densely planted with shrubs, where birds can spend time, relax and feast on natural fresh food.
Also, one should not forget about the houses in which pheasants hide from the cold and wind. It is advisable to make the railing thick, not less than 3-4 centimeters in diameter, so that it is convenient for the birds to sit on them.
The optimum flooring is fine pebbles or coarse sand. A concrete surface will not work - birds out of habit try to rake the ground and get seriously injured.
You can keep them both in pairs and entire families. In any case, only one male should be present in one enclosure. Otherwise, you can’t avoid a fight in which chic tails can be lost.
Choosing the right diet
Each owner wants his pets to delight the eye with beauty, brightness and have excellent health. In this case, when you start a diamond pheasant, you need to know the features of the content - first of all, it is proper feeding.
The basis of the diet is grain - about 50%. This includes wheat, corn and barley. But corn should be given in a relatively small amount - because of it, the bird is gaining weight quickly, so it is better to focus on it before the autumn slaughter.
Do not forget about fresh food - dandelions, plantain and nettle. In the summer, it is advisable to give as much of such greens as possible so that the pheasant receives the trace elements and vitamins he needs. Otherwise, the plumage will fade over time.
You can give a variety of food waste - from the remnants of cereal and breadcrumbs to vegetable peelings.
A good addition would be any insects and snails. An excellent solution would be to enrich the diet of juveniles with them - earthworms, spiders, snails and even the Colorado potato beetle are nutritious foods high in protein.
Finally, it is worth adding mineral and vitamin supplements to the diet - the same ones that give chickens, geese and other poultry.
Captive breeding
In spring, females begin to lay their eggs - an average of about ten. It depends on the age, as well as the correctness of the diet. Males shortly before that spend almost all their free time from sleeping and feeding on courtship for them - peculiar dances, demonstration of plush plumage.
It is worth catching this moment, providing the birds with enough hay, small branches and straw so that the females can build a nest in which they will lay their eggs. At the same time, you can install plywood boxes in which the bird will hide from prying eyes.
The incubation period ranges from 22 to 24 days. After that, tiny, but already completely covered with down, chicks appear. Females take care of them, and in some cases, males also look after the young. But in most cases, the latter are quite indifferent to their children.
Youth Care
It is desirable to relocate the female along with the chicks from the remaining birds. Otherwise, young birds will not receive a sufficient amount of food, and aggressive individuals may well cause them damage or simply accidentally come during feeding.
But the female should not be handed out in any case. In general, pheasants tolerate low temperatures well, but in chicks the thermoregulation of the body is rather poor, so we need a brood hen to warm them at night. You can replace it with an infrared heater - in this case, the cell should be maintained at a temperature of about 38 degrees Celsius and, of course, the appearance of drafts is unacceptable.
Since childhood, pheasants need room. So on one square meter can not contain more than 30 chicks. The best food at this time is finely chopped hard-boiled eggs with herbs. In the second month, you can give adult food by adding a large amount of greens.
Common diseases
In general, diseases are rarely disturbed by pheasants. But still, it is extremely important to know about them, especially since some are infectious, which means they pose a huge danger to the entire livestock. These include several diseases.
Viral smallpox - is determined by the appearance of special rashes on the scalp and paws. It is quite simple to treat - you need to add an antiviral drug to the water, and also lubricate the rash with a solution of lugol.
Aspergillosis is a fungal disease that affects the bronchi and air sacs. As a result, the bird develops incredible thirst, and its legs and beak turn blue. Treatment is with an antifungal aerosol.
The most common noncommunicable disease can be called emphysema. Tubercles appear on the body - by pressing on them, you can easily release the accumulated air. Birds eat poorly, hardly move. The most reliable way to solve the problem is to pierce the bubbles and treat with an antiseptic.
Conclusion
This article ends. Now you know enough about the maintenance and breeding of diamond pheasant, and you can also diagnose the most common diseases and grow juveniles. So, there will be no problems working with these amazing birds.