Minimum starting capital
45-50%Profitability
3 yearsPayback
More and more people are thinking about organizing their own subsidiary plots. If you are new to this field and do not have a large starting capital, then the most suitable directions for starting work are growing vegetables, fruits and berries, as well as poultry farming. When comparing these two options, the second is more cost-effective and quick-pay. However, its main drawback is the high level of competition.
To organize a mini-farm for the cultivation and breeding of such poultry as chickens, ducks, geese, does not require much experience or significant investment. For these reasons, more and more personal subsidiary plots are engaged in this particular type of activity. If you consider poultry farming as a business, then you should pay attention to those segments where competition is low or absent. These include, for example, breeding pheasants. This case can hardly be called simple. Breeding and selling pheasants has its own specifics, including the formation of a market from almost zero, it requires rather large financial costs and a lot of patience. But with a competent approach, this activity can bring good profit.
Pheasant breeding market profitability
You need to start a facade breeding business by studying the demand and searching for product distribution channels. To begin with, decide in what "form" you will sell the birds. Pheasants are grown for both meat and for sale live. In the first case, your customers will be some restaurants whose menu includes game dishes. Pheasantine is too exotic and expensive, so it does not go on sale.
In addition to restaurants, a pheasant may be of interest only to specialized expensive supermarkets with rare products, but there are such retail chains only in large cities of our country. Pheasant is also exported, but this entails additional costs and troubles in processing all the necessary documents, and for the first time the existence of your farm you can hardly provide the necessary production volumes.
With the competent organization of the process of production, processing and delivery of products, reaching an agreement on supplies with restaurants and shops, you can help from the sale of pheasants from 400 to 500 rubles per 1 kg. Although it is worth recognizing that restaurateurs who can buy pheasants at a price of 1000 rubles per carcass will be very difficult to find. And those of them, in the menu of which there is game, bring it from Europe in a frozen form. Of course, if you can provide them with fresh meat at the same price, consider the supply agreement in your pocket. However, your expenses for year-round breeding and pheasant maintenance will increase dramatically.
In addition to growing pheasants for meat, they are also bred for tribe and for hunting, as well as an additional source of income for an already operating poultry farm. For pheasant hunting, forestry and hunting farms, as well as individuals, are acquired. Pheasant hunting is carried out both on the “decoy” pheasant and on the introduced one.
In the first case, the bird is released immediately before the hunt. In the second case, the pheasant is released into the land some time before the start of the hunt, so that he can get used to the natural habitat. The latter type of hunting is most popular among amateurs, since it is not very difficult to shoot a domesticated bird, which does not contribute to the appearance of hunting excitement.
Although, it would seem, this direction is the most promising, but here you may encounter some difficulties. The main drawback is that many hunting and forestry enterprises are not able to purchase a large number of birds. And they are guided in this case, first of all, by prices, and not by quality. Pheasants are acquired in those cases when a shortage of live birds is observed on the farm due to a natural decline in the population in a certain territory or intensive hunting by their hunters.
To save money, many hunting farms prefer to breed their own game. Thus, only those farms where there is hunting shooting and no own farms can become your customers. The contradiction lies in the fact that such an economy should be popular among wealthy people who are engaged in hunting. It spends a lot of time and money on organizing leisure for its visitors, is able to pay quite high amounts for birds, but, as you might guess, it has been working with other game farms for a long time.
Finally, it is very important where exactly the hunting farm is located, which acquires game from you. Ideally, it should be in your own region, otherwise the high transport costs for poultry delivery will negate your profit from the sale. At the same time, one should not count on receiving regular orders from state hunting farms. And there are still not many private farms in our country, and they still cannot boast of great popularity.
Legal subtleties of business
There are legal subtleties in this business. Even if the game was raised on a farm, and then released into the wild, then it becomes the property of the state. For this reason, many farmers ring their birds, engraving on the ring the name of the breeder. On the one hand, this gives the hunter the opportunity to prove that the bird he killed was purchased. And on the other hand, the farmer, upon completion of the hunt, can pick up the surviving birds, arguing that they “escaped” from the aviary by oversight.
If you are lucky and you can reach an agreement with a large hunting farm, then it can regularly purchase from you about a hundred birds for one hunt. The cost of “shooting" a pheasant is from 800 to 1800 rubles. For one hunt, the organizer can help out up to 150 thousand rubles.
Another still not very common, but still promising area is the sale of pheasants to private zoos and bird collectors. The cost of a rare collection pheasant can reach several hundred dollars. However, in order to engage in breeding of such breeds, you need to have extensive experience working with this bird. So you still have to start with the more common and less whimsical species of pheasants.
Breeding of breeding birds, which, in fact, is done by nurseries, is the most costly and long-term option, although it brings a lot of profit. Tribal pheasants are acquired by both farmers and entrepreneurs at a price of 1, 500 rubles per individual. The breeder should take care of his reputation and offer only completely healthy and strong birds. The pheasant tribe is grown no earlier than the third year. During this time, your first young growth will grow stronger, and you will be able to sort the birds into groups, determining which pheasants to leave for divorce, and which are better to get rid of.
Organization of a pheasant farm
Since, as mentioned above, the main consumers of pheasants and buyers of live birds are located near large cities, and transport costs for the delivery of pheasants are very large, the optimal place for the location of such a farm is closer to a solvent audience. Many pheasant farms are located in the Moscow region, however, their owners are often not far-sighted, do not seek to convert their enterprises to modern quality standards and are not able to market their products. Affected by the lack of extensive experience in this area. All these negative factors significantly limit the development of this industry in our country.
The area of the site for the construction of enclosures depends on the planned population and on the purpose of the bird - whether it is grown for sale in hunting farms or for slaughter. Unlike poultry, wild pheasants need more space: they like to fly. Authors of scientific literature recommend laying at least two square meters per bird, and in the spring allocate up to 12 square meters for each pheasant. However, this rule is rarely respected. As a rule, on pheasant farms for one individual there is only one square meter.
One of the most expensive articles is the construction of aviaries for pheasants intended for hunting and forestry. One such enclosure for 550-600 pheasants with an area of up to 4 hectares will cost 125 thousand rubles. The walls of the pheasantium are made of a metal mesh-netting or welded mesh (the latter option is less traumatic) with a large cell diameter (but not more than 2.5 cm). Since in captivity pheasants fly well, the aviary is covered from above with a nylon fishing net. It does not allow the bird to fly outside the enclosure, while it does not injure it and passes sunlight well. Birds intended for hunting should be quick and shy.
Meat breeds are unpretentious and large in size. When breeding pheasants for meat, the enclosures are made smaller or even contain them in small cages. Large cells are required only for broodstock.
Regardless of the purpose of the farmed birds, for the maintenance of young animals will need to build several more small aviaries. After the construction of the enclosures, they are treated with bleach and colonized no earlier than five days after disinfection. Additional equipment will require feeders and drinkers, an incubator for eggs for 700 pieces (this will cost about 100-120 thousand rubles, but you can buy a new incubator for a smaller number of eggs for 25-30 thousand rubles). In addition, you will need to purchase special red glasses for birds to prevent them from tearing feathers out of boredom.
Pheasant Care
Pheasant puberty occurs at the age of 11-12 months. In the aviary, three females have one male. Pheasant males are larger than females and are valued more. Once every one or two days, the females lay their eggs. In captivity, they often abandon them and again let the rooster in. Eggs peck or trample other birds. Therefore, it is necessary to regularly collect fresh eggs and place them in an incubator. Pheasant chicks are born on the 25-35 day.
The first three weeks they are kept in an incubator at a temperature of 38.4 degrees, and then reduced to 37.8 degrees. The optimal humidity in the first three weeks is 50-60%, and then rises to 75-80%. In the first months young animals are kept in separate small enclosures, isolated from adult birds. They feed it with a finely chopped mixture of greens, flour worms and steeply boiled chicken eggs. Milk chicks are fed with clean water.
Adult pheasants are fed with feed for broiler chickens PK-5 and PK-6 at a cost of 10 rubles per kilogram. A day, one individual eats up to 100 grams of compound feed, which is several times less than the daily norm of ordinary chicken. At the same time, pheasants gain good weight: by the end of the third month they reach the adult body weight and can be sent for slaughter. For hunting needs pheasants are fed a couple more months, until the bird has molt and it takes on a “presentable” look. The whole growth cycle of pheasants takes no more than 4-5 months. An adult weighs 1-2 kg. In five months, the pheasant gains full body weight.
Breeding pheasants
Experts advise to purchase breeding pheasants for breeding from different breeders (ideally even from other regions), otherwise there is a high risk of buying hybrids and weak individuals that are not suitable for breeding, as they will not be able to give good offspring. An egg of a regular hunting pheasant will cost 200-300 rubles, depending on the month.
Pheasants are quite unpretentious: for normal reproduction, it is enough to provide them with conditions close to natural. During the mating period, monitor the behavior of birds: females may not accept the male, and the entire clutch will be empty (unfertilized). However, males often themselves are aggressive towards females, peck them and tear feathers. So that birds can hide from aggressive relatives, experts advise building small houses on the territory of the enclosure where females can hide, and also use them for laying and hatching eggs.
Unlike chickens, pheasants do not rush year-round. Therefore, for greater certainty that the eggs will be fertilized, the male is sometimes replaced with a pheasant from another aviary or simply swapped them. If the male, on the contrary, is excessively active, then several females are additionally planted with him.
During incubation by females of eggs, it is not recommended to visit the aviary often so as not to disturb the bird. You can get up to 25 eggs from one first-year female per season. Adult females of individual breeds bring up to 40-70 eggs per season. But even a quarter of a dozen eggs is much more than the female is able to hatch. Therefore, abandoned eggs must be collected on time (as soon as the female prikopet them) and put in the incubator. The latter, despite the low price, will pay off in the first month, since the percentage of pheasant withdrawal is relatively high (from 75% if the eggs are stored properly). Small farms use domestic chickens to incubate pheasant eggs.
Pheasant eggs are not only edible, but also considered tastier and healthier than chicken. In addition, they are used for diet and baby food, as they are non-allergenic. Their only minus is the high cost. Not everyone can afford to buy eggs at such a high price. More than half of the fertilized eggs (up to 70%) remain on the farm, and the remaining 30% are sold to collectors and amateurs at the price of an incubation egg. According to experienced poultry farmers, well-known breeders have a line for hatching eggs written a year in advance.
Costs and revenues of a pheasant farm
An average of 300 rubles is spent on keeping one bird, and its market value is about 900-1000 rubles. The profitability of the pheasant business is estimated at 45-55%, which is quite a lot for the poultry industry.
For the organization of a pheasant mini-farm for 500 animals, it will take from 350 thousand rubles. This amount includes the construction of simple enclosures, the purchase of meat pheasants, feed, equipment and inventory, veterinary services (vaccination), and obtaining documents for the sale of meat. By the way, it is precisely the paperwork necessary for the sale of products and especially for the sale of pheasants for hunting farms that takes the most time and money. Although, under a favorable set of circumstances, you can recoup all expenses for the first season, but you should not count on large profits.
A farm of 10 thousand pheasants will cost a more impressive amount - 3-3.5 million rubles. The payback period of such a project is estimated at least three years, and then provided that you can ensure a full cycle of product sales, that is, you will sell not only live pheasants and carcasses, but also their eggs, feathers and litter (litter is used as fertilizer). When focusing on restaurateurs, it is advisable to gradually expand the offered range. In the presence of a sales market, in addition to pheasants, you can also breed capercaillie, hazel grouse, black grouse, partridge and mullet.
Experienced entrepreneurs offer various ways to reduce the cost of such production. These may include, for example, buying not eggs, but at least a daily young; breeding a worm for protein feeding and making broiler feed yourself; exchange of excess females for larger males (at the rate of two females for three males). Some farmers use not quite honest and legal methods, giving cheaper guinea fowl meat, which lays much more eggs than pheasants, for an expensive pheasant, or arranging a semi-legal hunt for private individuals on their own.
Sysoeva Lilia(c) www.clogicsecure.com - a portal to business plans and guidelines for starting a small business 08/18/2019