The effect of feed additives in pheasants fattening: A review

Abstract

Fattening pheasants for the production of quality meat is a relatively recent development. With its high protein and low fat content, meat of pheasant is a highly nutritious food whose value exceeds that of broiler chickens meat. Despite the fact that the intensive rearing of pheasants has developed relatively quickly in recent years, information on the fattening capabilities and slaughter values of pheasants is often insufficient in the current literature. The length of the fattening period also differs in the literature and reported from 13 to 20 weeks while highest weight gains of pheasants to occur between 4 and 12 weeks of age. Growth of pheasants is also reflected in the weight and dimensions of internal organs, crop, oesophagus, gizzard and intestine grow up to 12 weeks of age, after which they develop their physiological ability. The structure, weight and length of the digestive tract and other internal organs of pheasants depend on housing system, gender and nutrition. Relatively few investigations were conducted to determine the influence of feed additives on fattening performance of pheasants. One of the possibilities is the use of humic acids in nutrition pheasant. Humic acids are organic compounds naturally present in soil and they positively affected growth ability, feed conversion and reducing mortality.