Microlivestock Little-Known Small Animals with a Promising Economic Future (1991) / Chapter Skim
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13 Potential New Poultry
13 Potential New Poultry
Pages 167-178
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From page 167... ...
The modern guinea fowl, for example, is a relative newcomer as a worldwide resource (see page 120)
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From page 168... ...
A sort of "tropical chicken," they tame easily, live together in dense populations, and protect their chicks extremely well. They commonly scavenge around houses and people often put out scraps to feed them.2 The chicks are easily hatched, grow fast, and can be fed standard chicken rations.3 There is already considerable demand for these birds.
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From page 169... ...
All are relentlessly hunted for food and sport their tameness and inability to fly far or fast making them easy targets. The rapid destruction of tropical forests threatens their populations in some parts of their range.
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From page 170... ...
Hence, in this chapter we emphasize birds of thejungle. These might help make standing rainforests profitable producers of income, and thereby provide economic incentives to stop felling trees for cow pastures.
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From page 171... ...
Megapodes are found in only a few parts of the world, but projects such as those in Papua New Guinea provide hope and guidance not only for the sustainable "ranching" of megapodes, but also for other species elsewhere. Many wild birds yield locally important productsdown, colored feathers, eggs, meat, and skins, and they make excellent songbirds and pets, for example.
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From page 172... ...
An owl pair and its chicks annually consume 1, 500 or more rodents. This is not new knowledge; indeed, on farms throughout the world, the barn owl has always been a welcome guest.
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From page 173... ...
Grain crops notably nce~re particularly prone to the ravages of rodents, and one trial has commenced in Selangor State in a rice area. The concept of using owls for rodent control is also catching on in the United States.
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From page 174... ...
These are rarely seen forest birds; all but one are confined to Asians Because they are prolific they can sustain heavy predation, and many species, notably the ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) , are constantly hunted.
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From page 175... ...
The management and even perhaps intensive production of these various local quails might provide long-term benefits for many developing nations. Quail meat ranks among the finest.'4 Some of these lesser-studied birds are more meaty than the Japanese quail or have other possibly useful traits.
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From page 176... ...
The bore holes provided for livestock have both boosted their populations and afforded a place where these wide-ranging birds can be easily captured. When nesting, sand grouse are highly vulnerable to foxes, jackals, mongooses, and other predators.
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From page 177... ...
They also relish grasshoppers, spiders, and centipedes, and are particularly fond of termites. Trumpeters require trees; they completely avoid cultivated land.
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From page 178... ...
McNitt Rabbit Production Rabbits are especially well adapted to backyard rearing systems in which capital and fodder resources are usually limiting factors in animal production. When rabbits are reared according to the techniques appropriate to the environment they can do much to improve the family diet of many of the most needy ruralfamilies, while at the same time supplying them with a source of income.
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