What is the prospect of breeding meat dogs?
In recent years, with the development of animal husbandry and the improvement of people's living standards, meat dog breeding and overall development have emerged as a new and attractive industry, setting off a meat dog breeding boom. Although many farmers have achieved considerable economic benefits, there are also many problems in their development process that require further research and discussion.
Current status of breeding
Dog meat has a delicious taste and delicate texture. It is a meat product with high protein, low fat, low cholesterol and high nutritional value. The Chinese people have a tradition of eating dog meat. In the past, people mainly kept dogs for home care, playing games, hunting, and pulling sleds. The main ways of raising dogs were free-range and tethered.
According to incomplete statistics, currently, there are about 2,000 meat dog breeding companies nationwide with a scale of more than 30 dogs; the general breeding scale is 40 to 60 dogs; and there are no more than 300 companies with a scale of more than 100 dogs. The breeding capacity is around 100,000, which is far from meeting the market demand. Therefore, the dog breeding industry has great potential for development.
The main breeds raised are Tibetan Mastiffs, Saint Bernards, Mongolian Shepherd Dogs, local dogs and hybrid dogs. The feeding methods are mainly captive and tethered, and the feed is mostly made of cornmeal, scraps from slaughterhouses, inferior meat products (such as sausages), etc., which are made into porridge; some large-scale feedlots use corn, bean cake (or soybean meal), It is made of fish meal, bone meal, yeast and other feeds, and is also fed in the form of porridge.
The purpose of breeding in each farm is mainly for breeding. Most of them use larger Tibetan Mastiff, St. Bernard, Great Dane and other breeds as the male parent, and use excellent local dogs as the female parent for crossbreeding; some dog farms mainly use purebred Tibetan Mastiff, St. Bernard and other large dogs, and the dogs they produce are The offspring are sold as stud dogs. There are only a few breeding farms used to produce commercial meat dogs, and even those that exist use free-range dogs purchased locally or from other places for short-term fattening.
The main diseases that are more harmful to the dog breeding industry are rabies, canine distemper, viral enteritis, hepatitis and other diseases. At present, the immunization procedures for canine distemper and viral enteritis are not ideal, and the vaccines produced by some manufacturers are of poor quality. Therefore, the common problems of canine distemper and viral enteritis in meat dog breeding are high, which often brings great economic losses to meat dog breeders.
Problems
1. Small and scattered. Judging from the current scale of my country's meat dog breeding industry, although it is spread all over the country, there are very few farms that have truly formed large-scale breeding. It is far from meeting the society's demand for breeding dogs and meat dogs, let alone meeting the society's demand for breeding dogs and meat dogs. Demand for commercial dogs.
2. The varieties are messy. Our country has not yet bred a meat dog breed that truly meets the standards. The breeds raised in various dog farms are mainly purebred breeding of some large dogs imported from home and abroad, or hybrid dogs produced by crossing them with local female dogs. Or a relatively fine local breed dog. In order to obtain economic benefits, some basically use their first-generation male dogs as breeding dogs, and then purchase female dogs from the local area, and sell them as breeding dogs in groups of 9 females and 1 male or 10 females and 1 male. Generally speaking, the breeding dogs sold on the market have mixed breeds, unstable genetic properties, different body sizes, messy coat colors, and varying ages.
3. The feed is monotonous and nutritionally deficient. At present, my country's meat dog breeding is mostly carried out by traditional methods. The feed types are single and vary greatly. The nutritional level is low and unbalanced. Mineral elements, especially trace elements and vitamins, are very poor. The growth rate is slow and certain metabolic diseases often occur, thus affecting or limiting the normal growth and development of dogs.
4. High incidence rate and low survival rate. The first problem encountered in intensive dog raising is the high incidence of dog disease and the low survival rate of puppies. The reasons for the higher incidence rate after group housing are:
①The infection distance is shortened. At present, the sources of breeding dogs in dog farms are relatively complex. Some are introduced from certain dog farms, and some are free-range dogs purchased from rural areas. Some of these dogs carry certain infectious diseases and are kept in the same field with healthy individuals. Through feed, drinking water, feces, air, and mutual contact between breeders or individuals, the disease can cause disease in the entire group.
②The stress effect increases.
Dogs have sensitive senses of smell, hearing and vision, and are aggressive and combative. Therefore, group breeding is often affected by two aspects. On the one hand, there are stress effects from fighting, hostility, and howling within the group; on the other hand, there are stress effects from outside visitors, passing vehicles, and pedestrians. This causes endocrine disorders in meat dogs, resulting in decreased fecundity and disease resistance.
③Vaccine quality is poor or vaccination method is improper. At present, the disease immunization program for meat dogs is based on the immunization program for foxes, raccoon dogs, etc., and most of their vaccines are borrowed from fur-bearing animal vaccines. Practice has proved that their immune effects are not ideal. Therefore, the various vaccines used for dogs should be produced from viruses isolated and cultured from dog disease materials to ensure the efficacy of the vaccine. In addition, in current breeding, puppies are generally vaccinated after weaning, and years of practice have proven that puppies should be vaccinated with small doses and multiple times at the age of 40 days after birth.
The way out for the future
1. Cultivate excellent meat dog breeds. Judging from the current development of the meat dog breeding industry, its development potential is great. The biggest constraint is the lack of excellent meat dog breeds. Therefore, we must speed up the cultivation of excellent meat dog breeds. Their production traits should meet the following requirements: Growth rate Fast, high feed conversion rate; strong adaptability, strong disease resistance; docile temperament, moderate nervous sensitivity; consistent body shape and appearance, strong body, well-developed front and hindquarters; short, straight and flat coat (currently raised for meat Dogs with medium to long hair have more hair, which is not only prone to external parasitic diseases, but also causes a lot of nutrients to be used for coat growth, causing waste; in addition, it is inconvenient to clean the surface of the dog's body, which can be avoided with short-haired dogs. occurrence of the above phenomena); strong fecundity, many litters; pure internal flavor, and high meat production rate.
2. Develop anti-stress additives. Dogs are very sensitive to the external environment. Slight changes in the environment will cause a stress response in the group, leading to endocrine disorders, reduced disease resistance, and reduced feed conversion efficiency. Therefore, the research and development of efficient anti-stress additives is of great significance to the meat dog breeding industry.
3. Develop towards scale and intensification. In the long run, if meat dog breeding is to achieve higher economic benefits, it must develop in the direction of scale and intensification. Meat dog breeding has gradually formed a one-stop chain of production, sales and processing, and has set its sights on the international market
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