Ducks: breeds, breeding, maintenance and feeding

Ducks in household plots hold, of coursesame, less often than chickens. However, such a bird is very popular with summer residents, farmers and villagers. The advantages of these waterfowl birds include, first of all, unpretentiousness in care and high productivity. But, of course, the breeding of ducks will be successful only if they are properly cared for.

Varieties

Duck in the countryside can be ducks meat and meat-egg. The main advantage of the breeds of the first group is the rapid weight gain. For 2-4 months the broiler bird can reach 4-5 kg.

Meat-egg ducks do not grow so fast. Their carcass weighs usually much less than broilers. However, such birds carry more eggs and are less prickly in terms of diet and living conditions.

Very often the owners of suburban areasbred on their farmsteads and indotok. Such a bird also boasts a fairly fast set of weight. In this case, in comparison with other varieties of Indotka have one important advantage - not too fat and very tasty meat.

The best broiler breeds

Each variety of domestic ducks has, soway, their dignity. Owners of suburban areas, already experienced in the maintenance of such animals and wanting to quickly get a lot of meat, it is worth buying broiler poultry. Beginning farmers can be trained on some more unpretentious breed. Such owners of the farmstead, most likely, first of all, buy meat-egg chicks. Indots are also suitable for both experienced farmers and beginners.

Breeds of ducks of all directions of productivity by breeders have been deduced a lot. So the farmer has no particular problems with a choice in this regard.

The best meat breeds of ducks today are:

1. Elsbury. These ducks were withdrawn in England in the XIX century. Today in the UK this breed is bred on an industrial scale. It is also used for breeding new varieties of highly productive birds. The weight of a spleen of this breed can be up to 5.5 kg, ducks - up to 3.5 kg. Nasizhivayut eggs Elsbury yourself.
2. Peking duck. This breed is considered by many farmers to be the best ofmeat for today. These ducks were bred also very long ago, about 300 years ago in China. Weight Peking drakes can gain up to 4.2 kg. Ducks are up to 3.8 kg. Like many other old beef breeds, this bird hatchs eggs by itself.
3. Swedish blue. This breed was most widespread in Germany. But in Sweden, the Swedish blue ducks are also quite popular. Adult birds of this breed can reach in weight of 3,6 kg.

Also farmers, including Russian, are breeding such ducks as:

• Rouen;
• black white-bearded;
• white Moscow.

Quite often on the farmstead of ownerssuburban areas of the post-Soviet space can be seen and clay, gray or white Ukrainian ducks. The bird of this breed can reach a weight of up to 3.5 kg. Ukrainian ducks also enjoy popularity among farmers because of their thick plumage. Kholodov such a bird is not at all afraid.

The best meat-egg breeds

Beginning farmers should think about buying:

1. Indian runners. The homeland of these ducks is southeast Asia. They call the breed so for the long legs of its representatives and their ability to run very fast. Weights such oviparous ducks gain on average up to 2 kg. At the same time, they can carry up to 300 eggs per year.
2. Saxon ducks. This bird was bred by crossing Pekinok with the Rouen breed. Weights Saxon ducks can gain up to 3 kg. Eggs they carry up to 200-250 pcs. in year.
3. Cayugi. This breed of ducks was bred in the XIX century in America, not far from the lake of the same name. The weight of this bird feeds up to 3-3.5 kg. At the same time, females can carry up to 150 eggs per year.
4. Mirror ducks. The bird of this breed was bred in Russia in the middle of the twentieth century. The weight of adult mirror ducks can reach up to 4 kg. So named this breed was for its very beautiful brilliant plumage.

Types of Indoories

Such a bird is also called musk. On farms, both domestic and wild indoutki can be divorced. Such a bird differs mainly in the color of its plumage. In the farms of different countries, including in Russia, there are indutouts:

• white and black and white;
• wild brown;
• blue;
• domestic and wild black, etc.

Some species of musk ducks maygain weight up to 5 kg. At the same time in the care of such a bird is relatively unpretentious. Feeding and keeping musk ducks is a simple matter. Birds of this variety are grown using the same technology as ordinary breeds.

Mulards

The bird of this breed recently in RussianFarmers are becoming increasingly popular. Represent the mulardy mix of Peking meat ducks with musk. The advantages of this breed, farmers include low-fat tasty meat, as well as the ability to very quickly gain a lot of weight.

By productivity such ducks can exceedeven the famous Beijing. Adult birds of this breed gain weight up to 5.5 kg, and with the right content, up to 7-8 kg. By the third month of keeping, the weight of this bird reaches 4 kg.

Cultivation and maintenance of ducks: feeding

The productivity indicators of these waterfowl depend very much on how well their diet is compiled. It is also important to follow the schedule of feeding birds.

You can make a duck mixer, for example, like this:

• finely chop the soft grass, willow leaves, duckweed, algae and put the mass in a 10 l bowl, filling in about half
• fill the mass with boiled water or baking;
• leave the mixture for about half an hour to settle (until the greens soften);
• add one large bowl of cornmeal to the bowl;
• pour two bowls of flour seeding;
• mix everything well.

Also a good option for feeding ducks will be such a mixture:

• potatoes, squash zucchini, waste from the table to boil, finely chop and put in a bowl;
• add sliced ​​apples;
• add wheat grinding in the mash in the amount of about ¼ of the volume of the whole mixture;
• add table salt to the feed (about 1 tablespoon per two buckets).

Recipes for ducks there are many. But in any case, the finished mixture for this bird should not be sticky. Otherwise, the noses will be clogged during feeding.

Blend these waterfowl feed 1-2 times aday. Crushed dry concentrates should be at the ducks in the feeders constantly. This is especially true for poultry meat breeds. Ducks of this productivity group should be able to eat at any time.

What should be the house

A shed for such waterfowl is built at the rate of at least 1 m² areas for 2-3 heads. Erect a duckling preferably in a high place. The room in any case should be completely dry. When erecting a duckling one should also take care that there will be no drafts in it later on.

As a material for the walls of the house canchoose timber and board, brick, foam blocks. The main thing is to keep the walls of the duckling warm enough. Floors in these sheds are usually simply poured with concrete. To keep the ducks from freezing, they use straw as bedding.

Of course, in the built for the bird shed shouldbe sure to conduct electricity. Too much light utyatnik not necessary. For a small house, for example, just one bright light bulb will suffice.

For airing in the barn you need to provideOf course, the window. In the event that ducks are supposed to be kept in winter, electric heaters or, for example, a small stove should be installed in the house.

Of course, you should equip the matfeeders. In this case, containers for mash and crushed concentrates are best made of tin. This will facilitate the care of the feeders afterwards. Experienced poultry farmers do not recommend drinking bowls directly in the duck house. Such containers are usually placed in an open-air cage near the house.

Ducks are known to love water. They can try to swim, including in drinking bowls. Therefore, if such structures are installed directly in the shed, the bird will breed damp. And this, in turn, can lead to the development of various kinds of diseases.

How to Plant

Chicks of this bird are hatched usually in simple chicken incubators. The devices of this variety of many brands are complemented with special grids designed specifically for waterfowl eggs.

The incubation mode for this bird is approximately as follows:

• in the first week, the device maintains a temperature of 38 degrees and a humidity of 70%;
• before the 25th day, the parameters are set at 37.8 degrees and 60%;
• from the 26th to the 28th day, the temperature is reduced to 37.5 degrees, and the humidity is increased to 85-90%.

Within 26 days, the eggs in the incubator are turned 4-6 times a day. Then this operation is stopped.

The diet of chicks

Breeding ducks is relatively simple. However, the care of the hatched ducklings, of course, must be carried out correctly. At first, the chicks are fed 4-5 times a day with mashed potatoes of chopped eggs and cottage cheese with the addition of kefir. After a couple of days they are offered some greenery.

Weekly ducklings fed feed with the addition ofcottage cheese, kefir, finely chopped nettle. At about the second or third week, when the chicks fled, they can be released into the pond. It is not recommended to allow ducklings to swim in the event that they are grown without broods. The fact is that the fledgling waterfowl chicks still do not have subcutaneous fat. In the water, the ducklings simply overcool. And because of this, in turn, the chicks can get sick and even die.

If there is no reservoir near the farm, in the diet2-3 weeks old ducklings should increase the amount of green feed. Ideally, from this time on, the young need to start feeding, including duckweed. The number of offered ducklings cottage cheese at this time reduced. Fully on an adult diet chicks transferred at the age of 3-4 weeks.

When slaughtered

Long enough in farms usually keeponly ducks-producers. Young animals grown for meat are slaughtered at the age of 2.5-3 months. It is simply not profitable to keep such ducks longer. From 4 months, these waterfowl begin to consume a lot of feed. In this case, the bird gains weight not too fast.

In any case, it is necessary to score ducksjuvenile molting. If you do this later, the birds' carcasses, unfortunately, will lose their presentation due to numerous rough hemp. In addition, it will be difficult to process them.

Helpful advice

Ducks are usually not fed for 12-16 before slaughterhours At the same time, water is given to the bird in unlimited quantities. Actually, he is slaughtered by cutting the carotid artery. Experienced farmers advise to pluck the carcass no earlier than 2 hours after this procedure.