Czech broilers Cobb 500

1

10768

Article rating

Broilers Cobb 500 is the most popular cross on industrial farms. All over the world, it is these chickens that are considered to have the best gain in meat. At the same time, the cost of feed per kilogram of weight is very small. In recent years, the cross has begun to appear more and more often in small private farms. Birds are unpretentious and resistant to many diseases. The maintenance and care of them does not present any particular problems.

Broilers KOBB 500

Cross description

The homeland of Cobb 500 broilers is the Czech Republic. Now they are bred by Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, many Western European countries, as well as the USA and Canada. The following breeds took part in the creation of the hybrid:

• Cornish (resulting from the crossing of English fighting chickens, Malay and white chickens of the Azil breed).
• Meat Plymouth Rock breed from USA.
• Kuchinsky jubilee breed.
• Pantserevskie chickens.
• Rhode Island breed.
• New Hampshire.
• Zagorsk salmon chickens.
• May Day breed.

As a result of such a complex crossing, a very productive hybrid was obtained. How to distinguish the Cobb 500 cross from other varieties? It is best to first carefully consider the photos of birds, study their characteristics. Here's what a Cobb 500 broiler breed description looks like:

• The body is large, the body is massive.
• The thighs are very well developed.
• The paws are large and strong.
• The plumage is exceptionally white, without blotches.
• The scallop is small, like the earrings, bright red.
• The face is covered with thin red skin.
• The peel is naturally yellow, has a good presentation.

A very remarkable characteristic of Cobb 500 chickens is that all chickens and adult birds are the same size. There is almost no difference between the weight of males and females. This gives the breed another advantage in industrial production. All carcasses are of the same commercial quality - there is no need to divide the meat into varieties.

Breed productivity

Chickens of the Cobb 500 cross have good food characteristics. Already at the age of 40 days, the chicken weighs 2.5 kg. The meat yield of carcasses is 73%. On many industrial farms, young animals with such a mass are already sent to slaughter. You can feed the birds up to 11-12 weeks, then the weight gain decreases and the productivity drops. Indicators differ for different cultivation methods. Cocks and hens can be kept together or separately. The difference in the rate of weight gain is always in favor of keeping them separate.

Cobb 500 weight gain table with the joint keeping of chickens and males

Broiler weight by day with separate rearing of females and males (table)

There are other breeds of broilers that are similar in their food characteristics to the Cobb 500 chickens, but have their own characteristics.For example, the difference from Cobb 700 consists in the fact that this cross uses more feed than the Cobb 500, although the weight gain of the former may be higher. Cobb 500 and Ross 308 have similar performance, but again, Ross 308 requires high feed costs for normal weight gain.

Characterization of Cobb 500 broilers and a description of their productivity will be incomplete, if not to say about egg production. Often, when grown at home, the chickens are left, and only males are sent to the slaughter. Chickens begin to rush at the age of 6 months. Egg production is at the level of 160-180 eggs per year, weighing 45-60 g. The best indicators are from 0.5 to 1.5 years. Of course, it is difficult to compare them with the indicators of egg breeds, but broilers do not need such a comparison, because this is not their main specialization.

Advantages and disadvantages of cross

As you can see from the description of Cobb 500 broilers, growing this cross at home is very profitable. You can get tasty meat in a short time without spending too much money on feeding them, which is why Cobb 500 chickens receive such good reviews from farmers. Here are a number of advantages that poultry farmers note in the description of the breed:

• The growth rate of the young is high.
• The final price of meat is low, since very little feed is used for 1 kg of mass.
• Slaughter can be carried out as early as 1-1.5 months.
• Yellow color of the skin, which increases the commercial quality.
• Large, muscular thighs that increase carcass meat yield.
• White and tender breasts with a lot of weight.
• Uniformity of individuals in the herd.
• Good chick survival
• Increased resistance to many diseases.
• The ability to breed both in industrial farms and in small households.

Has the Cobb 500 breed and its disadvantages. Since she is a hybrid, you cannot breed chickens on your own. In addition, the laying hens have completely lost their ability to hatch eggs. To hatch chicks, the hatching egg must be incubated. Crosssensitive to cold, therefore cultivation in the north is associated with additional costs for heating.

Features of the content

In order for Cobb 500 broiler chickens to fully reveal their food qualities, you need to adhere to certain conditions of detention. The Czech cross is grown without a run so that it gains weight faster. Closed houses or cages are best. This method is acceptable both for industrial farms and for those cases when cultivation is carried out at home.

The density of birds in the hen house should be no more than 30-42 kg of live weight per 1 sq. m premises. Different breeds can be kept in the same room. For example, broilers Cobb 500 and broilers Ross 308. But experienced poultry farmers say that it is better to separate the birds or grow the same cross, because the characteristics of the breeds are different, it is not so easy to meet different requirements.

The temperature regime depends on the age of the bird. Chickens need warmth in the early days, the temperature is maintained at 28-33 ° C. From the end of the first week, it is gradually reduced by 1-2 ° C. Sharper changes are harmful, they affect energy metabolism and affect the growth rate. The minimum temperature for broilers Cobb 500 is 10-14 ° C.

Important is poultry house lighting... At first, it should be around the clock until the chicks are 2 weeks old, then the lights are turned off for 1-2 hours. The final daylight hours are 14-18 hours. It is permissible to keep Cobb 500 broilers under alternating lighting conditions, when the light is turned off and on every 2 hours.

The birds do not need special care. It is enough to keep the chicken coop clean. The litter should always be dry. You can change it completely or only the top layer if the litter is thick. It is good to treat the floors from time to time with slaked lime.Before starting a new flock, the poultry house must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected so that broiler chickens do not get sick.

Feeding the cross

Cultivation of the Cobb 500 cross is not only proper maintenance and care, but also regulated feeding. A correct diet can ensure the best performance of the breed. It is best if the bird eats specialized compound feed... All vitamin and mineral supplements are already included in them, and the composition of the main components is adjusted so as to satisfy all the needs of an intensively growing organism.

How to feed Cobb 500 chickens to grow well? For normal weight gain, feed should be selected in accordance with age. The technology is not complicated at all:

• From 0 to 10 days - starting compound feed in the form of crumbs.
• 11-22 days, when the chickens gain weight most intensively - pelleted feed of the "Growth" type.
• after a month, the diet consists of compound feed such as "Finish-1" or "Finish-2".

It is difficult to independently choose a balanced diet for broiler chickens. Economically, this is not very profitable, since the rate of growth and gain will be lower. In order to fully meet the need for proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals, the bird needs to be fed with the following products:

• cereal mash (wheat, corn, barley, oats);
• legumes (peas, beans, vetch);
• vegetable mash with herbs or herbal flour;
• meat and bone meal, meat broth, return to meet the need for animal proteins;
• cake or oilseed meal.

Be sure to include in the diet mineral supplements (chalk, salt, crushed shell), vitamins of the "Premix" type. To improve digestion, poultry should eat small pebbles, coarse sand. You should also provide round-the-clock access to fresh water.

As you can see, feeding Cobb 500 broilers with natural products is quite difficult and costly. Need to spend on cooking mash more time, and the result will be worse than if the hens are fed with ready-made compound feed, so most farmers refuse this method, which significantly reduces the cost of money.

Raising chickens

Breeding of Cobb 500 broiler chickens has one caveat: it is impossible to breed purebred birds at home. The hybrid was obtained as a result of a complex crossing, only specialized poultry farms and farms can have good lines. It is best to buy hatching eggs or ready-made chicks.

How much do chickens cost? The price of Cobb 500 broilers is not that high. Eggs are quite inexpensive, only 15-20 rubles apiece. However, the price of day-old chickens is also low, from 55 to 75 rubles per head.

To buy broilers of the Cobb 500 cross or hatching eggs, you need to choose proven farms where there is a parent tribe, chickens are bred under normal conditions, and the sale has been going on for a long time. It also does not hurt to study the breed from the photo in order to have an idea of ​​\ u200b \ u200bthe appearance of the chickens.

Hatching eggs can be placed under a different breed of hen or in an incubator. Be sure to mark the material, check the fertilization of eggs on an ovoscope, then they are gradually warmed up to a temperature of 25 ° C. With artificial breeding, the indicators in the incubator should be kept at the level of 37.6-37.8 ° C. It is important to ensure the correct humidity level (50-60%) and good ventilation. Egg incubation lasts 21 days. Chick hatchability is high - at the level of 94-98%.

Raising small chickens of the Cobb 500 cross also does not present any particular difficulties. The main thing is to withstand temperature norms and round-the-clock lighting from the first day. The place of maintenance must be very clean, cleaning is carried out daily. On industrial farms, in order to prevent diseases, an antibiotic or special antibacterial agents for chickens are added to feed and drink.

Diseases of chickens

Cross Cobb 500 is quite resistant to various diseases, this is clearly indicated by the description of the hybrid breed.Correct maintenance and feeding, normal temperature conditions further increase the survival rate of young and adult birds. Still, there are some pathologies that can affect individual individuals or an entire livestock. Here are the main diseases that broller chickens can pick up:

• Dyspepsia. Appears when feeding chicks with food that is not age appropriate. The chicks become weaker, lose their appetite, their stools are frequent, thin, yellow-green, with undigested food.
• Bronchopneumonia develops in drafts or due to hypothermia. Symptoms: the bird is breathing heavily, wheezing, pulling its neck, its temperature rises.
• Marek's disease. It is manifested by lameness, drooping of wings and tails in chickens, twisting of the neck, loss of vision.
• Avitaminosis. Manifestations depend on the type of vitamins that are lacking in the diet. Chickens grow poorly, their appetite disappears, and after the first month their feathers fall out intensively.
• Enteritis. It is caused by bacteria or viruses, it often affects small chickens, it is manifested by diarrhea.
• Aspergillosis. The pathology is caused by a fungus that affects the upper respiratory tract. This happens under the wrong conditions of detention.
• Salmonellosis. A bacterial infectious disease that is dangerous for both chickens and humans. The affected herd is slaughtered, the meat is destroyed.

For any symptoms of the disease, you should contact your veterinarian, and not self-medicate. There is a direct relationship between the timely assistance provided and the survival rate of the herd.

Broilers Cobb 500 always receive very high reviews, so you should think about breeding this breed. Incubating eggs, raising chickens and keeping chickens is not difficult. Beginners are advised to buy and carefully study the manual, which says how to breed correctly, then losses can be avoided, and the business will begin to bring good income after one or two years of growing cross.