Features of the breed of chickens La Flash
The La Flèche chicken breed has been known since the 15th century. The translation of the name of the bird from French means "arrow". The productivity of these decorative chickens is mainly egg, but the meat also has excellent taste. The birds are distinguished by excellent health, as well as a quick temper.
Description of chickens of the La Flash breed
Feeding chickens does not pose any particular problems.
When breeding the La Flèche breed, high quality types of birds with excellent performance were used, therefore these exotic birds are very popular among poultry farmers around the world.
Description of La Flèche chickens
The unusual bright chicken La Flèche is quite rare. The bird's scallop is red and has the shape of a tick, which gives the impression of a "horn" on the head. The bird has a second unofficial name "devil" or "Lucifer". This feature is especially clearly visible in the photo on the Internet.
The main color of most birds is black, but sometimes white or blue individuals are found.
An adult male can weigh up to 4.5 kg and a female up to 3 kg. The body is straight, small, the lower limbs are blue. They are long, but textured. On the head, several narrow feathers fold in the form of a tuft. There are white earrings near the big ears. The eyes are round, black. The crest in females is smaller. The beak is curved downward and small. The ears of La Flush are larger than those inherent in others. breeds... The cylinder-shaped body turns into a rather fluffy voluminous tail of large black feathers.
Females do not look as bright as males. La Flèche chickens are significantly smaller than males. The tail is practically not prominent, the neck is short. Chicks under 3 months of age are difficult to distinguish by sex. Only at 3 months it is clear that chicks with shorter combs are girls, and those with longer ones are boys. The colors inherent in this breed:
- black with a blue tint: feathers are monochromatic, without blotches of other colors;
- white: a rare color of the breed, has no impurities of other shades, the beak is beige;
- cuckoo plumage of birds, male is darker than female;
- blue is also one of the rarest bird species: blue feathers have a black tip, the female is lighter than the male.
Subspecies
La Flèche breed of chickens, in addition to the standard, also has a dwarf subspecies. A dwarf rooster can weigh about a kilogram, but a chicken does not even reach 900 grams. In addition to weight, dwarfs are no different from the standard.
Marriage includes chickens that have:
- the main color does not match the ones stated above;
- a ridge with a large number of protruding teeth or has a completely different shape;
- chicken legs are short, not blue;
- the tail of the rooster is small, not prominent;
- angular body constitution;
- earrings are not white.
If in doubt, especially for beginners, you can see photos of flash birds, for comparison.
Distinctive characteristics of the breed
The description of La Flèche chickens is worthy of attention. Not many chickens can boast of flying. La Flèche is a breed of chick that can fly and can do it well.These are energetic birds, which are characterized by active pastime.
Chickens are not tame, they do not really trust a person, but they easily get along with representatives of other breeds and can share aviaries with them.
Females do not sit on eggs, but they can be replaced by males who have a developed incubation instinct.
Care and maintenance
The main condition for keeping La Flèche chickens is the presence of a covered two-meter aviary, since they love to fly, so you need to provide them with maximum freedom. The aviary is covered with a metal mesh, not only so that the birds do not fly away, but also to protect against external enemies who may try to get into the dwelling.
It is necessary to equip a place for swimming in the aviary. To do this, you need to make a depression in the ground and fill it with a mixture of ash and sand. The floor should be covered with sawdust, straw for insulation.
Nests are calculated for several chickens. The room where La Flèche breed of chickens lives should be well ventilated. Lighting - soft.
The chicks are developing normally if the housing standards are taken into account. The only thing: you need to keep an eye on them, as the chicks love to fight. It is best to incubate in late spring, since the breed is thermophilic, it will be difficult for young animals to survive the cold.
Chicken La Flush has good immunity
The Flash Chicken survives 100% if the necessary conditions are met. He has a stable immunity, which allows him to avoid various infectious and viral diseases. Nevertheless, the health of the birds must be monitored, and if something unusual becomes noticeable, a veterinarian is called. For 10-15 females, one rooster is needed to carry out normal fertilization. Other males are kept separately and allowed to eat after fattening.
Feeding
The diet should include a combination of corn and wheat with added protein. This is the basic rule of nutrition for this breed. Free grazing is a desirable condition that provides winged vitamins from green herbs. Green herbs are one of the favorite treats of chickens.
La Flush Chicken Care
The feed must contain a large amount of vitamins, beneficial nutrients and trace elements, especially calcium. If this condition is not met, the quality of plumage deteriorates sharply in La Flèche chickens, which contributes to a drop in health in general.
In the cold season, it is advisable to feed chickens with beets or carrots, so that egg production does not decrease and fertility does not fall.
Productivity
Chickens begin to lay at 4 months of age. From the beginning of spring, the laying hen produces 3 eggs every week. The egg production of the La Flash chicken breed is at a height: a chicken can bring up to 185 pieces annually.
One egg usually weighs almost 70 g. Eggshells are white. The survival rate of young animals reaches almost 100%. The chicken meat is of excellent quality, which makes it possible to use them not only as hens, but also as a carcass.
Poultry breeders fell in love with the "demonic breed", as it has an unusual appearance and at the same time is quite productive. The combination of these two qualities gives an excellent reason to purchase this type of bird. Those who have already become the owner of chickens share photos and videos on the Internet. They share their experience, give recommendations, provide a detailed description, which will be useful for beginners.