Oryol calico breed of chickens
The Oryol breed of chickens are very ancient birds, famous for their unique characteristics not only in Russia, but also abroad. Among these features are the adaptation to the dramatically changing climatic conditions of the country, high productivity. These are not all the distinctive features of the Oryol chickens in question. Want to know more - read the review and if you want to see the Oryol calico chickens, see the photo.
Oryol calico chickens
The following points will be revealed especially for you:
- The history of the emergence of chickens.
- Description of the breed "Orlovskie chickens" and their appearance.
- Features of breeding representatives of the considered branch of birds.
It's time to study the advantages of the Oryol calico breed of chickens, find out its unique characteristics and get acquainted with the rules for breeding such uncomplicated representatives of the ancient pestle.
A bit of history
Until the beginning of the twentieth century, almost every peasant had birds of the Oryol breed of chickens and they bore the name of the famous estate of Count Orlov-Chesmensky (where they were bred). However, after winning the famous exhibitions of farm products, the representatives were completely exterminated, and information about them was lost.
Only through the efforts of experienced poultry farmers at the turn of the 1980s, it was possible to recreate the Oryol calico breed of chickens. What is special about this bird and why did the farmers remember about it? You can find out the detailed characteristics of Oryol chickens by watching the video.
Distinctive features
Looking at the photo of the bird, it can be assumed that fighting roosters were its ancestors, because of the large body, short curved beak, deep eyes and strong thick claws with which the cock is especially distinguished. And this is true, because to obtain the Oryol calico chickens, bearded and fighting Malaysian types were crossed.
The cock of the variegated Orlov breed weighs about 4.5-5 kg, and the laying hen weighs a little less than 4 kg (this is a couple of times more than the average indicators of ordinary chickens).
White spots (tanks) located in the throat of the laying hen are another distinctive feature of the representative of the birds in question. Thanks to this unique feature, the bird received a second name and quite often won prizes at specialized exhibitions.
On an elongated, large body with a rounded sternum, a medium-sized head with a well-developed frontal part and a raised nape, an erect neck, massive shoulders, a sloping back and a tail lifted up (in a rooster it is raised as much as 90 °), one might think that Orlov chickens - real hunters (associated with an eagle). In fact, it turns out the other way around, because the Oryol chicken is a rather friendly feathered individual.
What else confirms the right of the pest in question to exist? This is an easy adaptation to a sharp change in climatic conditions and good productivity (a one-year-old layer is capable of laying up to 160 eggs per year, and a three-year-old pestle is slightly less than 140). The egg is large, regular in shape and weighs in the region of 50-55 g.
A large number of advantages that farmers mention when leaving reviews about the Oryol birds make birds more in demand. Are there any disadvantages to the breed? There is, and this:
- Late maturation of the hen (begins to lay only at the age of 7-8 months).
- Lack of maternal instinct. The laying hen quite often simply stops incubating eggs, as a result of which the chicks that have not yet hatched die.
- Enhanced care for hatched chicks.
a farmer who decides to breed such birds immediately signs himself the main sentence “on close observation of layers and raising feathered offspring in incubator". You can learn how to get healthy offspring so that the variegated Orlovskaya chintz chick is viable from the video.
Plumage color
Based on the name of the breed, you can guess that the key color is chintz (variegated red feathers with white and black spots). Chickens with nutty, variegated black plumage and even scarlet black-breasted individuals are slightly less common. White chickens of the Oryol breed are also quite beautiful and personable.
It is worth noting that this was a characteristic of the color of the plumage of the Russian line of Oryol chickens, and in fact there is also a German one. It is not difficult to distinguish them, even in the photo, even in life, because the latter have the following noticeable signs:
- the beak is straight;
- the physique is light;
- the color is not the same as that of the Russian line (red-white, black-white, hawk and mahogany).
Oryol calico chickens are beautiful birds, which can be seen in the video posted on the Internet.
Features of the content
The Oryol calico breed of chickens is famous for its high vitality, because:
- tolerates heat and dryness well;
- easily adapts to changing climatic conditions;
- not picky about food.
Even an amateur farmer can cope with caring for adult chickens, but it is already more problematic to leave young animals. The thing is that due to the late appearance of plumage, chickens are prone to colds. diseases and death with untimely assistance. Also, young animals develop slowly, as a result of which crookedness and weak legs are not uncommon. In order to prevent the death of feathered offspring, it is enough to make a warm enclosure for them, in which the birds can run (train their muscles).
Important: adult Orlov chickens should spend most of their time outdoors, therefore, the conditions of detention should be as close to natural as possible (experienced farmers put a simple poultry house without light with a convenient entrance). Dwarf chickens grow and develop only when the necessary heat, light regime is observed and the daily diet is fortified.
Feeding the birds
A picky feathered individual will gladly use:
- compound feed with added vitamins and minerals;
- a mixture of grains (buckwheat, corn, millet, wheat and barley);
- oats in late summer;
- meadow vegetation;
- cake;
- vegetables (beets, cabbage).
The quality and quantity of feed should be adjusted depending on the season and the farmer's goals (selling eggs, dietary meat, grown chickens, etc.).
The Eagle Rooster is a beautiful representative of birds, whose majesty allows you to associate a bird with a count, and a laying hen with a countess. Reviews of the breed are in most cases positive, with the exception of rearing young animals. Now you know everything about feeding 1 individual and all the rest of the feathered brethren.