Chickens breed Hercules

1749

Article rating

As a result of crossing the crosses with the meat and egg direction, the breeders of the UAAN and NII Borki managed to get a good breeding herd. The newly developed breed of chickens Hercules have good body weight, egg production and are distinguished by the rapid growth of young animals. Thanks to these qualities, the breed has become widespread throughout Russia.

Chickens breed Hercules

Characteristics of the breed

The description includes several distinctive qualities:

the head is medium in size, round in shape;
the eyes are orange;
beak yellow, slightly curved at the tip;
scallop scarlet, leaf-shaped, divided into 4-6 teeth, erect;
earrings and earlobes are red;
the tail is small, in roosters with long hanging feathers;
legs are stocky and yellow;
has a strong and massive frame with a wide back and chest.

The plumage is varied, combines several tones - white, black-striped, golden, silver and pockmarked.

Today, Hercules chickens are one of the most common breeds in Ukraine and other CIS countries.

Temper

The bird has a calm and peaceful disposition. Chickens treat young animals well. Roosters do not show aggression towards the owner and representatives of other breeds, therefore, their joint keeping in one flock is allowed.

Productivity indicators

Almost all breeders note the high productivity of chickens. This breed is characterized by the following productivity indicators:

egg production - from 210 to 220 eggs per year;
at the age of one year, the male, like broilers, reaches 4.2-4.5 kg of weight, the female is about 3.4 kg;
large eggs - average weight from 65 to 70 g;
puberty and readiness for egg laying falls on the 5-6 month of breeding;
young animals have a good survival rate - up to 92%, adults - 93-94%.

The cost

The price of this breed is quite high - day-old chickens cost from 40 to 50 rubles, grown young - 60-100 rubles.

Despite such a high price, the birds quickly pay off the investment - with intensive weight gain and the ability to lay eggs already at the age of five months.

Adults cost from 1200 to 1500 rubles.

Advantages and disadvantages

The characteristics of the Hercules breed include several advantages that are important for poultry farmers:

like broilers, they gain weight quickly;
calm and peaceful disposition;
great taste of eggs and meat;
high resistance to many diseases and parasites;
good tolerance to sudden changes in temperature, humidity;
eggs are large, contain large yolks (35% of the weight).

Of the shortcomings, one nuance is distinguished - birds of the second and third generations are less productive than their parents.

Features of care and maintenance

Very stress tolerant chickens

One of the main advantages of the breed is its excellent adaptive properties. The bird easily tolerates stressful situations and sudden changes in temperature, without reducing productivity.

Chicken coop

Given the large size of this breed, a lot of space is required in the poultry house - at least 50 m³ per bird. Chickens do not need perches, because due to their heavy weight, they will not be able to take off on them.

Before you start the livestock indoors, it must be carefully prepared:

to clear the remains of debris, whitewash the walls and floor surface with slaked lime to destroy all bacteria and germs;
the bottom can be sewn up with boards or tin, covering all the cracks and access to the penetration of rodents;
the floor is covered with a thick layer of hay, straw or sawdust - 40 cm in winter, in summer - 10-15 cm;
the litter is laid on a warm and sunny day to keep it dry;
indoors, they make nests for layers in a quiet place inaccessible to roosters and other individuals;
put feeders and drinkers at the rate of 4 and 3 cm for each individual, respectively;
additionally, a basin or other bathing container is installed, filled with dried clay, sand or ash.

To protect against diseases and parasites, it is necessary to maintain a stable heat - 23-25 ° C in winter, about 13 ° C in summer. Regular ventilation will provide an optimal microclimate in the chicken coop. For this, windows or doors are opened daily.

Diet

The health of birds and their productivity is largely dependent on feeding.

Throughout the year, chickens are given compound feed, which forms the basis of daily feeding at the rate of 120-130 g per individual. You can purchase a ready-made composition or prepare it yourself by mixing mineral additives, fish and meat and bone meal, sunflower meal, chopped wheat, corn in a ratio of 1: 1: 1: 3: 4.
In the winter season, nutrition should be enhanced due to a lack of vitamins and minerals. Separate containers with shells, pieces of chalk, meat and bone meal and fish meal are installed in the chicken coop. Every day they give a mash of boiled and grated root crops, fruits, vegetables. Scatter chopped cabbage, beets. They are fed with sprouted grain crops (wheat, rye, oats). Fish oil, vitamins and minerals are added.
In summer, when the bird has the opportunity to walk freely outside, it feeds on fresh herbs. In the courtyard, chickens are fed with nettles, clovers, green peas, and dandelions. Also scattered pieces, chalk, shell.
It is imperative to give sifted sand every day, which helps to get rid of feed residues and prevents goiter blockage, the development of various diseases.
To compensate for the lack of protein in the cold season, the bird is given steamed legumes - peas, beans, beans.

In addition to proper feeding, fresh drink is required. The water is changed daily, in winter it is served at room temperature, in summer it is cold.

Walking yard

Chickens and cockerels with a decent weight rarely take off, so the walking area is fenced off with a low fence. From above, the aviary does not need to be covered with a net. The optimal space for one individual is 2-3 m².

In the spring they sow with grass so that there is fresh greens closer to summer. In winter, a shelter of slate can be made at the place of walking - so the bird can walk all year round and peck at the remains of food.

Molt and break of egg production

Molting is a traditional procedure for every breed of domestic chickens. The bird begins to shed feathers en masse, loses its decorative qualities and stops laying eggs.

Full renewal of the feather cover occurs in 1-1.5 months.

For a quick recovery, foods with a high protein content are added to the feed - meat or fish broth.

Replacing the herd

The planned replacement of old chickens with pullets is carried out after a decrease in egg production rates - usually this occurs at 3 or 4 years of keeping.

The pullets are launched into the general herd, and the old chickens are allowed to be slaughtered.

Breeding rules

Excellent brood hens

Chickens of this breed have a good hatching instinct, but only the first offspring are able to adopt all the qualities of their parents.

With further crossing, only 25% of all characteristics are transmitted, so breeders breed this bird using the incubation method.

Incubation

To obtain healthy and strong chicks without defects and pathologies, you need to choose high-quality material:

take eggs no older than five days, medium in size with a flat surface, without cracks;
Do not use too blunt or pointed specimens for hatching, because chicks with pathologies may appear from them;
eggs are laid unwashed.

The temperature is set at 40 ° C, every 7 days it is lowered by 1 ° C. During incubation, the specimens must be turned over 3-4 times to ensure uniform heating.

Chicks hatch 20-21 days from the moment of laying the eggs.

Care

Young offspring are placed in a cardboard or wooden box lined with straw, sawdust or a rag. An IR lamp is installed on top at a distance of 50 cm. Such lighting will provide an optimal microclimate for the chicks.

Caring for chickens of this breed is no different from the rules for keeping other chicks. The most dangerous age is up to 3 weeks, when the young can wither and die. Later, when the chicks get stronger, the risk of death is minimal.

Conditions of detention:

on the first day for drying, the gun is provided with a temperature of 31-32 ° using an IR lamp, then every day it is reduced by 2-3 ° C, bringing the indicator to 19 ° C;
after 2 weeks of home care, the chicks are taken outside on sunny days - such walks have a beneficial effect on health;
in a month and a half, the grown young are transferred to a common herd.

Feeding

In the first days of life, they offer a boiled and finely chopped chicken egg. Starting from the third day, it is mixed with green onions, small cereals and low-fat cottage cheese. On days 20-21, the food is made more varied - sunflower cake or crushed seeds are added.

A month later, dandelion, carrot tops, clover, and nettle are mixed into the feeding. These plants are good for the digestive system of the chicks.

All supplied grain mixtures are prohibited from steaming - after heat treatment they lose useful components.

Do not give feed rich in fiber and flour, because they can cause blockage of the goiter.

Daily chickens are soldered with a glucose solution - 50 g per 1 liter of water. Later, pure water is given at room temperature.

Infectious diseases

The characteristics of the Hercules breed include high resistance to various types of diseases.

But in poor conditions and with insufficiently balanced feeding, the bird can be affected by several diseases.

The coop must be clean

Typhus-pullorosis

It is transmitted by airborne droplets, affecting the digestive system of chickens and adults.

Symptoms are inactivity, increased thirst, frothy droppings, shortness of breath, and lack of appetite. Crowding, puckering and frequent squeaking are noted in young animals.

They are treated with two drugs - furazolidone or biomycin.

Salmonellosis (paratyphoid)

Spread through eggs, air, food and water. It affects internal organs and is dangerous to humans when eating contaminated meat and eggs. Signs - refusal to feed, frothy feces, increased thirst, swelling of the joints, abdomen and cloaca, lacrimation.

For the prevention of the disease, immune serum is administered. Treatment is carried out with the drug furazolidone for three weeks. In parallel, streptomycin is given for 10 days. The habitat of sick individuals is subject to disinfection.

Colibacillosis

This disease is dangerous for both birds and humans. Chickens and young growth are more susceptible. The disease is accompanied by increased thirst, diarrhea, shortness of breath and poor appetite.

In the treatment, biomycin or terramycin is used.

Pasteurellosis

High risk of infection in chicks up to 3 months of age. The main vectors of infection are rodents and birds that have been ill.

The first signs are the appearance of frothy discharge from the beak, a cyanotic color of the ridge, an increased need for drinking and refusal to feed.

Treatment is effective only at the initial stage of the lesion. Several drugs are used - sulfamethazine, tetracycline 2%, or norsulfazole.

Diseases of a non-infectious nature

In addition to viral, fungal and bacterial infections, poultry can develop non-infectious diseases.

Atony of goiter. The main reason is the accumulation of food, as a result of which obstruction occurs. The goiter hardens and becomes saggy. To eliminate the problem, it is necessary to drip a few drops of vegetable oil into the bird's beak, carry out a light massage of the goiter, turn the body over and remove the remnants of food.
Dyspepsia (indigestion). This disease occurs for two reasons - feeding the chickens solid food or soldering with dirty water. Signs - hardening of the abdominal region, liquid droppings with pieces of undigested food, increased body temperature. To restore health, the bird is given food that is suitable for age, soldered with a weak solution of potassium permanganate, or alkalized water is given.
Bronchopneumonia. The reason for the development is the frequent hypothermia of chickens. In sick individuals, rapid breathing, lack of appetite and abundant mucous discharge from the beak are noted. If you do not take any measures, the bird dies in 2-3 days. Treatment is carried out with the drug terramycin or penicillin.
Avitaminosis. This often occurs in layers that are contained in cages and do not receive enough vitamins and minerals during the winter season. As a result, the bird loses its feather cover, becomes lethargic, reduces weight, and conjunctivitis develops. The solution to the problem is the soldering of chickens with a vitamin complex.

Parasites

The most common parasites that appear in damp, crowded, and dirty, damp litter environments are:

Worms. Simple species can be identified in chicken droppings. Tapeworms can live in the body all their lives, causing serious illness, up to and including death. To remove parasites, chickens are given anthelmintic drugs.
Fluke. Signs - swelling and redness of the cloaca, the bird looks disheveled, the feathers are dirty, the state is lethargic. For treatment, carbon tetrachloride is used.
Down and feathers. These parasites eat away feathers, leaving behind a receding hairline. You can destroy it if you treat the feather cover with Insectol aerosol.

Prophylaxis

Compliance with simple preventive measures will help to avoid infection and infection with various diseases and pests:

It is impossible to keep adult birds and young animals in the same chicken coop, since the chickens have a weaker immune system, so even a minor infection can provoke their death.
At the first symptoms of sick individuals, it is necessary to move to a quarantine room.
The place where infected birds are kept must be thoroughly disinfected.
Provide the herd with good and balanced nutrition throughout the year and fresh and clean water.
Keeping the chicken coop clean - timely disposal of feed residues, changing the litter once a year and maintaining stable microclimate indicators.

Owner reviews

Most breeders are happy with the Hercules breed:

despite the high cost of incubation material and grown up young stock, it is possible to achieve good meat and egg productivity in a short time;
others like that chickens easily adapt to any conditions of keeping, have a calm character, this greatly facilitates caring for them;
many breed this breed for meat and eggs for sale.