Duck Blue Favorite and its breeding
The Blue Favorite duck is a cross, obtained on the basis of the Bashkir, Peking and Black white-breasted breeds. The variety was bred in 1998 at the Blagovarsky breeding plant. She got her name because of the beautiful color of the plumage. An individual can be distinguished by a rapid increase in mass, good adaptability, and a relatively large number of eggs. It is suitable for both private farms and industrial breeding. The breed has received positive reviews from many farmers.
Duck Blue Favorite
Description of the breed
Ducks of the Blue Favorite breed were bred by chance while improving the Peking and Bashkir birds. They gained popularity not only for their meaty qualities, but also for their beautiful plumage color.
The description and characteristics of the appearance of the birds are as follows:
- the head is average, closer to the large;
- the beak is elongated, wide and flat;
- small eyes;
- the neck is of medium length;
- the body is powerful, with developed muscles, elongated;
- the breast is wide and deep;
- the back is extended;
- legs are short, thick.
The plumage color of these ducks is gray with a magnificent blue tint. There are both more saturated and lighter blue tints. There is also a description that black, dark gray and almost white birds can be found in the lines. The color of the beak and paws depends on the color of the feather. In true blue ducks, they are dark, gray in color.
It is important to know that blue-gray birds can have offspring of any color, while black ones only black. It is difficult to predict what color the chicks will appear in white birds. When buying a hatching egg or duck, even the perfect blue color, it is impossible to foresee what kind of legacy her ducklings will manifest.
You can see how the Blue Favorite looks in more detail in the photo and video.
Product characteristics
The Blue Favorite duck breed belongs to the meat direction. Although some farmers attribute it to meat and egg because of the rather high egg production rates. The high yield makes keeping and growing favorites very profitable. They grow as fast as Indo-Ducks and can reach high weights with intensive feeding. Here are the product characteristics that distinguish the breed:
- The weight of the drake is 4-5.5 kg, the ducks are 3.5-4 kg.
- The mass of ducklings at 2 months is 2.7-3.6 kg.
- Egg production - 100-150 pieces per year.
- One egg weighs 80-90 g.
With good fattening, a drake can weigh 7-8 kg, and a duck 5-6 kg. The bird gains its adult weight at 4-5 months. Two month old ducklings sometimes weigh as much as a goose at their age. The meat of the Favorites is tender, not as fat as that of the Bashkir and Peking ducks. High egg production is maintained in any weather; it can increase with a well-balanced diet and additional lighting in the house. The duck egg tastes like a chicken egg, and surpasses it in value and quality.
Keeping and feeding ducks
Duck Favorite perfectly adapts to any climatic conditions, therefore its maintenance does not present any problems.Birds can live in a standard barn, without heating. Even in winter, they walk beautifully in the snow, without catching a cold or freezing their paws. True, the temperature outside should not be lower than -5 ° C.
Keeping ducks at home on free-range provides for the presence of a reservoir. If there is no river, lake or pond nearby, you can put a small bathroom or pool in the yard. If a duck is regularly released into a natural reservoir, it can independently get its own food, then growing becomes more profitable, since it saves money on feeding.
When equipping a shed, it is advisable to raise the floor 15-20 cm above the ground. A bed of straw, peat or dry leaves is laid on it. Its thickness should be about 30 cm. The litter is changed every few months, it can be used for making compost. It is desirable that the house is well ventilated but free of drafts. It is best to equip 1-2 windows, make a manhole from the south or south-west side. The area of the poultry house is made at the rate of 0.5 m for one individual, for a pen or aviary - 3 m for an adult duck. How to properly build a duck house, you can see in the photo.
Feeding the Blue Favorites at home is standard. In summer, the diet is dominated by greens and vegetables. On the pond, ducks can find duckweed, small fish, snails, and mollusks. At home, they are given grains, tops, chopped grass, vegetables (zucchini, pumpkins, carrots). The winter diet includes:
- grain (corn, wheat, barley);
- bran from wheat;
- peas;
- dry grass flour, silage;
- ready-made compound feed;
- oilseed meal and cake;
- brewer's or feed yeast;
- kitchen scraps, vegetables and cleaning.
All food must be fresh. It is imperative to give mineral supplements: chalk, pebbles, crushed shells. To increase egg production, from the end of winter, the duck is fed with vitamins, for example, Premix.
Breeding ducklings
Breeding Blue Favorite ducks at home can be difficult. Birds have almost completely lost their maternal instinct. This characteristic does not allow the breed to be bred in the usual way. The hatching egg has to be placed under another duck or goose hen or hatch chicks in an incubator. At the same time, the survival rate of young animals is very high, it does not matter whether the ducklings were bred artificially or naturally. Ducks begin to rush at the age of 5-6 months.
The incubation period for eggs lasts 28-30 days. A very important factor is the correct maintenance of young stock in the first days and weeks. After leaving the eggs, the chicks need to be provided with a temperature of 27-32 ° C and round-the-clock lighting. In the dark, ducklings can cross each other, and too low a temperature will lead to colds. Starting from the second week, the temperature is gradually reduced until it reaches 18-22 ° C. The duration of daylight hours is reduced daily by an hour.
It is necessary to feed the ducklings from the first hours of life. They are given a boiled egg, fresh curd. From the second day, you can add steamed and finely chopped nettles, then chopped grass, porridge. The amount of protein in the first two weeks should be at least 20% of the total diet, then its content is reduced to 15%, and in adulthood - to 11%. Daily chicks eat every 2-3 hours, in 2 weeks they are fed 5-6 times a day, in three weeks - 4 times, after a month and a half - 2-3 times.
Intensive raising and fattening of ducklings makes it possible to send them for slaughter with a weight of about 3 kg as early as 2 months. You can keep the bird for longer, waiting out the molt period. In this case, ducks are sent to slaughter in 120-150 days with a weight of 4-5 kg, sometimes even more. To achieve rapid weight gain, birds are kept in closed pens, restricting movement.
Diseases of the breed
The Blue Favorite duck is known for its good health and disease resistance, which makes it even more popular to breed. Proper maintenance and feeding makes cultivation generally hassle-free.However, some diseases can affect the herd. Here is a brief description and characteristics of the symptoms:
- Avitaminosis. Most often, there is a deficiency of vitamins A, E, D. With avitaminosis A, appetite decreases, the eyes turn sour, the skin dries up, the feather loses its shine. Deficiency of vitamin E is manifested by convulsions, and vitamin D - rickets. To avoid this, fish oil, sprouted grains, and fresh herbs are added to the feed.
- Urovsky disease. Occurs due to a lack of minerals. Ducks begin to eat sawdust, pebbles, pluck feathers. The state of health is corrected by adding special additives to the diet, chalk, shells, common salt, preferably iodized.
- Cuticulite. Typical for ducklings of the first days of life, it is manifested by diarrhea. For prevention, potassium permanganate is added to the water.
- Omphalitis. Inflammation of the umbilical ring in little ducklings. For treatment, treat it with antiseptics.
- Coccidiosis. Infection typical of young animals. Manifested by diarrhea, loss of appetite, weight. It is treated with antibiotics, you can add iodine to drinkers with water for prevention.
- Tuberculosis. Occurs when ducks are disturbed, the house is too hot, humid, and there is no ventilation. A sick duck, and sometimes the whole herd, is disposed of, the place where the bird lived is disinfected.
- Heminolepiasis. Helminthiasis, which causes stool disorders (constipation and diarrhea), convulsions. It is treated with anthelmintic drugs.
- Salmonellosis. One of the most common diseases transmitted to humans. Manifested by green diarrhea, high fever. Ducks are treated with antibiotics, and if ineffective they are sent to the slaughterhouse, the carcasses are burned. Duck eggs are often affected by salmonella.
In order to prevent the onset of disease in ducks, you need to identify symptoms in time, adjust nutrition. Infection prevention is vaccination, cleanliness.
Advantages and disadvantages of the breed
The Blue Favorite breed has consistently received positive reviews. Its maintenance and cultivation are simple, the feed consumption is average. Here is a description of the merits of these beautiful ducks:
- fast weight gain by ducklings;
- good egg production, large egg, weighing up to 90 g;
- simple feeding, the duck eats almost everything;
- low fat content in meat;
- beautiful appearance.
The main disadvantage of the breed is the lack of maternal instinct, therefore, breeding ducklings is possible only in an incubator or under another hen. This disadvantage is compensated for by the high survival rate of ducklings, the normal activity of the drake in fertilizing eggs.