Of course, ducks are kept in homestead households less often than chickens. However, such a bird is very popular among summer residents, farmers and villagers. The advantages of these waterfowl include primarily unpretentiousness in care and high productivity. But, of course, duck breeding will be successful only if they are properly cared for.
Varieties
It is possible to breed meat and meat and egg ducks in suburban areas. The main advantage of the rocks of the first group is a quick weight gain. For 2-4 months, the broiler bird can reach 4-5 kg.
Meat and egg ducks do not grow so fast. Their carcasses usually weigh much less than broiler carcasses. However, such birds carry more eggs and are less whimsical in terms of diet and conditions.
Very often, the owners of suburban areas are bred on their farmsteads and indowok. Such a bird also boasts quite a quick weight gain. Moreover, in comparison with other varieties, indochki have one important advantage - not too fat and very tasty meat.
The best broiler breeds
Each species of domestic ducks has its own advantages. Owners of suburban areas who already have experience in maintaining such animals and want to quickly get a lot of meat should buy a broiler bird. Novice farmers can be trained on some more unpretentious breed. Such owners of farmsteads, most likely, for a start should buy meat and egg chicks. Indoor women are perfect for both experienced farmers and beginners.
Breeders of breeds of all directions of productivity have been bred a lot. So farmers should not have any particular problems with the choice in this regard.
The best meat breeds of ducks today are:
- Elsbury. These ducks were bred in England in the XIX century. Today in the UK this breed is bred on an industrial scale. It is also used for breeding new varieties of highly productive birds. The weight of the drakes of this breed can gain up to 5.5 kg, ducks - up to 3.5 kg. Elsbury eggs incubate on their own.
- Peking duck. Many farmers consider this breed to be the best of meat today. These ducks were also bred a very long time ago, about 300 years ago in China. Beijing drakes can gain weight up to 4.2 kg. Ducks walk up to 3.8 kg. Like many other old meat breeds, this bird hatches eggs itself.
- Swedish blue. This breed is most widespread in Germany. But in Russia, Swedish blue ducks are also quite popular. Adult birds of this breed can reach a weight of 3.6 kg.
Also, farmers, including Russian ones, breed such ducks as:
- Rouen
- black-breasted;
- white Moscow.
Quite often, clayey, gray or white Ukrainian ducks can be seen on the yards of owners of suburban areas of the post-Soviet space. The bird of this breed can reach a weight of up to 3.5 kg. Ukrainian ducks are also popular among farmers because of their dense plumage. Such a bird is not at all afraid of the cold.
The best meat and egg breeds
Novice farmers should consider purchasing:
- Indian runners. The homeland of these ducks is southeast Asia. They call the breed so for the long legs of its representatives and their ability to run very fast. Weights such egg ducks gain an average of 2 kg. At the same time, they can carry up to 300 eggs per year.
- Saxon ducks. This bird was bred by crossing Peking with a Rouen breed. Saxon duck weights can gain up to 3 kg. They carry eggs up to 200-250 pcs. in year.
- Kayugi. This breed of ducks was bred in the 19th century in America, not far from the lake of the same name. Weight this bird walks up to 3-3.5 kg. In this case, the female cayuga can carry up to 150 eggs per year.
- Mirror ducks. The bird of this breed was bred in Russia in the middle of the twentieth century. The weight of adult mirror ducks can reach up to 4 kg. This breed was named so for its very beautiful brilliant plumage.
Varieties of Indoor
Such a bird is also called musky. On farms, both domestic and wild Indians can be bred. Such a bird differs mainly in the color of its plumage. In farms of different countries, including Russia, there are indigenous people:
- white and black and white;
- wild browns;
- blue;
- domestic and wild black, etc.
Some varieties of musky ducks can gain weight up to 5 kg. Moreover, in the care of such a bird is relatively unpretentious. Feeding and keeping musk ducks is a snap. They grow a bird of this variety using the same technology as ordinary breeds.
Mulard
The bird of this breed has recently become increasingly popular among Russian farmers. The mulard is a mixture of Peking’s meat ducks and musky. The advantages of this breed, farmers include lean tasty meat, as well as the ability to gain a lot of weight very quickly.
By productivity, such ducks can surpass even the famous Peking ducks. Adult birds of this breed gain weight up to 5.5 kg, and with the correct content, up to 7-8 kg. By the third month of keeping, the weight of this bird reaches 4 kg.
Growing and keeping ducks: feeding
The productivity indicators of these waterfowl very much depend on how well their diet will be drawn up. It is also important to follow the bird feeding schedule.
You can do a duckling hatcher, for example, like this:
- finely chop the soft grass, willow leaves, duckweed, algae and put the mass in a 10 l basin, filling about half;
- pour the mass with boiled water or back;
- leave the mixture for about half an hour to settle (until the greens soften);
- add one large bowl of cornmeal to the basin;
- add two bowls of sowing flour;
- mix everything well.
Also a good option for feeding ducks will be such a mixture:
- potatoes, trimmings of zucchini, boil waste from the table, finely chop and put in a basin;
- add chopped apples;
- add wheat milling to the mix in an amount of approximately ¼ of the volume of the whole mixture;
- add salt to the feed (about 1 tbsp. l. in two buckets).
There are many recipes for duck blenders. But in any case, the finished mixture for this bird should not be sticky. Otherwise, the noses will become clogged when feeding the ducks.
These aquatic organisms are fed 1-2 times a day. Crushed dry concentrates should be in ducks in the feeders constantly. This is especially true for poultry meat. Ducks in this productivity group should be able to eat at any time.
What should be a house
A shed for such waterfowl is built at the rate of at least 1 m 2 of area for 2-3 heads. It is desirable to erect a duck-tree in a high place. In any case, this room should be absolutely dry. When erecting a crab, it should also be ensured that subsequently in it in no case there are drafts.
As a material for the walls of the house, you can choose a beam and a board, brick, foam blocks. The main thing is that the walls of the coffer are warm enough. Floors in such sheds are usually simply poured with concrete. To prevent the ducks from freezing, straw is used as a litter.
Of course, in a barn built for a bird, it is imperative to conduct electricity. It’s not necessary to light too much. For a small house, for example, just one bright bulb will be enough.
For ventilation in the barn, it is necessary to provide, of course, and a window. In case ducks are supposed to be kept in winter, electric heaters or, for example, a small stove-potbelly stove should be installed in the house.
Of course, you should equip the duck with the feeders. Tanks for mixes and crushed concentrates are best made from tin. This will facilitate subsequent care for the feeders. Experienced poultry farmers do not recommend drinking bowls directly in the caddy. Such containers are usually placed in a cage arranged near the house.
Ducks are known to love water. They can try to swim, including in drinking bowls. Therefore, if such structures are installed directly in the barn, the bird will breed moisture. And this, in turn, can lead to the development of various kinds of diseases.
How to breed
Chicks of this bird are brought out usually in simple chicken incubators. Devices of this variety of many brands are supplemented with special lattices designed specifically for eggs of waterfowl.
The incubation mode for this bird is approximately as follows:
- in the first week, the apparatus maintains a temperature of 38 degrees and a humidity of 70%;
- until the 25th day, the parameters are set to 37.8 degrees and 60%;
- from the 26th to the 28th day, the temperature is reduced to 37.5 degrees, and the humidity is increased to 85-90%.
For 26 days, the eggs in the incubator are rotated 4-6 times a day. Then this operation is stopped.
Chicks ration
Breeding ducks is a relatively simple matter. However, care for the hatched ducklings, of course, should be carried out correctly. At first, chicks are fed 4-5 times a day with batters of chopped eggs and cottage cheese with the addition of kefir. After a couple of days, they are offered some greens.
Weekly ducklings are fed with mixed feed with the addition of cottage cheese, kefir, and finely chopped nettles. Around the second or third week, when the chicks fledge, they can be released into the pond. It was not recommended to allow ducklings to swim in the event that they are raised without a brood hen. The fact is that non-fledged waterfowl chicks do not yet have subcutaneous fat. In the water, ducklings simply overcool. And because of this, in turn, the chicks can get sick and even die.
If there is no reservoir near the farm, the amount of green feed should be increased in the diet of 2-3-week-old ducklings. Ideally, from this time on, young animals should be fed including duckweed. The amount of cottage cheese offered to ducklings at this time is reduced. Fully on an adult diet, chicks are transferred at the age of 3-4 weeks.
When they hammer
For a long time usually only ducks are kept on farms. Young animals grown for meat are slaughtered already at the age of 2.5-3 months. It is simply unprofitable to keep such ducks longer. From 4 months, these waterfowl begin to consume a lot of feed. At the same time, the bird does not gain weight too quickly.
In any case, ducks are supposed to be slaughtered before juvenile molting. If you do this later, the carcasses of the bird, due to the numerous coarse stumps, unfortunately, will lose their presentation. In addition, it will be difficult to process them.
Useful advice
Before slaughter, ducks are usually not fed for 12-16 hours. At the same time, water is given to the bird in unlimited quantities. Actually, the slaughter itself is performed by cutting the carotid artery. Experienced farmers are advised to start pinching the carcass no earlier than 2 hours after this procedure.