Kuban breed of chickens: description, photos, reviews

Content

1 Description of the breed
- 1.1 Exterior of the breed
2 Keeping Kuban breed chickens
3 Diet of red Kuban chicken breed
4 Specifics of breeding the Kuban red breed
5 Reviews from private owners
6 Conclusion

In 1995, at the Labinsky breeding plant in the Krasnodar Territory, work began on breeding a domestic egg breed for industrial use. The ancestors of the new chicken were Rhode Island and leghorns. Then a new egg breed appeared, called the Red Kuban chicken. Officially, the breed is registered under the name "UK Kuban - 7" and is more of a cross than a full-fledged breed. Selection work on the Kuban breed of chickens is still ongoing. The goal of the breeders is to increase the egg production of the breed.

Description of the breed

Kuban chickens, being egg-laying hens, have a decent weight for laying hens: a hen weighs 2 kg, a rooster 3 kg. Red Kuban is an early maturing breed. Pullets begin laying eggs at 4 months. The Kuban laying hen lays 340 eggs per year. Egg weight 60-65 g. Shell the same as loman-browns, that is, brown. The meat characteristics are also quite good. The meat of Kuban chickens is tender and juicy.

On a note! Like any egg cross, Kuban red laying hens reduce egg production starting from the second year of life.

However, experienced farmers generally do not leave any birds, except peacocks, for the second year, since females have the maximum egg production in the first year of life.

Important! When buying a chicken, you need to be able to determine its age, so as not to buy one that has been written off from the factory and has already reduced its egg production.

How to avoid mistakes when buying laying hens

Exterior of the breed

With a relatively massive body, the Kuban red breed of chickens has an elegant light frame and a small head. The comb is leaf-shaped and red. The earlobes and earrings are red, but the earlobes may have whitish spots. The face is light pink or red.

The neck is short and set high. The back and lower back are wide and straight. The tail, on the contrary, is set low. In a rooster it sometimes continues the line of the back. The chest is wide, with well-developed muscles. The wings fit tightly to the body. The paws are strong and widely set. The hocks are light.

The color of the Kuban red laying hen does not always correspond to its name. The plumage may contain white or black feathers, although the main color remains dark red or light brown. The plumage is dense.

On a note! The breed is “half” autosex. Chicks can be distinguished by sex when they are no earlier than a month old.

At this age, the sex of ordinary chickens is often still impossible to determine. Therefore, sometimes such indicators are called autosex. At the beginning of breeding, 9 lines were obtained from parental crosses in which the silver and golden genes were sex-linked. But basically, the autosexiness of chickens is shown by the rate of fledging.

Keeping Kuban breed chickens

Chickens of the Kuban breed have strong immunity only if the conditions of keeping and feeding are observed. Like any cross-cage chickens, they are afraid of dampness and when building a chicken coop it is necessary to ensure that there is no dampness. Forced ventilation must be provided in the chicken coop.If this is not possible, install a window and regularly ventilate the room, making sure there are no drafts.

To prevent chickens from contaminating the bedding with food and water, drinking bowls with feeders are placed above the floor. The height is calculated so that the chicken can easily eat and drink, but cannot climb into the tray with its paws.

To lay eggs, chickens are provided with wooden boxes on the floor with a straw bedding. To prevent eggs from getting dirty in droppings, the litter is changed as it gets dirty.

To ensure good egg production, chickens are provided with at least 12 hours of daylight. If the day length is shorter in winter, artificial lighting is used.

The temperature in the chicken coop should not fall below -2°C. Kuban red chickens are thermophilic and at lower temperatures they can freeze their scallops. Trying to stay warm, chickens will begin to consume food in incredible quantities.

On a note! If the chicken coop is colder than +10°C, the chickens’ egg production decreases.

Kuban reds also do not tolerate summer heat well. At temperatures above +27°C, chickens stop eating. Eggs' shell quality deteriorates. She's getting too thin. In some cases, chickens in hot weather lay eggs without shells at all. And it seems that this is the legacy of the Loman Browns.

The comfortable temperature range for this breed of chicken is 17-19°C. Such conditions can be provided to laying hens only in a modern factory equipped with climate control.

Diet of red Kuban chicken breed

Cross UK Kuban - 7 is also demanding when it comes to feed. The diet of Red Kuban chickens should be dominated by grains, making up about 50% of the total diet.Red Kuban has a high need for protein foods, so the diet must include food containing plant and animal protein:

peas;
soy;
alfalfa;
cottage cheese;
whey;
meat and bone meal;
meat broth.

To replenish calcium, the diet should contain feed chalk, crushed eggshells or shells.

On a note! A chicken will willingly eat finely chopped fish, but it is not advisable to feed it because of the specific smell that chicken meat acquires.

In spring, vitamin-mineral premixes are added to chicken feed. In summer, chickens are given grass and greens from the garden. For winter, you can prepare hay from alfalfa or clover. But you need to make sure that there are leaves in the hay. From dry hay, chickens will only be able to peck leaves and flower petals. They cannot eat tough alfalfa and clover straw. After the chickens have picked out the leaves, the straw can be used as bedding.

Important! Wet mash containing whey, cottage cheese or broth should not be left in feeders for a long time.

In hot weather, dairy products sour very quickly, which can lead to digestive problems in chickens.

Specifics of breeding the Kuban red breed

When breeding a flock of red Kuban breed chickens, such that there are 10 hens per 1 rooster. Kuban red chickens are not very good brood hens, just like their parent breeds. For breeding, eggs of the Red Kuban breed are removed and placed in an incubator or under chickens of other breeds. The breed of hen is selected from those that are good at laying eggs and raising chicks.

Photos of Kuban chickens.

The Kuban breed chicken has a golden color immediately after hatching and acquires an “adult” red color only after the juvenile molt.The survival rate of Red Kuban chickens is 95%.

On a note! Kuban red chickens are very resistant to diseases.

Reviews from private owners

Larisa Kalinina, Art. Novomyshastovskaya

I kept the cross UK Kuban - 7. I took it from the factory, so the breed was without deception. Externally similar to Loman Browns. What I liked: high egg production and increased friendliness. They were completely tame. But the disadvantages are much more serious. They have very poor stress tolerance. Even during a simple thunderstorm, they freaked out so much that they started pecking at each other. When free-ranging, they pecked each other's cesspools to death. If closed indoors, they “reduced” their numbers to a minimum, pecking at the weaker ones. In general, a bird for cages where they cannot turn around. I slaughtered all of my own and don’t want to anymore.

Margarita Klenova, Art. Nizhny Novgorod

We purchased 10-month-old red Kuban chickens. I don’t know what happened, but 3 died almost immediately. The remaining 7 survived, although all conditions were the same. When they grew up, they were released to the main herd. I don’t know where they are calm, but they terrorize the rest of the chickens. In relation to people, yes, they are calm. They don’t run away, even if you get very close. They started laying eggs a month ago. And seven hens fully provide our family with eggs. There is still some left for sale. So we are satisfied with the egg production of this breed. But no character. In general, the breed is little known. A neighbor recommended red Kuban ones to us, but I couldn’t find them for a long time. Until the forum suggested that the official name of this breed is “cross UK Kuban - 7”

Conclusion

The Kuban Red chicken breed is unlikely to win the attention of chicken breeders in the near future.With high egg production, the breed could benefit from its unpretentiousness to living conditions and feed, as well as stress resistance. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have these qualities yet. Poultry farmers, when choosing between the UK Kuban-7 cross and an industrial foreign hybrid, will still prefer the hybrid. In terms of the degree of “capriciousness”, these crosses are the same, but foreign ones have higher egg production.