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The first experiment on breeding industrial broiler crosses among ducks began in 2000 at the Blagovarsky breeding plant, which is located in the Republic of Bashkortostan. Breeders crossed 3 duck breeds: Indian runner, foreign cross “Super-M” and “own” Blagovarian breed of ducks. The goal was to obtain a Russian broiler duck cross with the same productive characteristics as Western ones, but less demanding in terms of feed and housing conditions.
The Agidel duck turned out to fully meet the necessary requirements. Two Agidel cross lines have been created: A345 and A34. The lines differ slightly in their productive characteristics. In general, ducks of the Agidel breed meet industrial requirements. Work on improving the cross is still ongoing. Although there were three “parent” breeds, today offspring with consolidated characteristics have already been obtained from hybrids. In other words, Agidel ducks are beginning to claim the title of breed.
A duck carcass with white plumage always looks more attractive due to the absence of dark stumps in the skin. In addition, the industry that processes duck down is more willing to use white duck down. This type of fluff is more expensive than dark fluff.For a private owner, such subtleties usually do not matter. The meat and egg characteristics of poultry are more important to him.
Description of the Agidel breed and productive characteristics
Large duck with white plumage. The head is large and long. The eyes are set high and dark in color. The beak is large and wide. The beak color is yellow. The neck is long, of medium thickness. The duck's chest is well muscled, deep, protruding forward. The back is wide and long. The body is placed almost horizontally.
Being a broiler breed, Agidel ducks grow very quickly and are ready for slaughter at 2 months. The breeding plant in the productive characteristics of the Agidel breed indicates the average egg production of this cross over 280 days of the season - 257 pieces. The weight of one egg is 90 g. High egg production is a legacy of one of the parent breeds - the Indian runner, improved by targeted selection.
It must be remembered that the Agidel duck breed has two lines: one is closer to the egg line, the second is aimed at producing meat. The egg production of the first line is higher than that of the second, therefore the data on egg production are averaged. If the “egg-laying” version of the breed today can lay 260 eggs in 40 weeks, then the indicators of the second will be about 240 eggs in the same period.
There is also a difference in meat characteristics: the “egg-laying” line is lighter and produces less meat than the “meat” line. Although both of these lines belong to the same Agidel breed.
By 42 days, ducks of the Agidel breed reach a weight of 3100 g. The carcass fat content of representatives of the Agidel breed is lower than that of ordinary meat ducks and is 29.4%. “Standard” obesity is on average 35%.
Ducks of the Agidel breed begin laying eggs at 6-8 months, depending on the type of food fed. When receiving feed intended for laying hens, the egg-laying season for females begins earlier.
Breeding and raising Agidel ducks
Since splitting is still going on in crosses, it is better not to breed the Agidel breed at home. The offspring most likely will not retain their parental qualities, and the group of Agidel ducks that do not split is still too small. Therefore, it is better to buy Agidel ducklings directly from the Blagovarsky breeding plant or buy a hatching egg there.
Often this is what determines the dissatisfaction of owners of private farmsteads with the speed of growth of “agidels”.
When eggs from Agidel ducks are incubated, 81% of ducklings hatch. Agidel ducks have good preservation of their young. More than 97% of hatched ducklings survive.
Advantages of the Agidel duck breed:
- rapid gain of muscle mass;
- relatively low fat content of meat compared to other breeds of ducks;
- immunity to leukemia;
- high quality down and feathers.
The only disadvantages include the need to hatch this cross in incubators, which may be inconvenient for private owners.
Features of maintenance and feeding
It is more profitable to raise drakes for meat; ducks are smaller but more mobile. As a result, the females' food consumption is the same as that of drakes, but the return is lower. The average cost of feed is 2.24 feed. units
When ducklings hatch from eggs, their sex cannot be immediately determined. And given the white color, even later the sex can only be determined by size and quack.According to the quack, not until the young animals stop squeaking like little ducklings. That is, around the time of slaughter.
Freshly hatched ducklings are provided with a warm brooder (28-30°C) with round-the-clock lighting. The brooder should be spacious enough to remain dry at least for some time. Ducklings, like adults, love to splash in the water, managing to spill water even from vacuum drinkers. But in the first days of life, ducklings’ down easily gets wet and staying on a damp bedding can have a critical effect on them.
Ducklings grow quickly and from the first days of life they require high-calorie food with a high protein content to build muscle mass. With 24-hour lighting, ducklings will eat even at night, so we must not forget about providing the chicks with food at night. After feeding, the ducks go to drink and the presence of water is also required.
A balance between dry litter and the constant presence of water can be achieved either over a large area or on deep litter. The possibility of water splashing can also be limited by making nipple drinkers for ducklings.
Downy ducklings get wet even after 2 weeks, until they change the down to feathers. But those chicks who are already older than two weeks have a larger body area and are easier to withstand hypothermia. Therefore, in any case, it is better not to leave fledgling ducklings in a pond for a long time.
In the photo, Agidel ducklings are about a month old.
Industrial crosses are bred with the expectation that they will initially feed on ready-made feed. Ducks of the Agidel breed are no exception. Ducklings begin life with broiler starter feed.Even in adulthood, ducks of this breed are better fed grain than mash. Any transition to another type of food is best done very gradually.
The house for ducks should be light, dry and well ventilated. And you need to keep the litter clean. Ducks are considered dirty birds for a reason. True, the concept of “dirty” in this case is controversial. The duck likes to create a swamp near a drinking bowl or bath, but it eats clean food, unlike the omnivorous chicken.
Just in the photo, the ducks’ ardent love for the swamp near the drinking bowl is clearly visible. And a beginner who wants to get himself ducks must be prepared for this.
Agidel ducks can get by with a small bath in the enclosure. If you provide them with a large pond, then it is better to build the poultry house as far as possible from the pond. In this case, the ducks will have time to dry before they reach the poultry house, and will not bring dirt indoors.
In general, keeping agidel does not differ from keeping ducks of other breeds. Ducklings can even be kept in the same enclosure. Then the difference between agidels and other ducklings will be clearly visible. Agidels are larger.
Reviews from owners of Agidel crosses
Conclusion
Ducks of the Agidel breed are still little known among private owners, especially since at the moment Agidels still need to be purchased directly from the factory. When the necessary productive characteristics are fixed and the splitting along them stops, ducks of this breed will take their place not only in industrial poultry farms, but also in private farmsteads.
