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Breeding birds at home is becoming increasingly common among farmers. First of all, because the meat of their birds is guaranteed to be safe and fresh. Mulard ducks are great for breeding at home. They are also called "meat ducks".
Origin of mulard ducks and their description
Mulard ducks are hybrids bred by French breeders by crossing musk and Peking duck breeds. There are options for crossing with breeds: Orpington, Rouen and white allier. The result is a duck with a calm character, meat of excellent taste and quickly gaining weight.
The plumage of mulard ducks is white; there is a dark spot on the head, which is a distinctive feature of this hybrid.
Look at the photo to see what a domestic mulard duck looks like
Mulard ducks are classified as broilers, i.e. bred for meat. Mulard ducks are excellent for breeding at home, as well as for growing on an industrial scale. The weight of adult females is up to 6.5 kg, males – up to 7 kg.Ducklings have a good rate of weight gain: at two months they weigh up to 1.5 kg.
For a description of how Mulard ducks grow up, watch the video:
Features of the mulard duck hybrid
Like any poultry, mulard ducks have positive and negative qualities.
Advantages of mulard hybrid ducks
- Undemanding conditions of detention. Domestic Mulard ducks are absolutely unpretentious in keeping and can adapt to any conditions, including temperature changes, which is a definite plus for Russian breeders.
- Unpretentiousness to feeding. Mulard ducks are undemanding when it comes to nutrition and do not overeat. However, it is worth remembering that high-quality feeding leads to greater bird productivity. Due to its large size, softness and nutritional value, the liver of mulard ducks is considered the best for the production of foie gras. The liver of a male can reach a weight of 550 grams.
- Good immunity. An important quality is considered to be the presence of a very strong immune system in ducks: mulards get sick extremely rarely.
- Fast ripening. Mulard ducks reach slaughter weight at 3-4 months, provided they are provided with high-quality feed. Thanks to this precocity, duck meat is especially tender and tasty.
- Excellent meat quality characteristics. The low percentage of fat in mulard duck meat is comparable to goose meat - only 3%. At the same time, it takes more than six months to fatten a goose, and mulards reach slaughter age from three months. For the excellent taste of mulard duck meat, we should thank the musk breed, on the basis of which the hybrid was bred.
- Cleanliness. Mulard ducks are neat. The importance of this quality is fundamental for farmers who raise ducks for sale and use their feathers and down.
- Calm character. Domestic Mulard ducks do not bother their owners with screams and quarrels.
Disadvantages of mulard hybrid ducks
Mulard ducks cannot reproduce: all eggs of females are unfertilized. Therefore, in order to continue raising mulard ducks, it is necessary to constantly buy additional ducklings. Some farmers try to breed domestic Mulard ducks on their own by buying and crossing Muscovy ducks with Peking ducks. However, it should be understood that the result can be very unpredictable and the qualitative characteristics of mulard hybrid ducks may not be fully expressed.
Caring for mulard ducklings
It is advisable to raise ducklings separately from other birds, then they will eat and grow better.
Due to the fact that ducks are waterfowl, care should be taken to provide them with a natural habitat. It would be great if there was a pond near the ducks’ walking area. If it doesn’t exist, you can make an artificial one.
Ducklings require 24-hour light, which allows them to adapt to the external environment as quickly as possible. As the chicks grow, lighting can be left for 15-17 hours.
To prevent the death of newborn Mulard ducklings from hypothermia, it is necessary to maintain the night temperature at least +28 degrees, and the daytime temperature at least 23 degrees.
Straw or hay should be used as bedding for mulard ducklings. Sawdust is not suitable for this purpose, because... they absorb moisture well and dry for a long time - if the duckling is constantly on a damp surface, it can catch a cold and die.
Catering for Mulard ducks
At first, Mulard ducklings are given boiled porridge mixed with a boiled egg to eat.The porridge should be thin enough to provide the ducklings with moisture. Over time, greens are added to the mash, which should be chopped very finely. Greens provide Mulard ducklings with essential vitamins and fiber. However, it should be remembered that the digestive system of ducklings is still quite weak, so you should not abuse the amount of green supplement.
Starting from the eighth day of life of ducklings, boiled potatoes are introduced into their diet. Mineral supplements should be gradually introduced, such as ground egg shells, shells or chalk. Minerals are essential for the growth and health of ducklings.
Types of feed for domestic mulard ducks
- Cereals: barley, legumes, wheat, corn, oats. Due to the high carbohydrate content in grains, mulard ducks quickly gain weight. This food is well absorbed by mulards.
- Waste from recycled materials: meal and cake (sunflower, soybean, peanut, cotton, rapeseed, beet), yeast, bran, stillage.
- Juicy feed: aquatic vegetation (elodea, duckweed, pondweed), greens (nettle, alfalfa, clover, peas), combined silage (fermented grass with vegetables), vegetables (carrots, pumpkin, cabbage).
- Animal feed: ideally - insects, worms, fry, frogs. At home: meat and bone and fish meal, small fish, dairy products.
In the warm season, if domestic mulard ducks are not freely grazing near a natural body of water, they should be fed four times a day: twice with dry food and twice with wet mash. Aquatic vegetation should be added to wet food. If ducks are released to a pond and to pasture, it is enough to give them food twice a day.
In winter, ducks are fed twice a day: once with combined silage and wet mash, and once with dry food. Be sure to add steamed hay, fish or meat and bone meal, boiled potatoes and dust.
Conditions for keeping mulard ducks
Despite the fact that mularda ducks are completely unpretentious to their living conditions, it is still worth equipping the poultry house in such a way that the ducks in it are as comfortable as possible. As a result of the correct approach to maintenance, mulard ducks will quickly achieve the productivity declared for this hybrid.
Poultry house
Wood is considered the ideal material for a poultry house. The best place for construction will be the south side on some hill, or you can raise the house above the ground by at least half a meter (see photo).
The size of the poultry house is calculated from the area of one square meter for three ducks. Mulards do not need perches; they spend all their time below, so the floor must be covered (in summer, bedding is almost not needed; in winter, about 6 kg of it will be needed per individual).
The house should be warm and dry - humidity has a bad effect on the plumage of ducks, the cover becomes less dense and there is a risk of mulard disease.
If the entrance to the poultry house is too high for the ducks, you need to attach a ramp or ladder to the entrance at a slope that will allow the ducks to climb unhindered.
For a description of a poultry house from a greenhouse for wintering mulard ducks, see the video
Feeders
Feeders should be at the height of the back of the mulard ducks.Each type of food should have its own feeder: for wet mash, mineral and vitamin supplements, dry food, greens. An important condition when choosing a feeder is the ease of washing and disinfection.
Feeders can be either simple (for example, made from auxiliary materials) or automatic, into which feed is supplied as it decreases without the participation of the farmer.
Drinking bowls
Mulard ducks must always have fresh and clean drinking water in their access area. It is better if a drip drinker is organized for the watering place, since mulards have a short intestine and a large volume of water consumed quickly removes food from the body. The ability to drink from a natural reservoir that contains duckweed has a very beneficial effect on the development of mulard ducks.
Nest
Despite the fact that Mulard ducks are bred for meat, females still lay eggs. Therefore, you will need to install nests in the poultry house, which are also necessary if the purchased eggs of mulard ducks will be incubated by an adult female hybrid.
To install the nest, you need to choose the quietest and most secluded place in the house, where the least amount of light gets. It is advisable to position the structure so that the ducks have their beaks facing the wall, due to this the effect of privacy will be enhanced.One nest should be designed for one female.
At the bottom of the nest you need to put enough bedding so that the eggs cannot be damaged. To prevent eggs from falling out, the nest must be provided with sides.
Walk
Since mulard hybrid ducks are not prone to obesity, they do not require hour-long walks over a large area. The best thing for them is free walking near a pond. If there is no possibility of organizing such a walk, you can allocate a small courtyard for walking. The minimum number of square meters per duck is one.
For walking ducklings in the yard, you can make a pen from a frame, lined on all sides except the bottom with metal mesh. The design will protect the ducklings from other birds or animals and will not allow the chicks to run away. The positive aspect of such a pen is its mobility: when the ducklings eat all the grass under the structure, it can be moved to another area. Drinking water and food must be provided inside the pen. See the photo for what the pen looks like.
Reviews from Mulard duck breeders
Reviews from most farmers about breeding mulard ducks at home are positive. Breeders note their rapid growth, lean, tasty meat. Many people feed ducks a mixture of chicken and pork feed and notice that mularda ducks eat a lot until they reach the age of three months, then their appetite becomes moderate. Breeders advise harvesting poultry for meat with the onset of winter cold so that there are no problems with storing the product.
The disadvantages include the lack of offspring and timidity of mulard ducks. A large number of farmers fell for the bait of unscrupulous sellers of mulard ducks, who claimed that the females of this hybrid are distinguished by high egg production.Breeders bought Mulard ducks for the purpose of reproducing offspring and were disappointed when they did not receive them. In this regard, their reviews of mulard ducks have a negative connotation.
Conclusion
Mulard hybrid ducks are excellent for breeding at home: unpretentiousness in maintenance and food, good health and rapid growth allow even beginners to raise ducks.
