Content
In poultry farming, broiler duck is a duck that can quickly build muscle mass. Strictly speaking, all mallard ducks are broiler ducks, since the growth of their muscle mass stops at 2 months, and then the duck begins to gain fat. Wild ducks need fat to survive their flight south. But usually among poultry farmers the concept of “broiler ducks” means a large duck, which at 2 months will weigh not 1-1.5 kg, but about 3. In Russia, the most popular meat breed is the Peking duck.
Main broiler duck breeds
In the Russian version, all broiler duck breeds, or, more precisely, crosses, are produced at the Blagovarsk factory based on the Peking duck:
- Bashkir colored;
- Blue favorite;
- Agidel;
- Medeo.
All these broiler ducks are crosses. The weight of Blagovarskaya factory ducks at the age of 42 days is approximately 3 kg with slight fluctuations, plus or minus. It makes no sense to breed these crosses of ducks, since they will not produce the desired offspring. Of course, these crosses of broiler ducks are convenient to raise for meat. It is worth paying attention to their ancestor.
Peking duck
Tightly built ducks of average size compared to crosses of broiler ducks.The average weight of an adult Peking duck is 3.5 kg, and that of a drake is 4 kg. Ducklings at the age of 42 days reach a weight of 2.5 kg.
Peking ducks have large heads and bright orange beaks. Very wide back and chest. The neck is of medium length, powerful. The wings fit tightly to the body. Legs with a wide set. The metatarsus and paws are bright orange. Color white.
The advantages of the Peking duck breed are their high productivity (on average 110 eggs per season), good health, unpretentiousness and a developed brooding instinct.
Peculiarities
Peking ducks have a very fast metabolism due to their high body temperature, which must be maintained. In addition, Peking ducks have very short intestines. Due to the length of the intestines, it absorbs feed very quickly. Peking ducks require constant access to food for normal growth and functioning.
Aylesbury duck
Ailbury broiler ducks are one of the oldest breeds bred in England. When viewed from the side, Aylesbury ducks resemble geese. These ducks weigh much more than Peking ducks. Duck weight starts from 3.3 kg and can reach up to 5 kg. Drakes weigh between 4-5.5 kg. Ducklings grow slower than Peking ducklings and reach a weight of 2.5 kg only at 60 days. The egg production of these broiler ducks is also low: 85-95 eggs per season. Oviposition lasts about six months.
Aylesbury ducks have a large head with small blue eyes. The beak is light orange and large. The body is horizontal and dense. The skeleton is well developed, the keel is deep. The legs are thick and short. The color of the ducks is white.
Aylesbury ducks are renowned for their tender meat, but they are more delicate than Pekin ducks. It is precisely this delicacy that prevents the Aylesbury duck from becoming widespread.
Content Features
For a normal life, ducks of this breed need to choose a place where water will not stagnate. This can be a hill on a personal plot or a specially equipped platform.
For the winter, they need a warm house with a concrete floor that is easy to clean. Since the birds are heavy, they may have problems with fertilization without a pond. Therefore, a small pond is installed on the walking area.
When rearing, young animals are kept on deep litter, which is turned and removed when dirty.
Lime is poured at the rate of 0.5 kg per square meter. A 10-15 cm thick bedding is laid on top and only then the ducklings are transferred to the poultry house.
Rouen ducks
Very large powerful ducks of “wild” color. Ducks have a large head and a short thick neck. The body is parallel to the ground. The legs are short and fat deposits on the abdomen can even touch the ground. The chest and back are wide. Ducks tend to accumulate fat. Egg productivity is low: up to 100 eggs per season. Due to its large weight, the Rouen duck has a very low egg fertility rate. All these factors combined prevented the Rouen duck from gaining real popularity.
Mulard
This is not a broiler duck, although in size and growth rate mulard superior to meat breeds of ducks. Mulard is the sterile result of hybridization of an ordinary domestic duck with Muscovy duck South America. This is just the cross that you can breed at home. To obtain mulards, you will need domestic ducks and musk duck drakes. Mulards grow quickly and are profitable to raise for meat. But not more.
Muscovy duck
These South American ducks are not strictly broiler ducks, but they do gain significant weight, making them suitable for raising for meat. An adult drake can weigh up to 7 kg. The duck is usually twice as small and weighs 3-3.5 kg.
Muscovy ducks have a well-developed brooding instinct and high fertility even without ponds. Muscovy ducks, in principle, do not really need water, being by nature wood ducks.
But the general principles of keeping and breeding broiler ducks are the same
Maintenance of broiler ducks
When keeping ducks, you must be prepared for the fact that these birds will breed a swamp in their habitat. They are capable of splashing water even from a vacuum drinker. The only way to avoid this is to organize a small pond for the ducks with a long exit from it on one side. So that while they were walking, all the water would drain down.
The design of the poultry house for wintering will have to be thought out so that the ducks physically cannot splash water everywhere. In cold weather, the swamp will turn into an ice mass, into which the ducks will also freeze.
In winter, ducks are kept on deep litter, trying to limit their access to water. But it is also impossible to completely deprive ducks of water, especially when feeding them with mixed feed. All animals need plenty of water after eating feed.
Breeding broiler ducks
Only purebred broiler ducks are bred. Crosses of broiler ducks in the second generation will produce splitting and will not produce high-quality offspring.
The total number of broiler ducks is calculated based on the area of the poultry house: 5 heads of ducks per 1 sq. m.
For breeding, a broodstock is formed at the rate of 4 ducks per 1 male. But you will have to navigate by the drakes. If the male is active, 3 ducks will not be enough for him, and with 5 the number of unfertilized eggs will increase.
Next you need to decide on the breeding method. In the absence of an incubator, if the duck breed has a brooding instinct, this process can be left to nature by equipping future hens with shelters. A duck normally perceives an ordinary wooden fruit box. She is convinced that no one sees her there, but she sees everything and can escape in case of danger.
If females have no choice, two ducks may choose the same nest box. In this case, the ducks will scatter the eggs, constantly moving around the box. As a result, the owner will be very lucky if this couple hatches at least some ducklings.
Having chosen a box, the duck lays an egg directly on the bare ground. It's OK. During the laying process, she simultaneously drags grass, straw and other debris into the nest. By the time incubation begins, the bird already has a full-fledged nest. You just need to provide the laying hens with building materials.
After the duck has sat tightly on the nest, it becomes invisible and inaudible. The duck comes out once a day to eat. The duck sorts out its own eggs and throws the bad ones out of the nest. The hen sits on the nest until the last duckling hatches and may lose the first hatchlings. The hatching process takes about a day. During this time, the first ducklings dry out and go in search of adventure.If you have a cat or dog in the yard, adventure will certainly be found.
In order not to lose the ducklings, you will have to monitor the hen towards the end of the incubation period. Already cracked eggs can be taken and placed in a box with a lamp, calculating so that the eggs are not too hot or cold. In general, this is determined by touch. The eggs should not be much warmer than your hand.
Incubator
During a season, a duck can hatch 3-4 broods with an average of 10-12 ducklings in each. If the duck is kept only for itself, it is worth considering whether an incubator is needed in the house or whether it can be done without it.
If ducks are bred for further sale for meat, then it is advisable to use an incubator. Without wasting time on incubation, the female will lay more eggs per season.
Medium-sized eggs are selected for incubation. If you have an ovoscope, you must first examine the eggs to see if there are any cracks in the shell. Eggs are disinfected before incubation.
Leptospira remaining on the egg shell will later infect the newly hatched duckling.
After disinfection, the eggs are placed in an incubator and the temperature is set to 37.8°C. The main problem in incubating eggs is humidity. Typically, incubators are designed for chicken eggs, which need a humidity of about 50%. For ducks, humidity ranges from 60 to 70%. To the last digit, humidity is usually increased in the last 2 days before hatching to make it easier for the chicks to emerge from the egg.
The best option for an incubator is one with automatic egg turning. If the eggs are not turned, the embryo sticks to the egg wall and dies.
Depending on the incubator model, in the last 2 days you can remove the tray with the motor and leave the eggs on the tray, or transfer the eggs almost ready to hatch into the hatcher incubator with manual turning of the eggs.
After the ducklings have left the eggs and dried, they are transferred to the brooder.
Growing
At the beginning, the temperature in the brooder is kept at about 30°C. As the ducklings grow, the temperature is reduced. The ducklings' need for warmth is noticeable by their behavior. If ducklings are crowded near a heat source, they are cold. Otherwise they go to the far corner.
Ducklings are fed depending on the personal preferences of the owner. Some people prefer industrial feed for broiler ducks, while others prepare their own food for the ducks to make it natural. With “natural” feeding, some owners give duckweed to ducklings, believing that since it is natural food, it will not cause harm. Duckweed itself will not cause harm. But along with it, the ducklings can be fed larvae of intestinal parasites.
The disadvantage of natural food is not only that it is difficult to provide balanced nutrition for fast-growing organisms, but also that such food quickly turns sour. Poor quality food causes intestinal diseases. And at first, ducklings must have constant access to food, since they do not have their own fat reserves.
With a large population, in order to prevent coccidiosis, ducklings are given coccidiostats.
Those diseases that are asymptomatic in an adult duck and do not cause harm can kill the entire brood of ducklings.
For ducklings, protein feed of animal origin is added to their feed: fish, blood or meat and bone meal.
When to score
In the case of broiler ducks, this entirely depends on the tastes of the owner. Ducks grow up to 2 months, after which they begin to gain fat. If you need a carcass without fat with thin skin, the duck is slaughtered at 2 months.
If you need a duck with a stronger skin and a small layer of fat, you should feed the duckling up to 3-4 months. But here another problem arises: juvenile molting. When slaughtering a duck older than 2 months, you must be prepared for the fact that it has begun juvenile molting and after plucking there will be a lot of feather stumps left in the skin.
Mulards and Muscovy ducks can be kept for up to 5 months. They don’t gain fat, but they have time to shed.
Conclusion
The basic principles of raising broiler ducks are the same as raising any other mallard ducks. It is only necessary to ensure that broiler ducks receive a sufficient amount of feed in general and protein in particular. Because due to their rapid growth, broiler ducks need a lot of protein.
