Kholmogory geese: breed description and characteristics, how much they cost

The breed of Kholmogory geese was bred a long time ago, but still competes with new varieties. All thanks to excellent external and productive characteristics. Consider the description and characteristics of the Kholmogory geese breed, its main pros and cons. How to properly maintain, feed geese, care for and breed poultry in a private household.

Origin story

Kholmogory geese are classified as meat breeds. The breed was bred by folk selection in the 19th century in the central Russian regions. For crossing, local white geese and Chinese were used. As a result, a calm, hardy, unpretentious bird came out, which can acclimatize in almost any conditions and not reduce productivity.Geese are resistant to diseases, have a strong constitution.

What does the breed look like?

The geese of the Kholmogory breed have a horizontally set round body, large breasts. The weight of an adult goose is 8 kg, a gander is 12 kg. The plumage is white, gray and intermediate piebald. External differences of kholmogors from other breeds are a bump at the base of the beak and a pronounced fold under it, a fold, clearly visible, is also on the stomach. The legs are orange, the beak of the white geese is the same color, the dark ones are black.

During the war, the breed was almost lost, but thanks to the efforts of breeders for 2022, the Kholmogory geese look exactly the same as during their breeding.

Pros and cons

Pros and conslarge size and weight;unpretentiousness;disease resistance;tasty non-fatty meat;light thick fluff;developed incubation instinct in females.low fertility and egg production;females, sitting in the nest, can crush eggs;a reservoir is necessary for good development.

The advantages of the breed give reason to consider it one of the most promising for growing for meat in private households.

Characteristics of Kholmogory geese

The size of adults kholmogory reaches 6-7 months. But development continues up to 3 years, by this time a cone on the beak is finally formed, the fertility of eggs reaches 80%. The life expectancy of geese of this Russian breed is 15-17 years. Females lay eggs weighing 180-200 g, laying 3 dozen eggs. Goslings at 2.5 months can weigh 4-4.5 kg.

Conditions and care

Geese of the Kholmogory breed are bred for the purpose of adaptability to the cold, you can keep them in any region of Russia.Any suitable utility room can be adapted for the goose coop or built specifically. The house should be dry, clean and bright. Before settling birds in it, you need to check the walls and ceiling, repair them so that there are no drafts that geese do not like. For summer maintenance, you can organize a house made of a wooden frame, mesh, covered with film or roofing material.

The area of the poultry house is calculated based on the number of livestock, each bird should account for 1 square. m. of space. The area for walking is 2-3 times larger. Conditions of detention - cleanliness of bedding and inventory. Sand, peat, straw or hay chaff are used for bedding. As soon as the bedding becomes dirty and wet with manure, it is replaced. Every day the room is ventilated.

Goose house inventory - cleaning equipment, feeders and drinkers - must also be clean and disinfected.Feeders are made of metal for wet mixes and wood for dry mixes. The size of the feeders should be such that all the livestock can approach the food at the same time.

You must not allow many birds to live in the house at the same time. Crowding is always bad for pets. The proximity of individuals to each other, the pollution of the litter and air leads to mass diseases. To somehow solve this problem, Kholmogory geese can be kept in the walking yard all the time in summer if it is protected from precipitation and predators.

Feeding Features

The diet of Kholmogory geese does not differ from the diet of geese of other breeds. Kholmogors eat everything that is offered to them, they do not go overboard with food. The main food for them is fresh grass and wet mash. Mixers are prepared from grain chaff, cake, bran, vegetables and root crops, germinated grain. If there is a pasture with grass nearby, you can graze geese there and feed grain only in the evening.

If there is no opportunity to graze the bird, you need to feed it 2 or 3 times a day. First give cut grass, then grain mash. The amount of food should be such that the geese have time to eat it in half an hour. Water in the house must be constantly present, it needs to be changed every day. Geese are perfectly fattened on a complete mixed feed. They don't need anything other than formula and water.

With proper feeding, Kholmogory geese begin to rush from early spring. For 1 laying hen at this time, about 150 g of grain, 100-150 g of grass or grass flour, 300-500 g of root crops are needed. Premixes, chalk and s alt are added to the mash to improve the quality of egg products and the strength of the shell. Fine gravel or sand is poured into a separate bowl.Pebbles are necessary for birds for normal digestion.

Goslings are kept for fattening up to 5-6 months. Until this age, they grow intensively, show the largest gains. Then the growth rate slows down, feed costs increase, and accordingly, the cost of production increases.

Subtleties of breeding

Until 5-6 months, it is difficult to distinguish Kholmogory geese by sex. In birds older than this age, bumps appear on the beak, by which you can determine where the males are and where the females are.

A goose family for eggs is formed from 1 gander and 4 geese. In order for the females to lay eggs, a nest must be placed in the house for each family. You need to choose the demolished every day if you plan to hatch the young in an incubator. But you can leave the eggs to the females so that one of them decides to incubate. Kholmogory geese are responsible hens and caring mothers. Young growth under the goose is well preserved, does not get sick and does not die.

The temperature and humidity conditions for incubation of eggs of Kholmogory geese are exactly the same as for other breeds of the species. You can hatch young animals in a regular small incubator for home use.

After hatching, goslings are grown in a brooder until they reach the age of one month. In the first days, the brood is often fed - 6-7 times a day, by the age of one month, the frequency is adjusted up to 3 times. The first food for goslings is a mixture of boiled eggs, cottage cheese, greens. From 3-4 days you can start to give a grain cut. Take out for walks a week after hatching, first for half an hour. 2-month-old goslings can be left outside all day.

Common diseases

Geese of the Kholmogory breed can suffer from infectious diseases.They are especially dangerous for young animals. When an infection occurs in a poultry house, most of the flocks can be expected to die. You should not wait until the diseases appear, it is necessary to regularly carry out preventive treatments of the bird with antibacterial and antiviral drugs. At the first signs of illness, contact your veterinarian immediately.

Eating disorders and poisoning are also common among turkeys. Their cause is improper feeding, improper selection of feed, overfeeding. Control measures: review the composition of the diet, remove foods that can cause discomfort, keep turkeys without food for a day.

How much?

The cost of a breeding Kholmogory goose varies depending on the region, the age of the bird and the owner's requests. One bird is sold at a price of 1-5 thousand rubles. So much is requested for an adult goose that rushes, and for an adult mature gander. From breeding individuals, you can get incubation material and your young.

Geese of the old Kholmogory breed still do not give up their positions as one of the best meat breeds. These are large birds with a large slaughter yield of meat. They are loved to grow not only in the homeland of the breed, but also poultry farmers in other regions of Russia and neighboring countries.

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