Turkeys heavy cross: breed description and characteristics, breeding

To get meat, farmers are increasingly raising heavy cross-country turkeys. A variety of birds is rapidly gaining weight. Products are valued for their taste and high quality. Keeping broilers in the household will become an economically profitable direction. But caring for a bird requires attention, knowledge of behavior and compliance with the rules of care and feeding.

Productivity characteristics

Today, not only large breeders, but also owners of small farms, choose turkey crosses for meat. The weight of poultry reaches 16 or more kilograms. Egg production rates are high - up to 150 pieces during the year.

Females start laying at 10 months of age. In a well-equipped, warm room, the process does not stop even in winter. Birds have a high incubation instinct. Birds do not even throw away other people's eggs. The best hens are 2 year old turkeys. The offspring are viable, no more than a tenth of the young perish.

Cross eggs are in demand among consumers. The products are distinguished by a delicate aftertaste of cream cheese.

How different from meat breeds

When working with crosses, you should understand how this type differs from the meat breed. The offspring of crosses do not inherit the qualities of their parents. Each time, productivity characteristics will decrease, and behavioral responses will change. This is because hybrids are crossed. The goal of breeders to increase such indicators:

• weight gain;
• increase in annual egg production;
• disease resistance.

To obtain crosses, one branch is chosen and representatives of several lines with hybrids are connected to each other. Depending on the weight, the offspring are divided into light types, medium and the largest, heavy.

Definition of inbreeding

The crossing of closely related poultry of the same breed is called inbreeding. At the same time, scientists set the task of fixing the best characteristics of birds for further breeding. First, parents with high productivity are selected, then the young, obtained as a result of the previous crossing. Periodically refresh the blood by mating turkeys of other directions or males from another population. This is done to prevent the line from degenerating.

When observing the rules of feeding, creating comfortable conditions for keeping turkeys and culling individuals that do not meet the established indicators, inbreeding forms the necessary hereditary traits.

Popular Representatives

Farmers raise different types of poultry. Each type has its own content characteristics and productivity indicators.

Grade maker

One of the popular types of heavy crosses of turkeys at 4 months of life already weighs 20 kilograms, females - about 11. The meat has good characteristics, the fat component is only 8%. Average egg production - 100 pieces per year.

Pros and consRapid weight gainFast paybackStrong immunityUndemanding to feedTaste of meat and eggsWith a sharp change in temperature, they begin to hurtBehavior is aggressive

Cross takes root well in different climates, provided it is kept in a warm room. The building is maintained at a temperature of about 28 °C. For turkeys, it is recommended to equip spacious poultry houses. In cramped conditions, heavy crosses do not get along well and often fight. For 1 adult male, no more than 8 females are purchased.

White Chest

Type bred by American breeders in the middle of the last century. Heavy cross-country turkeys, depending on gender, weigh 25 kilograms (males) and 11 - females. Up to 120 eggs are brought per season. Hatching is done in a common nest. The young are cared for until the poults become independent.

Pros and consProductivity indicatorsPossibility of keeping even in a room without heating in a temperate climateHigh precocityAbility to reproduce the genus at homeLivestock is heterogeneousPropensity to diseases due to high weight

White broad-chested crosses have a calm disposition. Aggression is observed only during the mating period. It happens that hens even care for the offspring of other poultry. Turkeys love to walk in the air. They are not suitable for keeping in the closed space of the cage.

Hybrid converter

This cross of turkeys takes root well on small farms. The average weight of adult males is 20 kilograms, but there are cases when birds gained 30. Eggs get a little - up to 50 pieces.

Pros and consBirds are suitable for slaughter at the age of 4 monthsEat both dry and succulent foodTurkey down is valued on a par with goose downThe need to change producers frequently to maintain productivityLow egg production

Turkeys are distinguished by a calm disposition. Males rarely engage in fights with their counterparts. But they do not tolerate other birds in the courtyard. On the site of representatives of the heavy cross, the converter is kept separately from other birds.

Selection criteria

When choosing heavy crosses of turkeys, the main indicators of productivity, the quality of meat products and the cost of keeping birds are taken into account. For cultivation, farmers purchase young or adult females for incubation.It is better to buy turkeys at the age of 1 month. Such chicks already eat regular food and are hardy. Therefore, the kids will tolerate transportation well and quickly adapt to an unfamiliar place.

Also receive full information about parents and vaccinations.

When choosing eggs for further breeding, there are risks of loss. The survival rate is not always high. And it is impossible to estimate how he althy the offspring will be. The state of the young is immediately visible. A sick bird can be recognized even by its appearance.

Growing turkeys will become a profitable business, provided that the maintenance recommendations are followed. Heavy crosses provide a high percentage of obtaining tasty, dietary meat. It is important to take into account the ability of birds to adapt to the weather conditions of the region where the farm is located, and the features of the selected type.

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