Duck Star-53: description of the breed, growing and feeding at home

Breeding meat ducks is popular at home. One of the promising breeds of duck - Star 53, is in demand due to its rapid growth, low-fat duck meat, and ease of cultivation. Consider the description and productive characteristics of the Star-53 hybrid, its pros and cons, the rules for keeping, feeding, breeding and possible diseases that a poultry farmer may encounter.

Origin of the breed

Star 53 is a modern Peking duck cross. It was obtained in France and today the French company Grimaud Frères Sélection produces maternal and paternal lines from Beijing ducks, the offspring of which are used to breed hybrids.The long-term use of Star-53 hybrid ducks in industrial and domestic cultivation proves their reliability and stable performance.

Description and characteristics of duck Star-53

The broiler ducks have a meat type of constitution, a heavy body, like Peking ducks. You can distinguish a Beijing duck from Star by its head - in a hybrid it is larger, with a convex forehead.

The plumage is white, the feather of hybrids can also be commercial products. Due to the white plumage, the carcass has a more attractive appearance than the carcass of a duck with painted feathers.

By 1.5 months, Star-53 ducklings gain weight of 3.2 kg, feed conversion is 1.94 feed. units per 1 kg weight gain. At 50 days, the birds already weigh 3.6 kg and consume 2.18 feed. units per 1 kg. By 2 months, the mass of ducklings is already 4 kg, 2.5 feed is spent on feed. units Meat yield - 64-67%. In size and build, ducks are similar to geese, but differ from them in the length of the neck and body setting. Yachnaya productivity Star 53 - 260 eggs per year, each weighing 70-90 g.

Main pros and cons

Pros and consducklings can be cut at 1.5-2 months;a large percentage of meat yield;egg production;undemanding, ease of care;white pen, which can also be sold.high feed intake;cannot be kept permanently indoors;eggs for home incubation and young are expensive.

You can buy breeding duck only in Europe.

Location and Care Requirements

For the maintenance of Star-53 broilers, it is necessary to equip a warm, dry and free room. It should be light, clean litter, feeders and air should be maintained. Since Star-53 ducks have an accelerated metabolism, you will have to clean the litter often, but this is a necessary measure, because birds get sick in the mud and in an unventilated room, death begins.The floor of the house is covered with straw or hay, sawdust, peat.

The placement rate is no more than 2-3 Star-53 ducks per square of the room. It is impossible to allow crowding, this will lead to diseases, the birds become restless, attack each other. Also, you can not keep the birds in stuffiness, let them breathe stale air. The house needs to be ventilated every day, but it is better to leave it open while the bird is walking. 3-4 hours of walking is enough, since the duck is broiler, excessively active movement will not allow it to gain weight by the deadline. The same goes for swimming. When a duck swims, it spends energy, this affects the weight gain. In addition, the white plumage is polluted, especially on the stomach and chest. And from eating fish and aquatic food, the meat acquires a fishy smell, which not everyone likes.

But you can’t keep ducks locked up, despite the short period of fattening.For walking Star-53 hybrids, it is necessary to equip a walking yard next to the poultry house. Its area is 1 sq. m for 2 ducks. In the courtyard, you can feed the bird with green grass. You need to put drinking bowls in it and change the water every day.

If you plan to grow a lot of Star-53 ducks, then it is better to organize automatic systems for ventilation, feeding and watering. The temperature regime is also important, both when growing young and adult ducks. If the ducks are hot, they begin to breathe heavily and reduce their feed intake. If it is cold, they huddle together, eat a lot, while there is no increase in weight gain, since energy is spent on warming the body. Therefore, if ducks are kept in winter, you need to take care of the insulation of the house.

Feeding rules

Star-53 ducks have an intense metabolism and need a lot of nutrients. Hybrids cannot gain weight on free range green forage. Their diet should be dominated by grains and foods with high nutritional value.

To grow boiler ducks, you need to make grain mixers from grains of various cereals and legumes, add fish and meat and bone meal, cake, bran.

Star-53 hybrid ducks can be fed with compound feed specially designed for duck breeds. This is convenient, you do not need to prepare food every time, just pour out a portion of dry granules and put water on the birds. Water must be kept in the drinkers at all times so that the ducks have access to it whenever they want. Broilers need to be fed more often than regular birds. Ducklings - every 4 hours, grown birds - 3-4 times a day.

Home Breeding

Star-53 is a hybrid cross, so ducklings cannot be obtained at home. Of course, you can get offspring from hybrid ducks, but they will not be as productive as the hybrids themselves.In the 2nd generation, the decay of signs begins, which intensifies with each generation. If you still want to get your ducklings, then you need to leave 4-5 ducks for 1 drake so that the eggs are fertilized.

Basically, Star-53 ducklings are bought for home breeding, when hatching ducklings from a breeding egg, an incubator is used. Withdrawal lasts 28 days. The main condition for the successful breeding of chicks is compliance with temperature and humidity conditions.

For incubation take the correct form, large eggs. The shell must be intact, without cracks, damage, growths. Before laying in the incubator, they are stored at a temperature of 15-18 ° C and a humidity of 70-80%. You can save no more than 5-8 days, eggs should lie with a blunt end on top.

After hatching, the ducklings are transferred to a brooder, they grow up to a month in it. A red lamp is installed in the brooder, which will illuminate and heat the ducklings. You can feed them with starter feed.

Star-53 hybrid ducklings grow fast, as you can see from the weight chart.

29-352600 З6-42 43-49 50-56

Po days	Mass
1-7	240
8-14	660
15-21	1260
22-28	1900

3100
3600
3900

Such gains are obtained on industrial farms. At home, ducks will grow less intensively and gain weight a little longer. Ducks are ready for slaughter at the age of 1.5 months. In any case, the age limit for fattening broilers is 2 months. Then molting begins, ducks will eat more, but the growth will decrease.

From the fattening stock, only ducks can be left, which will lay eggs in the future.

Possible diseases

Star-53 hybrid ducks are distinguished by good he alth, they have strong immunity, which is typical of hybrids. Subject to the rules of feeding and care, they do not get sick. If the poultry house is dirty, cold, damp, dark, drafts, the bird suffers from colds and helminthiasis. Crowded content, when ducks live in close quarters, rarely walk, leads to the spread of infections. Paratyphoid and pasteurellosis can result in the death of a bird.

Due to improper unbalanced feeding, hybrids develop hypovitaminosis, blockage of the esophagus or goiter. In laying females, the oviduct may fall out - the reason for the laying of large eggs.

Disease prevention on a duck farm is to maintain cleanliness in the room, cleaning and disinfecting feeders and drinkers. The house also needs to be disinfected - at least 2 times a year.

Which is better Star-53 or Mulardy

In many ways, hybrids are similar. They grow quickly, grow to large sizes, you can grow broilers. Quiet, do not make noise, can be grown with other birds. The meat of both is not fatty, for dietary nutrition. The similarity lies in the fact that mulards and Star-53 cannot be bred at home, you need to purchase eggs or ducklings. Given that the hybrids are similar in characteristics, choosing who to keep in the yard is a matter of preference.

Star-53 ducks are promising hybrids that are grown in industrial farms, but they are also suitable for private backyards. They are grown as broilers, and in 2 months you can get good quality meat products.