Bashkir duck: breed description, advantages and disadvantages of breeding at home

The Bashkir duck breed is characterized by rapid weight gain and good egg production. Birds begin to rush in the fourth month of life. Bashkirs gain weight of three kilograms 60 days after birth. At the age of two months, ducks can be sent for slaughter. If there is a reservoir near the walking area and if kept on high-quality feed, the birds practically do not get sick and do not die.

The story of the origin of the Bashkir duck

Bashkirs, or Bashkir ducks, are the most popular breed of poultry bred in Russia in the early 2000s.First appeared on the territory of the Bashkir Blagovarsky breeding poultry plant. White Pekin ducks have been crossed with native species and hybrids to form a new meat-and-egg early maturing (broiler) breed.

From their Chinese relatives, the birds inherited rapid weight gain and high meat productivity. Unlike white Peking ducks, Bashkirs have a more beautiful color. Birds quickly gained popularity and are now bred in many individual farms and large poultry farms.

Appearance and productivity of the breed

Bashkir ducks are called ducks that have black (with a snow-white breast) or variegated (white-gray-brown) plumage. The color of drakes is always more beautiful. Males have a dark head with a greenish tint, a light collar on the neck, plumage on the body and wings is rich brown, with white and blue-green spots. Breed Description:

• large body, wings close to body;
• can fly;
• adult females weigh 3.7 kg, drakes 4.1 kg;
• Bashkirs' breasts protrude forward;
• neck - arched, short;
• head is small, slightly flattened;
• beak is wide, yellowish-orange, at the end with a marigold;
• paws - widely spaced, light orange, with webbed toes;
• waterproof plumage;
• gait - slow, rolling from side to side;
• females are very noisy, quacking loudly;
• males only softly squeak and hiss;
• birds tolerate frost well, can move on ice and snow.

Productivity stats:

• precocious;
• ducklings grow rapidly, at 1.5-2 months they weigh almost 3 kg;
• meat dietary taste;
• 100g of meat contains 2-4% fat;
• slaughter meat yield - 70%;
• birds are sent for slaughter at 2 months;
• meat has no specific smell;
• one duck can lay 210-270 eggs a year;
• weight of one egg - 70-80 grams;
• begin to rush at the fourth month of life;
• beige shell; duck eggs taste better than chicken eggs.

Birds are bred using an incubator or a mother hen. Ducks sit on eggs for about a month. The female incubates ducklings for 28 days. All chicks usually hatch at the same time. Little ducklings have yellow down with dark or brown spots. At 1.5-2 months, the young look like adult birds.

Varieties

Depending on the color of plumage, Bashkir ducks are of the following types:

• colored - the color of the feathers is variegated white-gray-brown with blue and green feathers;
• black white-breasted - plumage is black with a green tint on the head, dark on the back and wings, breast is white;
• white (ducks are similar in color to mulards) - white color dominates in plumage.

Pros and cons

Pros and consquickly gain weight;rush almost daily, starting at 4 months;at two months, with a body weight of 3.1 kg, birds can be sent for slaughter;rarely get sick, hardy;high percentage (80%) survival of ducklings.have a good appetite, require frequent feeding;females are very noisy;birds need to organize access to the reservoir.

Conditions and care

Bashkir ducks can be kept in cages, pens, poultry houses, along with chickens and geese. For the Bashkirs, a separate room or a separate corner is allocated. It is not recommended to keep birds of different ages together. The poultry house should have doors, small windows near the ceiling, a ventilation system, an electric light bulb at the top. Lights are turned on only in the evenings in winter. It is desirable that daylight hours be at least 10-12 hours. All year round, in the room where the Bashkirs are kept, the temperature is maintained at 14-21 degrees Celsius.

Bashkir ducks sleep on the floor (three adults per square meter), on a bed of straw. It is advisable to clean the poultry house daily. Nests (low boxes with straw) for females are recommended to be placed in twilight. It is advisable not to install feeders and drinkers in the room where ducks sleep and rush.

It is recommended to equip a fenced area for walking near the poultry house. In summer, birds can be outside all day, nibbling grass (clover, alfalfa, dandelions). On the walking area, it is recommended to install a feeder and a drinker nearby. Ducks eat food and immediately drink water. When growing Bashkirs for meat, it is desirable that the birds have access to a reservoir.

If this is not possible, you can put a wide container with clean water on the walking area.

In order to grow large and he althy Bashkirs, you need to keep the birds clean, provide them with access to a reservoir and feed them at least three times a day. Bashkir ducks can be slaughtered in the second month of life.

What to feed the birds?

Bashkir ducks have a faster metabolism than chickens. Bashkirs don't eat that much, but they gain weight well. Adult birds are fed 3-5 times a day. In the morning, ducks are given wet mash, in the afternoon - finely chopped root crops (fodder beet, pumpkin, carrots) and mixed fodder.In the evening - crushed grain mixtures (wheat, corn, barley, oats). During the day, birds can pluck grass (clover, alfalfa), eat insects and duckweed in the pond.

It is desirable to diversify the diet of Bashkir ducks with pharmaceutical vitamins and minerals, fodder yeast, fish and meat and bone meal, chalk, s alt, sand, crushed bean grains. Birds quickly gain weight on bread and boiled potatoes. In winter, Bashkir ducks can be given finely chopped silage, chopped hay.

Besides feed, one bird needs at least two liters of water per day to drink. Bashkirs are usually grown up to 2-3 months and sent for slaughter. If you plan to leave ducks for breeding, then stock up on feed (root crops, crushed grain, compound feed, hay) for the winter.After three months, Bashkirs, with regular three meals a day, get very fat.

Bashkir duck breeding

There are three options for breeding Bashkirs: buying small ducklings in the market, hatching eggs with a mother hen, or placing eggs in an incubator. A more budgetary method is breeding birds with the help of a female. During incubation and raising offspring, the mother duck should be in a separate room. In a poultry house designed for rearing young animals, you can put a feeder and a drinker. Chicks are born on the 28th day.

After hatching, the ducklings must be taken from under the mother hen. Little chicks should be returned to mother duck after the whole brood is born.

Bashkir ducklings hatched with the help of an incubator in the first weeks of life are kept in a cardboard box in a room with an air temperature of 30 degrees Celsius. They should live separately from adult birds. Gradually, the temperature of the content is lowered to 20 degrees Celsius.

Feed the Bashkir ducklings preferably 30 minutes after hatching. Birds can be given kefir, yogurt, crushed boiled egg, fresh cottage cheese. Young animals are fed 6-8 times a day. It is recommended to ensure that the feed in the feeders does not stale or spoil for a long time.

For the second week of life, Bashkir ducklings are fed with special (starter) compound feed, wet mash from crushed grain, boiled potatoes, chopped herbs, finely chopped root crops.

In good warm weather (at an air temperature of 20 degrees Celsius), growing chicks should be outside daily, grazing. They can swim in the pond only after the first month of life. For ducklings, it is recommended to add liquid pharmacy vitamins, mineral supplements, antibiotics to drinking water to prevent infectious diseases.

Diseases and methods of dealing with them

If the Bashkir ducks from the moment of birth and throughout their lives are provided with proper care and good nutrition, then they will not get sick. The main thing is that the birds are not kept on dirty bedding, and they have access to the reservoir.

Green food and finely chopped vegetables must be present in the diet of ducks. Grain, in order to prevent problems with digestion, it is recommended to give in a crushed form.

Main diseases of Bashkir ducks and treatment:

• bacterial infections and coccidia - immediately after hatching, in the first 5 days of life, ducklings are soldered with a solution of the drug "Trisulfon" (1 gram of medicine per liter of liquid);
• viral hepatitis - in unfavorable areas, they are vaccinated on the 2nd day of life and revaccinated on the 60th day;
• avitaminosis, lack of vitamins, developmental delay - from 6 to 10 days of life, ducklings are soldered with Biosupervit (1 ml of product per three liters of water);
• bacterial intestinal diseases - for ducklings from 7 to 15 days of life, the antibiotic "Biovit 80" is added to wet mash once a day at the rate of 6 grams per feed for 100 chicks;
• parasites (helminths, mites, lice) - for 41 days, ducklings are soldered with Promectin (1 ml per liter of water).

To prevent diseases, it is desirable to carry out preventive and sanitary measures. The main thing is to keep the birds in a clean house. Before placing the young animals, the room must be disinfected with bleach, washed, and the walls whitewashed with lime. It is recommended to lay only straw on the floor. It is advisable to change the bedding every day. If there are rodent holes in the poultry house, they need to be concreted. In the place of walking and in the room where the Bashkir ducks are kept, it is recommended to put traps for flies and ants.

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