Breeds of meat and egg chickens for breeding at home

Using meat and egg chicken breeds for breeding at home is a cost-effective and interesting activity. Due to the unpretentiousness, rather high egg production, large live weight, good gastronomic properties of the products obtained, such poultry is grown not only by the owners of private farmsteads, but also by medium-sized, as well as fairly large farms.

Features of meat and egg chickens

Meat-egg chickens have the following features:

1. Possibility of obtaining two main types of products - eggs and chicken meat.
2. Quick maturity - laying hens are able to lay eggs as early as 6 months of age.
3. Balanced character - the bird of these breeds is distinguished by a calm character, lack of aggression in behavior.

Also, the females of this direction are beautiful and caring hens. Due to this, when breeding offspring, it is often not necessary to use various expensive incubators.

Main advantages and disadvantages

The main advantages of meat and egg chickens include:

• high vitality;
• not picky about the conditions of detention;
• high fertility rate;
• significant tendency to forage (the fastest possible breakdown of the food consumed by the body of the bird);
• excellent gastronomic qualities of the resulting meat and egg products.

The disadvantages of such poultry include:

1. Small, in comparison with pure meat breeds, the rate of gain in live weight.
2. High risk of declining livestock numbers when kept in confined spaces (enclosures, cages).
3. Small egg production with poor care.

The best breeds

There are more than 200 breeds of meat and egg chickens in the world. The most common and popular ones will be described below.

Australorp black-and-white

Australorps - chickens with lush black plumage, clearly visible, evenly spaced white patches, a small head with a leaf-shaped erect red crest, short legs with pronounced pigmentation. The down of the bird is light, the skin under the plumage is white.

Maximum weight for roosters is 2.6 kilograms, for hens no more than 2.2 kilograms. For the year, the productivity of Australorps for egg products is 200-220 pieces.

Adler Silver

With light yellow plumage, Adler silver chickens have a very dense build - a massive breast and back, a large and rounded head topped with a leaf-shaped crest, a powerful beak and bright yellow unfeathered legs.

Egg production is relatively small - no more than 180 pieces. The weight of males reaches 4 kilograms, females - no more than 3 kilograms.

White Moscow

White Moscow is a breed of Russian selection, characterized by pure white even plumage, long and strong legs, a fairly powerful physique, a drooping leaf-shaped red crest crowning a medium-sized head.

The productivity of the White Moscow is quite good: the maximum egg production is 220 pieces; roosters can weigh up to 3.5 kilograms, while laying hens can weigh no more than 3 kilograms.

Hungarian giant

Hungarian giants have a beautiful lush dark brown plumage, a massive large body, a small head with an inconspicuous crest, yellow eyes. The mass of adult chickens and roosters is 3.6 kilograms. Egg production is not bad - up to 180-200 pieces.

Wyandotte

Sedentary and calm black-and-white motley chickens Wyandotte have a low annual productivity for egg production (up to 175 pieces), a fairly large live weight (up to 4.0-4.2 kilograms).

Zagorskaya salmon

Unpretentious and highly productive breed of Russian selection. Females are able to produce up to 250-260 large eggs per year. The live weight of an adult bird reaches 3.6 (roosters) and 2.7 (hens) kilograms.

California gray

A breed characterized by a calm and non-aggressive nature. Layers of California gray have a high egg production - up to 240 pieces.

With proper feeding, maintenance and care, California gray hens and roosters can gain up to 3-3.5 kilograms of live weight.

Kuchinskaya Anniversary

The bird of this breed has a large body, pale brown plumage, erect toothed crest. Egg production - up to 220 pieces; the live weight of an adult bird can reach 4 kilograms.

Maran

Breed of French selection. Its representatives have a very beautiful color of feathers, a massive and dense body, short and non-feathered legs. In a year, females are able to produce up to 170 large eggs with a chocolate shell color. Maran chickens are valued due to their rapid growth, as well as the excellent taste of meat.

Moscow Black

A breed that has similar characteristics to the Moscow White. The only difference is the black feathers interspersed with copper shades.

New Hampshire

Very common breed in private backyards and poultry farms. Egg production is high - up to 220 pieces per year. The live weight of adults ranges from 2.5 (hens) to 3.5 (roosters) kilograms.

Orpington

Orpington is a breed characterized by a variety of plumage colors, a massive body, and small legs. The live weight of adults is up to 4.5 kilograms. Egg laying of laying hens is average - does not exceed 160 pieces.

Plymouthrock

American breed with variegated plumage. It is characterized by the following productivity indicators: the maximum live weight of an adult bird is 5 kilograms, the annual egg production is 200-210 pieces.

Poltava clayey

Breed of Ukrainian selection. It is characterized by a massive body, non-feathered limbs of yellow color, having a small length, a rose-shaped, ruby-colored crest crowning a relatively small head. The productivity of the Poltava clayey for egg products per year is up to 210 pieces. Live weight when growing it for meat products ranges from 2.5 to 3.8 kilograms.

Pushkin breed

Includes two lines - Sergiev Posad (Moscow) and St. Petersburg. This bird has a massive body covered with variegated white and gray plumage. Legs - medium length, without feathers, cream color. The head is rounded, medium in size. The comb is small, erect, leaf-shaped (at the Moscow line) or rose-shaped (at the St. Petersburg line).

The breed has average productivity: laying hens do not exceed 200 eggs; live weight of adults ranges from 2 to 3 kilograms.

Rhode Island

Traditional breed of meat and egg chickens, whose representatives have a massive body, brown-red plumage, an upright leaf-shaped scallop. Rhode Island females produce up to 200-210 eggs per year. Adult chickens and roosters of Rhode Island weigh up to 3.8-4 kilograms.

Ukrainian earflaps

Unpretentious and medium-productive, this previously common breed of Ukrainian selection is now rare. A characteristic feature of the Ukrainian earflaps is small tufts of feathers near the ears.

Laying hens have an egg production of up to 190 eggs. With proper care and feeding, hens and roosters of Ukrainian earflaps reach 3.5 kg in weight.

Faverol

Possessing lush plumage, characteristic “whiskers”, adults of this breed weigh up to 4 kilograms. Egg laying chickens - 180 pieces.

Shaver

A breed of Dutch origin with three plumage colors - white, dark brown, dark. Adult birds weigh, on average, 2 kilograms. The low live weight of the bird is compensated by high egg production - laying hens of this breed produce 220-250 eggs per year.

Why is it profitable to breed chickens of meat and egg breeds

The benefits of raising chickens of these breeds are:

1. Getting 2 types of products - homemade eggs and chicken.
2. Unpretentiousness to conditions and resistance to diseases.
3. Obtaining chicks in a natural way - hens of this direction are caring hens, so there is no need to buy chickens or a special incubator.

In addition, these breeds have a docile nature, which makes caring for a bird a little trouble.

How to choose chickens?

You should buy chickens for home keeping at poultry farms or from trusted sellers who breed certain meat and egg breeds.

When buying chickens, evaluate the following:

1. Appearance - he althy chickens are covered with even fluff, their eyes are wide open, shining, small wings are tightly pressed to the body.
2. Behavior - a he althy chick stands confidently on its feet, moves quickly, squeaks loudly.

Sick chick is covered in tousled fluff, has half-closed eyes, lethargic or even passive behavior.

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