Breed of chickens Zagorskaya salmon: description and full characteristics, maintenance and care

Although many new breeds of chickens have been bred by breeders, Zagorsk salmon are happy to be kept in private backyards. Poultry rarely gets sick, eats everything, is highly productive, has a peaceful character, and attractive appearance. Roosters do not attack children, do not fight among themselves until they bleed. The chicks grow fast, weighing about 2 kg at 3 months.

History of Breeding

Salmon chicken was created at a research institute that worked in the small town of Zagorsk in the nineties of the last century.To get a hardy bird that lays large eggs, foreign New Hampshire, Rhode Island were crossed with Soviet chickens. The rooster has acquired a silver-black color, the female has a salmon plumage.

Description and characteristics of the breed

Zagorsk bird inherited the best traits from its closest ancestors. The chicken is not afraid of the cold, feels normal in the middle latitudes, does not require expensive feed, and quickly gains weight. The sex of a bird can be distinguished even in tiny chickens.

The males hatched from the egg have a light yellow color, the back of the females is covered with dark spots. After a few days, feathers begin to come out in chickens, black in cockerels, the exact opposite color is characteristic of females. They are light red.

Appearance of chickens Zagorskaya salmon

The body of the bird is folded proportionally, the structure is clearly distinguished. Both females and roosters have an elongated body, a small tail.The crest of the bird, painted pink, has blunt ends, the body is covered with salmon or whitish feathers, black tones are found in the tail.

The rooster has a bright head, the same neck, the rest of the body differs in variegated shades.

The yellow beak of the chicken is slightly bent, strong legs are of medium length. Earrings, earlobes and eyes are all red.

Bird Character

The breed, created in the USSR, is energetic, flies over a high fence, gets along well with other chickens. The bird does not like to sit still, and having got out into the wild, travels through the beds, masters gardens and orchards. With strong paws, she pulls out worms, destroys not only the above-ground part of the plants, but also the roots. Keeping salmon chickens behind a fence.

Male do not attack the owner, calmly react to roosters of other breeds, do not fight to the blood with rivals, and if they grapple, they quickly disperse in different directions.

Productivity

Salmon chickens don't complain about their appetite. For 90 days, roosters gain at least 2 kg, and adult males weigh 3.5-3.7 kg.

Meat

Chicken is rich in proteins and has a pleasant aroma. 100 grams of the product contains up to 200 kcal, so it is used in dietary nutrition. The Zagorsk breed of chickens is valued for he althy and tasty meat. Females are fattened up to 2 kg, roosters - up to 3. If the feeding is improper, the bird turns pale and the crest increases, obesity occurs.

Eggs

Salmon chickens are bred not only for nutritious and dietary meat. He althy females begin to lay at the age of 100-120 days and give an average of 200 eggs per year, the weight of which in young chickens is 46-50 g, in adults it reaches 65. They contain a lot of useful components in the form:

carotene;
folic acid;
selenium;
luteins.

The fertilization of brown-shelled chicken eggs exceeds 90%. Only 7-10% of hatched chickens die, the rest grow rapidly, reach sexual maturity at 5 months.

Main positives and negatives

Many chickens have been bred, whose appearance is much more interesting than that of the salmon breed, but the Zagorsk bird has many other advantages, these include:

high productivity;
cold resistance;
easy care;
have immunity to infection;
fast mass gain.

Peaceful females hatch chickens of other breeds. The disadvantages of Zagorsk chickens include a tendency to obesity. The bird's digestive organs absorb whatever it can find.

Curious chickens fly over the fence to peck flowers, trample vegetables, high fence does not keep them from this.

Recommendations for maintenance and care

Despite the fact that the Zagorsk breed is not afraid of the cold, it needs to be provided with insulated housing, at least a minimum of care, otherwise the females will not lay well, the males will gain weight more slowly.

Chicken coop, feeders and drinkers

It is not recommended to keep salmon breed in cages. Active birds do not tolerate crowding, because they love space. To furnish a home for chickens:

Dig a hole for the foundation, taking into account that one bird needs at least a meter of area, and fill it with concrete.
2-meter walls are made from wood board or stone.
The holes are covered with putty.
The roof is made of roofing material.
The floor is covered with boards, covered with sawdust.

The poultry house should have at least one window and tightly closing doors. Perches are installed at unequal levels. At the bottom of the wall, a drinking bowl is mounted, a feeder is placed. In winter, the house is ventilated every day, in the spring they clean it, lime the floor and walls, and change the litter. The feeder and drinker are treated with an antiseptic once a month.

Playing yard

Next to the dwelling, the birds leave an area fenced with a high metal mesh. A canopy is built on it from slate and boards, which will protect the chickens from the rain. A drinking bowl is also equipped at the walking area, river sand is poured into the feeder. Birds that run in fresh air rush better. Eggs store more vitamins and minerals. Moving chickens tend to get into the garden, it is necessary to walk them.

Bird moult

In the first spring, when hens go through puberty, they shed their plumage. The renewal of the epidermis in the Zagorsk breed does not last long, the chicken easily tolerates this natural process. First, the neck of the bird molts, after it the back. Then the feathers on the belly and wings fall out. In an adult salmon chicken, this phenomenon is extremely rare and occurs with a lack of trace elements, due to an attack by helminths.

Diet

Zagorsk chickens never refuse food, they feast on boiled potato husks. They use any compound feed, grain, greens.

Chicks

Chickens hatched from an egg eat up its yolk, and this is enough for the kids for half a day. For the first week, chickens are recommended to give corn grits every 2 hours. A few days later, the diet of the chicks includes:

shredded nettle;
cottage cheese;
boiled potatoes;
fresh onion.

Give chickens a weak solution of potassium permanganate, give "Bifidumbacterin", which helps to normalize the microflora. When the chickens are 2 weeks old, they can be fed not only with wheat or barley groats, but also with soaked bread, boiled fish. Chickens are fed up to 7 times a day.

One-month-old chicks are released into the yard, where they happily peck out the greens. The diet of chickens includes waste meat, vegetables, sour-milk products, coarse grains. It is necessary to ensure that young birds do not eat worms. At the age of 15 days, chickens are given grass, continue to be fed with boiled yolk and protein.

Mature herd

At three months, chickens of the Zagorsk breed are already eating the leftovers of soup and borscht, young chickens are happy with the leftovers from the master's table, they are happy to feast on corn. In addition to grain, birds are given compound feed, bran, fish oil, and ground bones. Sand is added to the porridge.

Laying chickens need protein, fresh greens, which have a lot of vitamins. To make the shell stronger, the birds are fed with bone meal and chalk, they should not be given rotten food, potato sprouts.

Specific breeding

Chickens of the Zagorsk breed breed chickens without any problems. It is recommended to send the mother hen to a cage so that other birds do not distract her from hatching her offspring.

For the incubator, farmers select large eggs and leave for 24 days, gradually reducing the temperature from 38 to 37 ° C. Hatched chicks are active, eat the yolk, and less than a month later they peck the same as adult birds.

Possible problems

Although Zagorsk chickens are immune, adapt to adverse climate conditions, but sometimes suffer from diseases. A bacterial infection affects several chickens at once, exposing different organs to negative effects.Birds can pick up salmonellosis, in which the eyes and joints swell, diarrhea begins. They are treated with Furazolidone.

From pigeons or rodents chickens become infected with cholera. Illness manifests:

rising temperature;
impaired breathing;
presence of blood in excrement.

The use of sulfa drugs helps to save a flock of birds. Pathogenic organisms settle in the tissues of chickens, which damage feathers and injure the skin. In the digestive tract of birds, parasites start up, which destroy the internal organs. In order not to kill the whole herd, infected chickens must be isolated from he althy birds.

If the individuals are in unsanitary conditions or crowded, the dwelling is not cleaned, not disinfected, the chickens develop diseases, but in this case it is enough to clean the house, change the litter, and disinfect.

Sometimes a hen drives away other females, you can solve the problem by transplanting the chicken into a separate cage. It happens that old birds peck at young ones, which usually happens when individuals are kept in close quarters.

Cost

Salmon chickens are happily bred by farmers and villagers. Unpretentious birds have tasty meat, grow quickly and gain weight, carry large eggs, and are sold at an affordable price. For a young chicken or cockerel of the Zagorsk breed, the market asks for 400-500 rubles.