Pushkinskaya breed of chickens: description and characteristics, rules of keeping, sex determination

Pushkin chickens are a breed that is popular among farmers due to its unpretentious care, productive egg production and quality meat. This breed will serve as an excellent choice - both for a large poultry farm and for private farms. Let's look at the advantages and disadvantages of Pushkin's chickens and figure out how to properly care for and breed them.

History of the origin of the breed

Pushkinskaya breed bred in the second half of the twentieth century in the city of Pushkin, Leningrad region. The main goal pursued by breeders was the creation of a classic village chicken capable, with minimal care, of producing a large number of eggs and tasty meat.For selection, variegated and black Australorps were crossed with Leghorns.

Initially bred chickens showed low productivity until the breeders crossed the breed with the Russian Broiler-6 breed. The result is a robust, striped hen that lays eggs regularly.

Appearance, standards and varieties

Pushkin chickens are characterized by the presence of long legs and an important posture due to the erect tail. The head of the bird is long, with bulging eyes and a pink comb. The beak is bent down. Wings fluffy. The bird's body itself is large-sized, strong. Hens are characterized by gray interspersed with white color, while in roosters, on the contrary, white color with rare gray spots dominates.

Peterskaya Line

Females of the St. Petersburg line have a two-kilogram weight, males reach a weight of up to three kilograms. One laying hen produces more than two hundred eggs per year. The weight of eggs reaches sixty grams.Roosters of the St. Petersburg line are characterized by a much lighter color than hens, so they are easy to distinguish from each other.

Moscow line

Males of the Moscow line are distinguished by a much more colorful plumage than representatives of the St. Petersburg line. However, the roosters of the Moscow line are still lighter than the hens, so they are also not easy to confuse.

Advantages and disadvantages

Farmers love the breed due to its many benefits. The main advantages of birds are:

adaptability to various temperature conditions, both in adults and in chickens;
easy to feed;
frequent egg production and quality meat;
high percentage of egg fertility and chick survival;
immunity to diseases.

The disadvantage of Pushkin's chickens is that they are inactive and cannot run, which can adversely affect the chicken's body.

Productivity and egg production

Pushkin's chickens are fruitful in terms of egg production, and their meat is of high quality and excellent taste.

Meat

Pushkin's chickens are birds with massive dimensions. The female reaches a weight of two kilograms, the male grows up to three kilograms. The carcass lends itself well to plucking. The skin of the bird is strong. The meat itself has excellent taste and is suitable for making broth.

Eggs

Egg-laying in females begins as early as the sixth or seventh month. Pushkin chickens demonstrate one of the highest rates of egg production, yielding only to egg breeds.

One adult bird lays over two hundred eggs a year, and under the right temperature conditions, the right food and lighting, a hen will lay up to three hundred eggs a year. They rush even in winter, and in summer they give eggs almost every day, except for the molting period.

In the first months, a mature laying hen gives eggs weighing up to fifty grams, and after a year of life, eggs begin to reach seventy grams. The eggs themselves have a protein of a dense consistency, the yolk is bright yellow.

Chicken keeping

Pushkinskaya breed is undemanding to the conditions of detention. The main thing is to give the birds a warm place to sleep and winter. An insulated shed is not required, but it is important that the room is protected from drafts.

Chicken coop

The room must be equipped with warm bedding. Chickens can also be kept on regular perches. They should be placed at a height of approximately 0.8 meters and equipped with a ladder for climbing.

For laying eggs, you need to equip separate special boxes lined with warm straw. Sawdust as a bedding material is not suitable, as chickens like to dig into them, so the sawdust will be quickly thrown away. You shouldn’t put them on the floor of the barn either, the birds will rummage through them and dig them out, no matter how tightly they are packed. In addition, sawdust will enter the respiratory tract of chickens, provoking lung diseases.

Patio

Although the breed was originally declared by breeders as flightless, this feature could not be fixed. Modern representatives will easily fly over a fence one and a half meters high. Therefore, the courtyard for walking chickens should be covered. Such an aviary, among other things, will protect birds from predators, since Pushkin's chickens are slow, they cannot run and do not have time to respond to the sudden approach of danger.

Drinkers and feeders

The size of the feeder depends on the number of chickens you breed and the size of the chicken coop. If you plan to breed birds in the winter, the feeder should be placed inside the chicken coop. Chickens need both dry food and wet food, so you need to equip feeders for both types of food. For dry food, hopper-type feeders are suitable, for wet mash - open troughs.

Structures must be stable and durable. Hens are constantly pushing the feeders, so the feed should not wake up through them - this entails excessive feed consumption and a violation of sanitation. Feeders should be cleaned and refilled regularly.

How to heat the chicken coop in winter?

Poultry does not tolerate cold temperatures in the best way, therefore, when keeping chickens, heating in the chicken coop is indispensable. In most cases, artificial heating is the only way to provide optimal conditions for birds.

Exceptions are temperate zones and warmer climatic zones - here, as a rule, there is enough natural heating.

The safest and most economical way to heat a room is to use electric heaters. Suitable heaters, oil heaters, electric convectors, ceramic panels, infrared heaters.

Gas and stove heating systems can serve as an alternative. Each method has its own advantages, disadvantages and conditions for proper use, but in any case, such space heating will help to cope with sudden temperature drops.

Bird diet

Egg production and the quality of chicken meat depends, first of all, on a properly formulated diet. For this breed, a regular diet for laying hens is suitable.

Chickens

After birth, little chicks first consume the internal embryonic clot. Two hours after hatching, the chicks should be fed boiled dry millet. This will allow the chicks to open their beak so that they do not suffocate later.

The first days of the chicken should be fed with boiled yolk. Subsequently, animal food is excluded from the diet. Chicks need fresh water and greenery. You can add a small amount of milk to the feeder.

For the first ten days of life, the chick should be fed every three hours. After a week of age, chicks can be fed potatoes, grated carrots. From the tenth day, chalk should be included in the diet. Chicks older than a month willingly eat compound feed, chopped greens, various mashes.

Large vegetables should be chopped. Every four hours it is necessary to change the water in the drinker.

Adults

Adult chickens are fed with grain, feed, greens. Food must be fresh. Feeding twice a day is optimal. Different types of grains should not be mixed with each other, they should be given to the birds one by one. Chickens need to be walked regularly.

Fine gravel must be present in the diet of chickens. It will grind the food in the bird's body. Gravel containers should be in places that are easily accessible to chickens. Also, in order to avoid biting the egg shell, calcium-containing foods should be given to chickens. For roosters, as an addition to the diet, preparations containing vitamin A are suitable.

Breeding rules

Determining the sex of the Pushkin breed chicks, as a rule, is not difficult. It is best to acquire adult birds of both sexes. You can buy several adult pairs and a couple of small chicks. Birds should be bought at the factory, as when buying from hand there is a risk of getting unhe althy chickens.

Factories, as a rule, provide certificates that chickens have received high-quality genes and do not have diseases. Bird prices vary depending on whether you are purchasing a laying hen, a rooster or a chick.

The most important thing in the maintenance of Pushkin's hands is to provide them with a fairly warm place to live. The chicken coop must be protected from drafts and excessive moisture. In the summer, it is better to keep birds outdoors, not forgetting the need for a covered aviary.

Diseases and their treatment

Despite the high immunity of chickens to diseases, farmers should check the birds for diseases. Pushkin chickens are prone to plague, ornithosis, paratyphoid, pullorosis, eimeriosis. These diseases are infectious, and one affected bird can infect the entire chicken coop.

Often, birds are affected by parasitic diseases, such as rickets and prostgonimiasis. A sick chicken is often difficult to distinguish from a he althy one, so if any symptoms appear, you should immediately contact your veterinarian.