When choosing meat ducks, pay attention to the Mulard hybrids. These poultry are unpretentious in food, have high productivity and flexible character, are excellent for breeding by beginners and experienced farmers. Before you buy ducks, carefully study the characteristics of this breed.
Origin of the Mulard
These poultry are the result of experiments by French breeders. The breed appeared by crossing the Musk duck and the White Peking. Birds were first bred in the 60s of the last century, and have since been in demand in agriculture.
Close relatives of the breed are not found in the wild, since Eurasia is the birthplace of the White Peking duck and South America is the indochka. The distribution area of the Mulard - agriculture of different continents, including the territory of Russia.
From their parents, the ducks got the best generic features: from the “Peking” - large sizes, from the indochka - tender, dietary meat. Naturally, the Mulard hybrids do not give offspring, a person participates in the replenishment of the family.
Ducks Mularda
The Mulard have tender and dietary meat
Ducklings Mularda
Characteristics and description of the breed
This meat breed of poultry is characterized by a calm nature, rapid weight gain, and high productivity indicators. Moulards at the age of 4 months weigh 4 kg or more. The difference between drakes and females is not more than 500 g, which is not characteristic of all breeds of domestic ducks.
Moolards have a quiet, calm, balanced character. Unlike Peking ducks, they do not cause the breeder any special problems in grooming and maintenance. Birds are quick-witted, so they can safely remain on free pasture and return home in full force.
Appearance
Mulard have impressive size and snow-white feathers. There is a black spot on the head as a sign of pure breed. Dimming of feathers in the tail region and rarely on the wings is not excluded.
Poultry have a massive body of elongated shape, a short tail. Wings are sweeping, fit snugly to the hull. The head is medium in size, the beak is flattened, elongated, light yellow in color. The neck is long and strong, due to which hybrids are considered duck-geese.
The eyes of Mulard are transparent, set wide, dark in color. Orange legs are short and massive, the membranes are rounded. The bird walks around the yard slowly, messing around, does not create unnecessary fuss.
Productivity
The Mulard has a delicious, dietary meat with 3% fat per 100 g of product. The absence of a specific smell will be appreciated even by true gourmets. In terms of nutrition and health, ducklings can be compared to young beef.
At 4 months, hybrids weigh 4-5 kg, and by 5 months they reach 7 kg. This is a favorable period for slaughter. The output is up to 70% of pure meat. Separately, do not forget about the rich taste and benefits of duck liver weighing up to 500 g. Real delicacies are prepared from this offal, including foie gras.
Mulard give a high-quality feather, which is used in the light industry for the manufacture of pillows, feather-beds and warm blankets. Also used when sewing outerwear as a filler.
Duck eggs are large and tasty. They are not used in raw form, since there is a high probability of salmonellosis. Eggs are suitable for baking, they can be consumed in their original form after preliminary cooking and frying.
Features of the content of hybrids
Mulard is a great option for beginners. Ducks are unpretentious in care and maintenance, quickly grow fat, and already at 4-5 months ready for slaughter. Hybrids are equally suitable for private and industrial cultivation.
Mandatory conditions:
- the temperature in the house is 16-25 degrees, the humidity indicator is 60-70%;
- the presence of bedding from straw, sawdust and peat, its regular cleaning;
- The population of ducks in the house is 3 heads per 1 sq. km. m, in the aviary - 2 heads per 1 square. m;
- lack of dampness, drafts, dirt in the house;
- round-the-clock access to water, feeding ducks 2 times a day.
With the onset of cold weather, ducks become clogged. Since they are not capable of reproduction, they cannot be considered tribal. Hybrids do not tolerate cold: they lose weight, get sick, die. Indicators of meat productivity in the winter are significantly reduced, therefore, to maintain and feed the Mulard is unprofitable.
Feeding
The size of the adult feeder is 140x23 cm. The main purpose of fattening is to gain weight quickly. Nutrition should be fortified, balanced. The main food ingredient is pre-ground, steamed grain.
Birds, starting from a month of age, are fed with special feed in the morning and evening. Barley, corn, wheat, fresh grass, boiled potatoes and carrots, duckweed, fortified compound feeds are especially useful for weight gain.
To avoid vitamin deficiency and digestive problems, include bone and fish meal, sand, shell, gravel, and special premixes in the daily diet. With intensive feeding, physical activity decreases, and the hybrid quickly gains weight.
You can read the recommendations for feeding ducks, as well as learn about the types of feed in the next article.
Fattening Mulard on foie gras
The drake liver is used to produce this exquisite delicacy. The main requirements are to reduce physical activity, to provide forced fattening. In order for the liver of the hybrid to be fat, select three-month-old individuals weighing 4.5 kg or more, remove them from relatives, change the diet.
Being fattened, Mularda ducks constantly sleep, eat a lot, practically do not move. As a result, they are overgrown with a thick layer of fat. The duck is not capable of eating such an amount of food on its own. For its feeding, special devices are used, with the help of which food is forced into the stomach by force.
The bird is fattened for 1 month, after being slaughtered. The main criteria for slaughter: hollow eyes, pale pink beak, heavy breathing, complete immobility. Remember that the duck can die from the wrong diet before the specified time.
Care
For the Mulard, you need an indoor house and a pond. They live in a barn; they are grazed only in warm, sunny weather. In the headquarters or artificial pond (bathtub, tank) splash, clean the wings from pollution.
Basic requirements for the house:
- Make sure that there are no gaps or holes in the room through which drafts, rodents and harmful insects penetrate.
- Walls must not be blown. If necessary, insulate them with mineral wool from the outside.
- From the south side, install a hole in the house where the ducks will return home after grazing.
- Treat the flooring with slaked lime, top with a bed of straw, hay, shavings and sawdust.
- Control the dryness and cleanliness of the litter, otherwise mold appears on it, bacteria multiply. The birds start to hurt.
- Wash the drinker and feeder daily, do not leave old food, regularly refresh the water.
- To prevent dampness and stale air from accumulating in the room, organize high-quality ventilation.
Basic requirements for the aviary:
- Fence the enclosure with a grid, check that there are no holes and gaps around the perimeter.
- Remove poisonous grass, foreign objects from the territory.
- Make a mesh fence and on top of the aviary so that the ducklings do not become prey for birds of prey.
- Regularly clean the enclosure, do not leave old food, wet mixes, dirty water.
- Make small awnings under which poultry can hide from rain and the scorching sun.
Basic requirements for the reservoir:
- If it is a bet, fence it with a net so that other inhabitants do not disturb the peace of the Mulard.
- If there is no bid, install a small pool in the enclosure, dig a tank or an old bath into the ground, fill it with water.
- Provide the bird with food near an artificial pond. These are fortified compound feeds, dried grass, duckweed, and wet mixes.
- Check for clean water in the enclosure. In the open air there should always be a deep and wide bowl.
Slaughter Features
Birds of 1-3 months are not suitable for slaughter, since at this age they gain muscle mass, almost no fat. Let the animals start from 3 months, but first check the weight of the Mulard.
Individuals 3.5–4 kg at the age of 4 months are suitable for slaughter. For several hours, stop feeding them, while giving more fresh water. After slaughter scald the carcasses with hot water, and there will be no problems with plucking feathers.
Do not slaughter birds during the molting period, since later difficulties with the plucking process appear. After removing the feathers, black stumps remain, which noticeably spoil the aesthetic appearance of the carcass. The best slaughter time is before molting.
Breeding and rearing young animals
The warm season is suitable for mating Mulard - May, June. The optimal age of adults is 7-8 months. There are 4-5 ducks per drake. Do not expect fast eggs to appear, as poultry need to adapt, get used to each other.
When ducklings are bred under a duck, the survival rate is only 60%. When choosing an artificial incubation using selected eggs, it increases to 100%.
To continue the offspring, 1 musky drake and 4 Peking ducks are needed. Eggs appear 7-10 days after mating of birds. Then there are 2 options for hatching - a laying hen or an incubator. Hybrids cannot bear offspring, therefore their relatives are involved in breeding Mulard.
Read more about incubation of duck eggs in this article.
The conditions for young animals
After birth, plant the ducklings in a separate room, where the light is constantly on for the first day, and the air temperature is maintained at 30 degrees. Immediately after birth, solder the cubs with a weak solution of potassium permanganate to avoid infectious diseases.
Daily reduce the duration of daylight hours by 1 hour to an acceptable value of 17-18 hours. Gradually lower the air temperature in the room to the optimum - 18-22 degrees in the warm season.
In the first week, use old newspapers and paper as a litter for warming ducklings. Change them 2 times a day, otherwise the risk of infections, diseases of young animals increases.
Feeding the young
In the first hours after birth, give the ducklings food. Pre-chop the boiled egg with the yolks. Sprinkle on top of the chicks so that they develop a grasping instinct for further nutrition.
Ducklings begin to eat on their own from 2-3 days of life. At first this is a crushed egg, but the daily diet is gradually becoming diverse. From day 10 feed the young 2 times a day, enter the chopped grain in the menu, control the water.
From the age of 2 weeks, give ducklings duckweed, bran, meat and bone meal. To strengthen the bones of birds faster, grind the shell in a coffee grinder and add it to the chickens food. Other mineral additives - limestone, chalk, shell, gravel are necessary for better digestion.
Cottage cheese and whey are also useful for ducklings. Add the first milk ingredient in an amount of 1 g per head to the daily diet. Check the availability of clean water in the drinking bowls, regularly update it. For an overview of duck drinkers and instructions for making them, look in another article.
After 3 weeks, choose an individual feeding regimen: intensive, extensive and semi-intensive. The determining factor is the final result, for which Mularda ducks were bought and raised.
Duck diseases
The Mulard have strong immunity, but closer to the cold, it decreases. Poultry does not tolerate drafts, dampness and low air temperature. She becomes lethargic, eats poorly and may even die. To prevent this, the herd or most of it is slaughtered.
Throughout their lives, Mulard ducks can encounter diseases that adversely affect their productivity:
- Pecking feathers. Such a problem arises in a herd with food inaccuracies, crowded houses and lack of drinking. First, eliminate the provoking factor, later begin complex treatment.
- Aspergillosis Fungal disease with infection through the respiratory system from the litter in the mold. Symptoms - lethargy, lack of appetite, diarrhea, vomiting, heart palpitations. If antifungal therapy is not started on time, poultry dies.
- Cloacite. A complication of vitamin deficiency, in which a tumor with pus is formed in the cesspool. At the early stage of treatment, zinc ointment is successfully used. With a running diagnosis, the bird dies.
You can read about the main diseases of ducks in the next article.
Disease prevention
Breeders should monitor the condition of the herd, timely respond to the initial symptoms of the disease. First of all, Mulard sits off from relatives, so as not to infect them. In order to avoid mass death of ducks, observe the following preventive measures:
- Clean the house of litter and stale food daily.
- Do not leave old hay, renew water.
- 1 time in 2-3 days, change the litter, with a disturbed digestion of the bird - more often.
- Control your daily diet, include vitamin and mineral supplements.
- If the bird is sick, remove the herd, be sure to disinfect the room.
Advantages and disadvantages of the breed
Mularda ducks have a number of advantages, which have earned their relevance and popularity in the poultry market, in agriculture:
- fast weight gain;
- tasty, dietary meat;
- healthy liver weighing 500-600 g;
- quick adaptation to new conditions;
- calm nature;
- early maturity (by 3-4 months);
- unpretentiousness in nutrition and maintenance;
- cleanliness;
- stable immunity.
Representatives of the breed have their drawbacks, which somewhat limit the number of breeders:
- the inability to breed birds in a natural way;
- infertility of eggs;
- intolerance to drafts;
- risk of disease;
- poor cold tolerance;
- high price.
Reviews
Karina, 37 years old, housewife, Krasnodar Territory. I have 4 Mulardas living in my house. Took as an experiment for slaughter. The birds are well maintained and neat. Unlike other poultry inmates, they never sprinkle grain in a manger. Eat neatly and in full. I am pleased with such a responsible attitude to food. But otherwise, hybrids are only suitable for slaughter. Breeding them will not work. To keep a herd, you need to have laying hens and indolets-drakes. And all this is very expensive.
Egor, 52 years old, veterinarian, Ivanovo. I came across Mulards on the specifics of my work. According to observations, I can say that the birds are very moody in care, they are especially aggressive when there is not enough space in the house. In addition to pecking feathers, they are engaged in cannibalism. I am always alarmed by such radical changes in behavior. Otherwise, in addition to vitamin deficiency, birds rarely get sick. I recommend that breeders mix eggshell flour in food to strengthen bones.
Svetlana, 50 years old, agriculture, Volga region. My Mulard go to the slaughter. Crossing Beijing and Indoor. The offspring is large and healthy, quickly gaining weight. I slaughter hybrids in 3-4 months. The meat is tasty, dietary, there are always buyers. I leave something in the refrigerator, but most of it goes for sale. The profit is colossal, taking into account the unpretentiousness of drakes and layers. Hybrids themselves do not breed. This is the main disadvantage of the breed, but I found the way out.
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Moulard ducks look like geese; they are called duck geese. They have diet meat and quality fluff. Such poultry are popular in Russian agriculture, used for breeding or as inhabitants of a poultry yard. They do not reproduce themselves, which is characteristic of many feathered hybrids.