The breed, bred by specialists of the Zagorsk Institute of Poultry. The ancestors of the breed are Russian White and Yurlovskaya vocal, as well as New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Breeders acted according to a scheme that helped to achieve high egg production and good meat qualities. More details about the characteristics and conditions of breeding - later in the article.
Specifications
Zagorsk salmon breed was bred taking into account the cold climate of Russia, it is considered to be moderately available, it belongs to the meat and egg type. When breeding does not require any special conditions of detention, even a beginner poultry breeder can work with it.
Representatives of the medium-heavy breed - chickens gain from 2.5 kg to 2.7 kg, and roosters - from 3 kilograms to 3.6, already in 5 months the carcass of a gutted bird weighs more than one and a half kilograms.
One of the great qualities of the breed is large eggs. Laying hens produce up to 250-260 large eggs per year weighing 60-89 grams, but are also larger. Shell color is light brown or pale pink. The shell has a strong structure, which ensures its integrity during transportation.
Layers begin to lay eggs from 6 to 8 months of age. Very active, especially in the summer, when 10 chickens produce 7-8 eggs per week. In winter, this figure drops to 4 or 5 pieces. Hens rush in a row from 3 to 5 days, then there comes a short break. After 2 months from the beginning of the laying period, it becomes clear what weight the eggs should be expected from a specific laying hen.
Zogorsk salmon are characterized by a calm disposition and get along well with each other and other inhabitants of the economy.
Exterior
The body of the birds is large, slightly expanding downward, the back is elongated. The legs of the roosters are strong and long. The skin on the legs is yellow.
Zagorsk salmon chickens are distinguished by soft pink with an orange tint (salmon) color on the wings, which is combined with a light brown plumage on the stomach and brown with a touch of white on the collar. The plumage is thick, the tail is short black.
Feathers of other colors are emphasized by feathers of other colors: black on the stomach and chest, white silver on the collar, brown with a reddish tint on the back, white at the base of the tail on the back and black in the tail itself.
The heads of Zagorsk salmon roosters are decorated with leaf-shaped red ridges with 4 or 5 denticles, they also have a red beard and earlobes. The color of the beak, crest, and urine of the hens is much lighter. The beaks of the birds are yellow, sometimes found with dark spots or a dark base. Eyes are orange.
The gender of the Zagorski chicks can be distinguished at an early age. Already on the 2nd day after hatching, the chickens show pink-gray spots or a strip along the back. At the age of 1 week, a creamy feather color forms on the wings. And in 2 weeks dark feathers appear on the wings of roosters.
Content
Zagorsk salmon are very unpretentious in terms of feeding, temperature and lighting, stress resistant.
When forming a family, the activity of the rooster is taken into account. For 8-15 chickens, one male is enough, but with an understudy in case of an incident (while everything is in order with the first rooster, the second should not be allowed to the family). Read an article on when a hen needs a rooster.
Landscaping
The breed is properly maintained with the possibility of walking and foraging in the poultry yard. Infrequent and short-term cooling will not cause harm to the birds of this breed. In spring, Zagorsky begin to go out into the countryside much earlier than other breeds.
If you keep chickens without the possibility of walking, this negatively affects productivity and health.
When arranging a house, you should consider:
- Chickens cannot be cramped, so the chicken coop should be spacious and well lit during the day.
- The Yurlov ancestors left beautiful voices and a passion for long singing to Zagorsky roosters. If the owner does not want the roosters to wake the whole street with loud singing, they must provide the bird with night rest. To do this, close the windows of the house tightly.
- The room temperature should not fall below 0 ° C. Usually, a chicken coop is built insulated, but not heated. Only in the case of harsh winters, you need to take care of an additional source of heat. How to build a chicken coop with your own hands is written here.
- The floor is lined with high litter. It is best to use peat or sawdust. It needs to be changed in a timely manner.
- A ventilation system is a must. With poor ventilation of the premises, the chickens begin to hurt. Airing is especially important in hot summers. In winter, ten minutes of daily airing is enough.
- Nests are low - at a height of not more than 0.5 m, as the hens are quite weighty.
- Perches, too, are equipped not very high - 60-80 cm from the floor.
Requirements for the enclosure and the walking yard:
- The enclosure is used for walks in the winter. They equip it from the south side, using the wall of the chicken coop or another building to protect it from the cold north wind.
- From above it is necessary to provide a canopy, for protection against rainfall.
- The height of the territory fencing is about 1.5-2 m. The bird flies high, although when it is free, it does not run far.
With unlimited freedom of walking, chickens can spoil beds, flower beds, etc. Also, a chicken flock can hunt mice with pleasure.
Necessary equipment:
- Feeders and drinking bowls are arranged so that all the hens have access to them at the same time, otherwise you can provoke fights for food. Read more about how to build a feeding trough - here and how to make a drinker with your own hands - here.
- In addition to feeders, containers with sand, shell rock, chalk or crushed shells are always put. In the summer, these containers are transferred to the walking yard and protect from rain.
- Be sure to need a bath with ash and sand to clean feathers from parasites. In summer, it is installed on the street protecting it by a canopy from the rain. In the cold period - transferred to the chicken coop.
Feeding
Despite the undemanding chickens to the diet, you should calculate the amount of feed and strictly adhere to the schedule for eating.
You can feed chickens:
- grain (wheat, corn);
- millet;
- root crops;
- pumpkin and its seeds;
- cabbage;
- peeling vegetables and fruits;
- fresh grass or hay;
- mash-ups;
- compound feed.
The diet in the summer includes 2 feedings - in the morning and in the evening. During the day, hens find feed by foraging. In winter - 3 meals a day. The amount of feed should not exceed the amount that chickens can eat in half an hour.
The best way of feeding the farmers consider a combination of different types of nutrition: in the morning wet mixers, in the evening - dry grain.
The drinker volume is calculated based on the number of chickens: 200 ml per individual, adding 300 ml for evaporation and strait. Water is poured every day, after washing the drinkers.
The bird responds well to top dressing with a source of protein food - weight immediately increases and egg production improves. As additives, you can use fish. But, you need to make sure that the chickens immediately eat it, you can not allow the use of rotten residues.
Molting
Shedding hens begin around the beginning or middle of autumn. But feather loss is not accompanied by exposure of the body. During this period, they stop laying eggs. Egg production resumes approximately 3 weeks after the growth of a new feather cover. Biting is not peculiar to Zagorsk salmon.
During molting, the following should be ensured:
- admission to the diet of fish waste or flour, to replenish the diet with protein, meal of soy and vitamin complexes;
- protection from wind and damp on rainy days - it is better to hold the bird in the chicken coop during bad weather.
Breeding chickens
Zagorskaya salmon chicks are hatched and incubated.
To successfully remove chicks, you should:
- to select active and healthy chickens (10-15 individuals) and a rooster in a separate pen;
- feed selected birds with supplements of vitamin-mineral complexes;
- eggs are collected from chickens that rush for the third month or from chickens whose molting took place 2-4 weeks ago;
- for breeding the next generation, you should choose eggs weighing 60 grams without external defects;
- Store material in a cool, dark room for no more than 15 days.
Eggs are laid under a brood, which is ready to sit on a nest. The place of incubation is arranged in a secluded quiet place, a drinker and a feeder for whales are installed near it. Being good mothers, Zagorsky chickens take on both incubation and further care for chickens.
Before laying eggs in the incubator, they are brought into the room where the apparatus stands so that they warm to room temperature. The eggs are in the incubator for about 24 days. Initially, it sets the temperature at 38 ° C, and gradually reduces it to 36.7 ° C. In general, the process is no different from breeding chickens of other breeds.
The appeared chickens are characterized by a calm disposition and large size, they do not have the habit of pecking, they immediately show activity. The chicks are transferred to a brooder on a cardboard litter, which after a few days can be replaced with sawdust. At the location of the chickens, the temperature is maintained at 35 ° C, gradually reducing it to 28-30 ° C.
Among the chicks there are more males than females.
Already from 3 days of age, chickens can be taken outside in a box, subject to good weather. They can be released onto the grass after 1 week of life. To do this, equip a special aviary. Before you release the chicks into it, you should make sure that there are no poisonous plants, ants and other insects.
In the first days of the life of the chicks, in addition to the starter feed, you can feed:
- grated egg yolk with semolina;
- fresh low-fat cottage cheese;
- chopped herbs.
A little later, gradually add:
- grated carrots;
- grain crusher;
- bone and meat and bone meal;
- fish oil - in the absence of the possibility of walking.
From 2 months, chickens can eat everything that adults do, the main thing is that the feed is of high quality. Corn must be chopped to avoid large grains getting stuck in the throat.
Crossbreeding
Zagorsky are great for the formation of new types of crosses.
Productive hybrids are obtained by crossing:
- Cornish roosters or Kuchinsky anniversary and Zagorsky hens;
- Zagorsky roosters and Plymouth rookers or New Hampshires;
- roosters and hens of Zagorsk breed and Adler silvery.
Hybrids gain weight very quickly, give an excellent carcass. At 3 months they have 1.5-1.8 kg.
Fertilization of eggs during crossing is almost 100 percent; chicks are famous for their high survival rate.
The main characteristics of the Zagorskaya Salmon breed, their advantages and disadvantages, conditions of keeping and breeding can be seen in the following video clip:
Possible problems
Among the most common breed problems:
- Obesity. The first symptoms are a decrease in egg production and changes in the ridge: it becomes larger and turns pale, and with severe obesity it acquires a bluish tint. The weight of chickens increases by a third.
Obesity is fatal.
They treat the problem by increasing motor activity, transferring chickens to low-fat feeds, introducing B, D vitamins and lecithin into the diet - on the recommendation of a veterinarian. - The defeat of ectoparasites (lice, ticks, spoofers). You can get rid of chickens from pests with the help of special disinfectants. After detection of the parasite, thorough cleaning and disinfection of the chicken coop should also be carried out.
- Poisoning. The use of spoiled, poor-quality or poisonous food leads to digestive disorders. The bird should not be fed with rotten vegetables and moldy feed. Hens themselves do not touch poisonous plants on the territory of walking, but when harvesting hay for the winter, euphorbia and celandine should be removed from it. Also, potato shoots are poisonous for chickens.
- Noncommunicable diseases. They arise as a result of low sanitary conditions, when exposed to low or high temperatures. They pass on their own, often without treatment, after improving the conditions of detention.
- Infectious, bacterial diseases. Transmitted through food, as well as in contact with sick individuals. They are treated with antibiotics prescribed by the veterinarian. To prevent infection, hens should be protected from contact with wild animals and birds. Sick birds are cleaned in a separate room.
We recommend reading the article on chicken diseases.
Acquisition
Zagorsk salmon chickens can be bought at the "Gene Pool" - in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Birds from Moscow look like broilers - strong and massive. The breed is also sold by private traders, but it is worth choosing proven poultry farmers.
The price of an egg for incubation varies from 90 rubles, and for chickens - from 150 rubles.
To get healthy chickens you need to pay attention to the following:
- It is advisable to be able to look at adult households and the conditions of their maintenance.
- If gray or chestnut spots are visible in the area of the breast in the chickens, then they are not purebred. Such birds can not be crossed with other breeds, because the result is not possible to predict.
- Healthy chickens are active, pecking at the proposed food, responding to tapping. Lethargy, indifference to food and lack of response to sounds speaks of an illness.
- If chickens are observed: exposed areas that should be covered with fluff, any discharge from the eyes, a bulging stomach, bleeding - this indicates serious health problems.
Growing Zagorsk salmon chickens can bring a steady income. The breed does not need special conditions of maintenance, tolerates changes well and without loss of productivity. Rapid puberty of chickens and weight gain by males ensures the production of meat and eggs in a short time, which pays off the cost of their acquisition.