When growing the meat breed of Star 53 duck, its features and characteristics are taken into account. These ducks are quite unpretentious, but only if the proper conditions are created for them. About the organization of bird care, rearing young animals and much more - more.
The origin of the duck Star 53
This cross was bred by French experts. The “material” for him was the Peking ducks - the famous Asian representatives, who are more than 300 years old. Since in natural conditions they settled in marshy places, their ducklings, as well as all young growth related to breeds derived from them, require a lot of juicy greens from the very first days of life.
The advantages of the breed include the fact that they are easy to use in local breeding. The result is birds adapted to specific climatic conditions.
Description and characteristics of broilers
Outwardly, ducks are somewhat reminiscent of geese. They have the same pure white plumage, cream or yellowish color of the pen is allowed, but there should not be any color spots or marks. The plumage is dense, uniform and dense. Paws and beak saturated bright yellow. The duck has a powerful and wide chest, which protrudes forward. The body is elongated. Paws are short.
If the bird does not take water procedures, then its belly and chest are often dirty. The head is round, large. The forehead is convex. The neck is thick. The wings are well pressed to the body, they are long in scope. However, the bird cannot fly due to the large weight. The tail is neat, well-feathered, bent up.
Productivity
The birds of this breed are distinguished by rapid metabolism, high digestibility of nutrients. Consequently, they quickly gain weight and belong to early species. At 3 months, young individuals already weigh 3 kg, and slaughter them at the age of 4.5 months.
Meat
The meat of ducks is tender and nutritious, suitable for dietary nutrition, since muscle mass is more than fat. 4-month-old young animals have about 60% meat in the carcass, and fillet is about 27% of the total meat.
Fat has no unpleasant odor or taste. With the age of the bird, the amount of body fat increases.
Advantages and disadvantages of the breed
The breeding work of scientists was aimed at preserving all the positive characteristics of Peking ducks and improving some of them.
The advantages of this breed include:
- fast weight gain;
- large meat yield;
- low fat content;
- good egg production;
- large eggs;
- good adaptive abilities;
- unpretentiousness;
- high immunity to diseases;
- good fertilization of eggs;
- the possibility of raising birds without a reservoir.
However, cons are also present:
- poor maternal instinct in females, they do not hatch egg laying to the end, therefore, incubators are used to breed this breed or pick up a responsible hen of another breed;
- intolerance to dampness and drafts;
- the emotionality of the birds - they are subject to panic, fuss, very loud;
- high risk to buy the wrong breed - unscrupulous sellers often sell ducklings of other breeds, passing them off as “Star 53”.
Eggs and fluff
The egg production rate of females, despite the meat orientation, is high. In a year she brings up to 260-280 large eggs. The weight of one egg on average reaches 90 g. Unlike chicken eggs, they contain more fat, so they are not recommended for use in the diet of children under 6 years old and overweight people.
In raw form, duck eggs are strictly forbidden to eat because of the high risk of intestinal infections. Eggs have a specific taste and are considered an amateur product. Ducks begin to rush at 6 months.
Duck Star 53 has a dense plumage. By the time of slaughter, it is of high quality. When collecting duck fluff and feathers, before slaughtering the ducks, they are thoroughly washed and dried well in a place where they can not get dirty with soil or droppings.
Content
Ducks are unpretentious, however, if they do not create suitable conditions, they can be left without eggs and meat.
Room
The barn where the ducks will spend their time should be warm. It covers all the cracks and holes, as the birds react negatively to drafts, dampness and cold.
Young animals are kept separate from adults, the latter can injure babies. It is better to refuse a deep litter. With untimely harvesting, ducks suffer from foot disease and excessive dampness. It should be borne in mind that they have a very fast metabolism, and, consequently, waste products - a lot. Experts recommend that ducks make a mesh floor with grooves underneath to collect droppings.
For 2-3 ducks allocate 1 square. m indoors. With closer content, they become very noisy and restless, begin to conflict with each other.
In warm weather, birds should walk in the fresh air, where they eat juicy grass, and also catch worms and other insects that serve as a source of protein. Prepare for this special pens or sites on the banks of ponds.
On personal farms, keeping Star 53 ducks in cages is inappropriate, because they need a range and juicy food. A cage can be useful for temporarily keeping newborn ducklings in them. Be sure the floor in it must be mesh, to prevent an increase in humidity and the formation of dampness.
Terms
The temperature in the house should be comfortable for ducks, even in winter the thermometer should not fall below 15 ° C heat. At low temperatures, the herd is knocked together, heating each other. At high - the bird becomes lethargic, keeps its beak open, breathing heavily.
Ventilation is mandatory in the barn. However, not the slightest draft should not be in the room.
Ducks need a 15-hour light day. In daylight, they constantly eat, which contributes to faster weight gain. To reduce the cost of feed in the house, it is possible to darken during the day. Lack of light provokes ducks to sleep, which also contributes to weight gain. 1-1.5 weeks before slaughter, the daylight hours are reduced to reduce duck activity and thereby obtain the greatest live weight.
Ducks are waterfowl that will never refuse to swim in a pond. But when grown for slaughter, they refuse water procedures. Since the main task of the farmer is to feed the bird, and the additional activity of the birds will not contribute to this in any way.
If there is a river or a pond nearby, then ducklings can be released into reservoirs at the age of 1 month. By this time, the sebaceous glands at the base of the tail begin to function normally and stably. Otherwise, the tail without grease is quickly absorbed by water and can drag the duckling to the bottom.
Feeding
Broilers are mainly grown for dietary meat, so they should always have food.
Ducks are not given potato peelings and kitchen waste. These are high-calorie foods that stimulate the formation of excess fat.
Fast weight gain and metabolism require frequent meals. Ducklings are fed every 4 hours, young growth has grown 3-4 times a day.
Feeding for slaughter
The main feed is feed or grain in tandem with wet mixers. Instead of feed, they give a self-prepared mixture consisting of:
- 1 part cornmeal;
- 2 parts of sowing flour of coarse grinding;
- greens - clover, dandelion scalded with boiling water nettle.
Be sure to include mineral supplements in the diet - chalk, crushed shell or shell rock. Fresh water at room temperature should always be in the bowl.
When to score?
You can slaughter a bird as soon as its weight has exceeded 3 kg, it is usually 45 days from birth. In any case, this must be done before 56 days, when she begins to molt.
This natural process proceeds with weight loss and high energy consumption. As a result, the duck begins to eat more food, but the weight does not add.
Growing ducklings
There are practically no problems with breeding Star 53 ducks. To breed young animals, it is better to use spring eggs. 2 weeks before the collection of eggs for subsequent laying, the ducks are introduced to the diet with protein foods and additionally enriched with mineral additives.
Incubation Features
Large, clean eggs of a regular, rounded shape are selected for incubation. The shell must not be damaged, cracked, scratched. Since eggs cannot be collected for laying in an incubator in one day, they are collected for several days. The remaining eggs are stored at a temperature of +15 to + 18 ° C and air humidity of 70-80%.
The percentage of breeding ducklings depends on the duration of storage. The highest rate is for eggs that are stored for no more than 5-8 days. When storing eggs, place the blunt end up. Ducklings appear after 28 days.
Stages and modes of incubation
Any incubator is suitable for breeding ducklings. The best time for breeding is February-April. To get the maximum number of healthy ducklings, observe the incubation regimes:
- At stage 1 (1-8th day) the eggs in the incubator do not turn over and do not air. The temperature is maintained at + 38 ° C, the humidity is 70%.
- At stage 2 (from the 9th to the 13th day) the temperature is reduced to 37.5 ° C, and humidity - up to 65%. The eggs are turned over 4 times a day, and once a day the incubator is opened for 5 minutes.
- 3 stage lasts from the 14th day to the 24th. The temperature is lowered to 37.2 ° C, humidity to 56%. And they also turn the eggs 4 times a day, but air them for 20 minutes 2 times a day.
- At the last stage (25–28th day) increase the humidity again to 70%, the temperature, on the contrary, reduce to 37 ° C. The eggs are not turned over, but aired once a day for 10 minutes.
Care and maintenance
Newborn ducklings are transferred from the incubator to the box, where the temperature is maintained at 28-30 ° C. As soon as they turn 2 weeks old, the temperature begins to gradually decrease.
Litter is changed regularly. The main thing is that the box is dry and warm. The first 2 weeks of ducklings are kept under constant light.
They are sent for a walk in dry, warm weather. The first stay in the fresh air should be about 20 minutes. Then the duration of the walks increases and then they are left for the whole day.
Nutrition
In the early days, babies are fed with special compound feed or given a boiled chopped egg with boiled corn or barley porridge. On the 2nd day, they always give green onions to saturate the body with the necessary vitamins.
The number of feedings - 8 times a day. Starting from the third week, their number is reduced to 5 times. From 10 days of age, boiled vegetables and greens, yogurt are introduced into the diet.
Diseases and their prevention
Ducks Star 53 are highly immune to various diseases. The causes of the disease are most often improper care and feeding. Drafts and dirt can trigger infection.
The most dangerous infections that can develop into an epidemic and end with the death of the livestock are paratyphoid, hepatitis and pasteurellosis.
Of non-communicable diseases, ducks can suffer from vitamin deficiency, blockage of goiter and esophagus - the reason is improper feeding, helminthiases - parasites inside the bird start due to poor-quality feed and dirt. Females may have an oviduct due to the laying of very large eggs.
Disease prevention consists in compliance with the rules of maintenance and in high-quality feeding. Greens and fish oil are necessarily added to the diet. Sick birds are immediately quarantined and kept separate from the whole herd. Disinfection is carried out in the house 2 times a year.
Reviews about the breed of ducks Star 53
About the breed reviews exist both positive and negative. Many poultry farmers do not like the boisterous disposition of ducks.
Anisya, 35 years old, Moscow region. Star 53 was a revelation to me. True, eggs for incubation are a little expensive, but high-quality ones are caught. Ducklings hatched from all. They grow fast, the bird is heavy, and they can’t be held in their hands.
Maxim, 42 years old, Rostov Region. The bird is good to everyone, but it is too loud. Grunts day and night. All living creatures wake up.
Natalia Ryazan.
It grows fast ... not capricious ... not sick ... the meat has not yet tried .. t.k. in this case, a beginner .. but out of 15 per diem everyone is still alive. in a month there were 2 150 .. this is neither large nor small .. but which one got it. !!!!
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Many farmers prefer the Star 53 duck breed. In addition, the birds are unpretentious and do not require special breeding skills. They also quickly gain weight, and are also “suppliers” of dietary and tender meat.