Description and characteristics of the Moscow black breed of chickens, egg production
Of the birds bred in small farmsteads, the Moscow black breed of chickens is one of the common options. The breed does not impose specific requirements for the content and demonstrates high performance indicators.
History of origin
Members of the Moscow Agricultural Academy, together with employees of the Bratsevskaya poultry farm, were involved in breeding. Breeds such as the Brown Leghorn, New Hampshire and Yurlovskie Voiced Chickens were used for crossing, and then the bred hybrids were crossed with each other. The new breed was officially approved in 1980.
Description and characteristics of the breed
When breeding black chickens, you should first familiarize yourself with their description. The breed has a number of individual characteristics and characteristics.
Productivity
At the age of 6 months, hens begin to lay eggs with a creamy or pale brown shell. The egg production index varies from 210-230 eggs weighing up to 62 g. With the most favorable environment, productivity increases by 15-20%.
The live weight of chickens is 2-2.3 kg, roosters - 2.7-3.5 kg. Due to the well-developed muscle mass, the meat of birds of this breed is tastier in comparison with the egg-producing varieties.
Appearance
Moscow black hens are distinguished by their neat and unusual appearance. Chicks are born dark, and as they develop, they develop dense black feathers with a shiny surface. Many chickens develop golden copper plumage around their necks. Roosters are distinguished by the presence of light feathers on the back and shoulders.
Chickens have a wide head with a medium-sized curved beak and an erect large red comb, dark orange eyes and red-white lobes. The outline of the body is convex, the back is oblong, the paws are set wide apart.
Incubation instinct
The Moscow black breed has a poorly developed hatching instinct. An incubator is recommended for raising chickens.
The nature of the chickens Moscow black
The breed has a calm character. Chickens do not show aggression and are usually balanced, so they do not need to equip closed yards with a high fence.
Advantages and disadvantages
Any breed of chickens has its own positive and negative characteristics. The Moscow Black breed is prized for the following benefits:
- resistance to common diseases;
- calm and gentle character;
- endurance;
- unpretentiousness to the environment and diet;
- good productivity;
- high taste of the resulting meat.
In addition to a number of advantages, the breed has certain disadvantages. In particular, these include:
- weak incubation instinct;
- late terms of egg production;
- the tendency to obesity with overfeeding.
Conditions of detention and care
The breed of Moscow black chickens is unpretentious to the conditions of detention and is resistant to frost, which simplifies the breeding process. Birds are good for keeping both in open chicken coops and in closed enclosures.
Chicken coop
When equipping a chicken coop, it is enough to comply with a number of standard conditions. The walls of the house should be free of gaps, except for exhaust ventilation. The floor inside the room is covered with a bedding, for which dry foliage, straw, peat, hay or sunflower husks are used. The presence of litter helps to absorb moisture generated with droppings.
With a bedding layer thickness of about 0.5 m, it is possible to provide additional insulation and keep birds in an unheated building. Littering material begins to be harvested in the warm season and is stored in a dry room, periodically checking for mold.
Place for walking
It is recommended to attach a yard for walking birds to the chicken coop in a place where there is a lot of grass. Chickens eat green vitamin food, which saves on this. In the case of walking individuals in rainy weather, puddles quickly form on the territory, which provoke the development of diseases and an invasion of worms. For this reason, you need to ensure that the exit from the courtyard is disinfected and dried.
Feeders and drinkers
Black chickens eat more than regular layers, but less than broilers. It is important to take into account the main regularity - the amount of feed consumed affects productivity. Inside the house, you can put feeders and drinkers and, by adding feed, you can adjust the egg production rate.
Molting and break of egg production
Molting is a natural process and occurs in the autumn, when the old plumage is replaced by the new one. Until the birds are completely overgrown with new feathers, you need to protect them from frost. If possible, you should move the birds to the hen house and prevent any stressful situations. During molting, there is a break in egg production, which is restored after the growth of new feathers.
Feeding features
Despite the unpretentiousness of chickens to nutrition, a well-designed diet has a positive effect on productivity. The meat and egg breed requires 18-20% more feed than egg layers.
Adult birds
The main food for adult chickens is complex feed and hay flour. To diversify your diet, you need to use herbs, vegetables and fruits as additives. In moderation, you can feed the birds with boiled potatoes. Since the Moscow Black breed is phlegmatic and slower to digest food, it is important to prevent obesity of birds. Chickens should always have free access to water.
Chicks
To reduce labor costs, the easiest way to feed chicks is to use complete, ready-to-eat feed. By adhering to the dry type of feeding, the chicken consumes as much food as it needs. The feed can be in the feeders all the time and it is enough just to control its availability.
Breeding subtleties
Due to the simplicity of the surrounding conditions, breeding is not difficult even for novice farmers. The easiest way to breed chicks is in incubator conditions. The main factor in this case is to control the correct position of the eggs.By fixing the eggs, it will be possible to ensure the formation of an oxygen compartment in its blunt part, which allows the embryo to receive air before hatching.
Possible diseases
Moscow black chickens have no predisposition to diseases, including genetic ones. Proper care, vaccinations and adherence to preventive measures help keep chickens healthy. In rare cases, infection with mycoplasmosis occurs. The use of antibiotics is required to treat the disease.
Analogs
Several breeds of chickens are widespread, which in most parameters are similar to the Moscow black. Analogs include: New Hampshire, Moscow White, Australorp, Rhode Island and Sussex. These breeds are characterized by high productivity rates, stable egg production and unpretentiousness to the surrounding conditions.
