The Kyrgyz gray breed appeared not so long ago, it was bred by scientists of the Kyrgyz Institute of Livestock. It quickly gained popularity among farmers because it is unpretentious in breeding, has high productivity and attractive appearance.
External signs, character
Based on the name of the breed, it can be mistakenly concluded that the Kyrgyz chickens are gray. However, this is not quite true. They inherited an unusual color from their ancestors - striped Plymouth rooks: each feather of a chicken is covered with black and white stripes, in roosters the plumage shimmers with red shades.
The Kyrgyz gray breed can be distinguished by the following characteristics:
- The body in shape resembles a cone, it is large and well developed. In females, a round belly and chest are visible. Roosters are more slender, tall and large.
- The head is medium in size, round. The roosters have a pronounced red comb, earrings and earlobes.
- The eyes are large, bright, red-orange.
- Legs are medium in size. Leader roosters have pronounced lower legs.
- Beak and paws are yellow-orange.
- The weight of the roosters is a little more than 3 kg, and the hens are about 2.5.
- Newborn chickens have black down. On the tummy of the females there are bright spots. It is on this basis that one can distinguish the gender of a bird at an early age.
By nature, Kyrgyz gray chickens:
- very calm, all their actions are non-fussing;
- friendly - they never fight with their relatives and take other breeds well in the chicken coop;
- not afraid of people;
- curious, but rarely get out of the chicken coop.
To find out what Kyrgyz gray chickens look like, as well as their external features, we suggest you watch the video clip:
Advantages and disadvantages
The breed is meat-and-egg, and it does not belong to one or another type anymore, the ratio is 50 to 50.
Positive traits:
- unpretentiousness in care and maintenance;
- quick adaptation to different climates and temperature extremes;
- strong immunity, protecting against many diseases;
- high productivity, which does not change with age and is approximately 170 eggs per year;
- eggs are large, light brown, about 60 g in weight;
- good taste of meat.
Despite many advantages, Kyrgyz gray chickens also have several disadvantages:
- lack of survival instinct - chickens very rarely hatch chickens;
- low precocity - puberty usually occurs in 6-8 months.
Maintenance and care
Kyrgyz gray chickens do not require any specific conditions of detention, but there are several important points to consider.
Arrangement of a chicken coop and a walking yard
When arranging a chicken coop, the following are taken into account:
- Location. It should be well lit, but not fall under direct scorching sunlight.
- Draft protection. Otherwise, chickens may catch a cold.
- The height of the house. It should be no more than 1.8 m so that it warms up well in winter.
- Inner space. For one bird you need about half a meter of square chicken coop.
- Maintaining temperature from +13 to +22 ° С. To maintain it even in the cold season, thick walls are built, and a litter of hay, sawdust and sand 10 cm thick is laid on the floor.
- Lighting. The light should come 19 hours a day, therefore, you must have a window, as well as the use of lamps during periods of short daylight hours.
Lighting is very important for laying eggs. Often the reason for the decrease in egg production is precisely the lack of light.
- Cooker hood. Windows may not be sufficient for ventilation. To cope with moisture, it is necessary to equip the hood.
- Perches. It is calculated so that for one layer there is at least 20 cm of free space.
- The lowest perch is located 50 cm from the chicken coop floor.
- To establish perches one on top of the other is undesirable, since the hens will stain each other, which will badly affect not only the appearance, but also the health of the birds.
- In the chicken coop there should be drinking bowls, feeders and bathtubs filled with sand, clay and ash, where birds clean feathers.
- Devices and bedding must be cleaned and replaced promptly. Due to bacteria from dirt and droppings, birds can get sick and become infected with parasites.
Near the chicken coop should equip a patio for walking.
It must meet the following requirements:
- Area. It is calculated depending on the number of birds: for 1 chicken - 1 square. m
- Free access from the chicken coop during the day. To do this, you need a hole with a width of at least 50 cm and a height of about 70 cm connecting the chicken coop and the paddock.
- Fence with a fence. To prevent the chickens from escaping and extraneous animals do not get into the walking area.
- The place for walking should not have stagnation of water during rains, as well as drafts.
- Here, as well as in the chicken coop, feeders, drinking bowls and ash baths are installed.
How to build a chicken coop that will meet all the standards - read here.
Feeding
Consider the following rules and regulations:
- Kyrgyz gray chickens feeders are best chosen with turntables, as they will prevent birds from climbing inside and scattering food;
- the size of the feeders depends on the number of birds (so that all birds can eat at the same time and not fight for food);
- for drinking bowls, a capacity of not more than 5 liters is suitable;
- to prevent the bowl of water from tipping over, put a stone in the middle;
- water should be regularly changed and refilled if it runs out;
- adult hens eat 4 times a day;
- in the diet they need the presence of protein and grain feed;
- potatoes, greens and root crops are useful to them;
- in cold periods, dry feed is mixed with warm broth;
- for the strength of the eggshell, chalk or bone meal is added to the food.
More information on a complete feeding diet for laying hens can be found here.
Breeding chickens
To successfully breed chickens, you should responsibly approach the selection of eggs:
- clean oval eggs without cracks are selected for masonry, they can not be washed;
- they should be stored for no more than 10 days in a cool room with a blunt end up;
- selected eggs are rotated around the vertical axis twice a day.
With an ovoscope device, you can easily determine which material is suitable for breeding:
- the chamber in such eggs is at the base;
- yolk - bright, located in the center;
- protein is transparent.
Specialists advise to breed in the incubator in the spring or early summer, so that the chicks immediately fall into warm and comfortable conditions, as well as get fresh greens for food.
The incubator dilution sequence:
- Rinse the incubator well with hot water and completely dry.
- Place it on a flat, solid surface in a room without drafts and set the humidity to 60% and the temperature to 37.5 degrees.
- Turn on the incubator one day before laying eggs.
- After this time, place the eggs in it vertically, with the sharp end up. Read more about laying eggs in an incubator here.
- Twice a day, change the position of the eggs: alternately tilting each 45 degrees to the left and right.
On the last day before the appearance of chickens, they should be directed blunt end down.
- After 16 days from the bookmark, the incubator temperature level decreases by 0.1 degrees (37.4 degrees).
- After 3 weeks of operation, chicks appear. The process takes approximately 6 hours.
This breed rarely has breeding chickens without an incubator, but they do occur.
If it is suspected that the chicken wants to incubate eggs, she is laid with a blended egg for a couple of days. If she does not get up and often cackles, then she is ready to sit chicks. Then you can change the blended eggs to hatching.
During hatching, certain rules should be observed:
- You can not disturb the hen.
- It is necessary to equip a nest, next to which there is access to water and food.
- Make sure that the chicken ate on time, drank and went to the yard for walking.
- During the walk, the eggs are covered so that they do not freeze. This time is also used to check eggs and nests: clean cracked, clean the place to hatch, check for parasites.
- When the chicks appear, be sure to ensure that the chicken does not drop the nest. The chickens are left next to the brood for several hours.
Chickens almost always hatch healthy and strong, their survival rate is 97%.
It is necessary to feed the chicks 6 times a day, guided by the following rules:
- In the first few days after birth, you need to give crushed eggs, hard-boiled, low-fat cottage cheese, oatmeal, millet and barley.
- After three days, you can start adding grass to the diet: nettle steamed with boiling water and finely chopped, as well as alfalfa and clover.
- Include vegetables: beets or carrots. This will support the immunity of the chickens and also contribute to the rapid healthy growth and development.
- In order for the chickens to gradually gain weight, increase the amount of food by 15% daily.
- When feeding with feed, sprinkle food with fish meal for a good skeleton formation.
- A weak potassium permanganate solution is added to the chick water to protect against infections.
Late brood of chickens, in the cold season, requires additional heating in the chicken coop using special lamps. The temperature is maintained at + 26 ° C.
Caring for a few weeks old chickens is the same as caring for adults.
It is not difficult to breed Kyrgyz gray chickens, and caring for them is very simple and will not be any difficulties. In addition, birds have strong immunity and rarely get sick, which, of course, is a huge plus. Observing the simplest rules of keeping, you will get high productivity: good egg production and high-quality tasty meat.