Muscovy duck (Indo-duck): breeding, cultivation, maintenance. Muscovy duck incubation mode

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 20:55

Muscovy duck (in the people of the Indo-duck, lat. Cairina moschata) is an independent species of tree ducks, the population of which is especially common in South America and Mexico. For turkeys, contrary to popular belief, it does not apply. Domesticated by the ancient Aztecs, today it is common in almost all countries, in particular in Russia. It has great recognition among amateur poultry farmers. Today we will talk about what musky ducks are. Breeding, raising, keeping these poultry will also be discussed in detail within the framework of our article.

Short description

Muscovy duck is very original and differs significantly in appearance from fellow tribesmen. With a rather short neck, she has a wide chest, her wings are long and powerful, fitting, her legs are short, with pointed claws.

Muscovy duck is calm, quite hardy, relatively unpretentious, little susceptibleto most bird diseases, is able to do without a reservoir. In poultry yards, he keeps apart, does not make noise, does not like companies, but does not enter into fights either.

The weight of a male (drake), according to the standard, is close to 6 kg, a female (duck) - to 3.5 kg. Egg production - 100-110 eggs, each weighing about 75 gr.

Taste

Perfect lean dietary red meat. The fat content, unlike, for example, from Peking duck, is low (up to 25%). High muscle mass. Muscle tissue is about 41%. The weight of the most edible part (brisket) reaches 800 g. The Indian duck tastes like game with excellent taste. Unlike waterfowl, it does not have a characteristic specific taste. In France, these ducks have long since replaced most other breeds.

Muscovy duck eggs are edible and quite tasty. They are large, with a large yolk and dense protein.

Hybrids

Muscovy duck crosses with simple domestic ducks without any problems. Hybrids (mulardy) are early maturing, slaughter weight is about 4 kg. Offspring do not give (sterile). The color of the bird is predominantly dark. In Europe, they are often force-fed, resulting in a very fatty liver (foie gras) highly prized by gourmets.

Colors of Indoutocks

Muscovy duck can be white, brown, black, blue. Widespread wild color, including "mirror". However, there are exceptions. In Europe, for example, other colors that are not recognized by the standard are increasingly found. It is noteworthy that they are stable and are transmitted to descendants. Perhaps very soon such colors will be recognized and will be reflected in the official standards.

It is worth saying a few words about the solid color. We have a common opinion that mixed colors indicate the presence of crossbreeds. However, such options are provided by European standards. In other words, not only plain musky ducks can be purebred. At breeding enterprises abroad, they are "forcing" new lines, where the colors are just mixed. It is noteworthy that these ducks are especially productive and weigh more than brown representatives. Mixed colors are increasingly appearing at European amateur exhibitions. Alas, we have extensive work with the Indochka (at the level of large institutions) and have not been seriously carried out, so we received only what was once brought from Europe. Mostly they were brown birds, partly white and black. This explains the prevalence of this color in our latitudes. Although, thanks to simple grading and with the right attitude, rearing Muscovy ducks can give more positive results. It is quite possible to get, for example, white individuals weighing 4.7 kg by the age of three months. Of course, this will require a “good blood infusion.”

Muscovy ducks (breeds)

1. White. The color matches the name. The plumage has no signs of yellowness. The beak should be light pink, lighter at the tip. Metatarsus yellow. The eyes are only grey-blue.
2. Black and white. Eyesusually light brown (occasionally light blue), metatarsus yellow (black spots acceptable). The main color of the plumage is black, with a characteristic sheen (on the back with a green tint, otherwise with purple). White feathers form a pattern around the head, neck, chest and "mirror" with folded wings.

3. Brown wild. The main color is chocolate. Flight, integumentary and tail feathers are darker, with a greenish sheen. Young animals have few white feathers in their wings, while adults have a large part. Down brown, light. The beak is red, the tip is dark, pigmented at the base. The eyes and metatarsus are brown. Light spots are allowed. In the people, this breed is referred to only as "red musk ducks".
4. Brown and white. The main color is considered chocolate brown (with a green tint). White feathers form a pattern around the head, neck, and chest. The fly feather of the second order is brown, the first is white ("mirror"). The beak is red (the tip is darker), light pigmentation is acceptable. The eyes and metatarsus are brown.
5. Black. The color matches the name. The color of the bird is completely black. The back and wings have a greenish tint, other parts are purple. Down gray, dark. The eyes are brown. Metatarsus and beak are black.
6. Blue. The color matches the name. The blue color is pronounced. Individual feathers have a dark edging (a different pen structure). The eyes are brown. Metatarsus with beak almost black.
7. Wild. The predominant color is black, saturated, with a greenish tint on the back and wings, purple on the chest andpurple otherwise. Large integumentary wings in an adult bird are mostly white, in young birds there are fewer of them. Beak and eyes are brown. The metatarsus is black, the fingers are slightly lighter (may be yellowish).
8. Wild blue. It is predominantly blue in color. Individual feathers are edged with narrow dark stripes (different structure). In the blue duck, as in the wild common duck, most of the integumentary feathers are white (in mature birds). The beak is almost black, fading to reddish-blue (at the base), with a dark tip. Metatarsus close to black. The eyes are brown.
9. White with a pattern. The base is white. Black solid surfaces are observed on the back, neck, crown of the head, flight feathers (2nd order), sides, tail, on the lower leg, on the wings (inner integumentary feather). The beak is black, fading to red-blue, with a black tip. The eyes are brown and light. Metatarsus yellow (black spots acceptable).

Development and timing of cultivation

Here it is necessary to take into account the biological characteristics of the breed. The plumage of the indoutok has three layers: down, small feather and large (top layer). How are chicks born? Their body is covered only with down. This is the top of the feathers that will grow back later. Primary fluff gradually wears out. A covering feather grows to replace it (after the 20th day from birth and up to one and a half months). Soon the youthful (so-called juvenile) molt begins. It is precisely such a moment that we must wait - this is the very time when the ducklings are ready for slaughter. Why? First, you will avoid "stumps"during plucking, and secondly, at this time, the formation of bone tissue (ossification) ends. The molting period lasts a month and a half, sometimes two. This means that the deadline for slaughter is 12 weeks, the next - 24 weeks. Considerable French farms can be taken as an example. The terms of slaughter at these enterprises are 85 days for drakes and 70 days for ducks. Not the last place is played by the density of planting during fattening. It is better to keep ducklings on a galvanized mesh (fine, 1x1 cm, from birth and at least up to three weeks). This will increase dryness. Moreover, you will achieve almost one hundred percent survival! Planting density - 20 heads (maximum) per square meter up to 10 days. Next, the area is increased. After landing, it is highly desirable to use large (may be medium) chips. In extreme cases, sawdust is suitable, but large. Old sawdust is partially removed and new ones are added. The entire bedding is not changed.

Green pasture in the warm season allows you to reduce the cost of feed and achieve rapid weight gain.

Features of breeding

How to keep Muscovy ducks? Build low perches in the house for the birds to rest. Muscovy ducks require slightly different conditions. Unlike turkey perches, you will need to make long benches at a low height (20 cm), stepping back from the wall 35 cm. The width of the perch is 18 cm.

Muscovy duck can't stand dirt and dampness. The best temperature for oviposition is 19 degrees, the minimum is 16. The ideal floor is mesh (it was written aboutabove). Cell sizes - 24x24 mm. The grid should occupy 2/3 of the entire floor of the duckling. Such a structure is made along the far wall. "Pillow" (distance to the floor) - 30 cm. Pond thickness - at least 2 mm. It is better to make one of the edges of the mesh floor on hinges - when cleaning it can be lifted and fixed. Drinkers are placed on the grid. Feeders are installed no further than three meters from the drinkers. For bedding, as mentioned, large sawdust is used. Moldy damp bedding can cause an outbreak (aspergillosis).

Muscovy ducks are kept (breeds do not matter) at a density of 3 g/m. Start the formation of the broodstock 1.5 months before the laying begins. For five laying hens, one drake is needed. The latter must be a month older. In this case, puberty indoutok will come a little earlier. The age ratio can be achieved by keeping the best males from another breeding batch. The broodstock is usually formed in May-July.

After 180 days, daylight hours are gradually adjusted to 17 hours (before laying). The mode is supported for 4 months. Be careful with lightening, as Muscovy ducks are potential cannibals. Therefore, the strength (intensity) of lighting is adjusted to only 2 watts per meter. If extra light is needed, paint the bulbs red (orange works well).

Egg laying itself is cyclical. Unlike ordinary ducks, musky ducks lay eggs for 15 hours. Collect them at least three times a day (preferably more often). You can get 80 pieces per cycle.

Peculiar andincubation instinct. Muscovy duck in an empty nest does not stay too long. She also avoids other people's nests, incubating only her own eggs. If the clutch is not removed within three (sometimes two) weeks, the female will sit there for incubation. During this time, 12-15 eggs will be collected.

Drake's sexual instinct is seasonal. In the first months, fertility is high (96%), by autumn it decreases to 50%. Therefore, the incubation of Muscovy ducks is carried out mainly in the spring. To breed interspecific hybrids, it is preferable to mix Peking ducks with musky drakes.

Muscovy duck eggs incubation

What do you want to know? Muscovy duck egg has a fairly dense shell that covers the shell and prevents dehydration. However, at the same time, exhaust gas removal and oxygen permeability are reduced. This somewhat complicates the development of the embryo. Old eggs stored for two weeks at twenty degrees have better hatchability than completely fresh ones. The wild mother hen often leaves the nest to take "baths". Upon returning, she shakes herself over the nest, irrigating the hatching eggs. In addition, the expectant mother turns them with her paws, removing the film and thereby opening areas for gas exchange. Therefore, the incubation of musky ducks should be carried out either in an inclined or in a horizontal position (this is how the embryo develops better). So that they do not fall out of the trays when turning, they are covered with a net, secured with a strong thread or braid.

Modernized serial incubators are great for eggs of this breed"Universal" (IUV 15, IUV 45). It is very important not to forget about the cooling system. What is its essence? On the 16th day of incubation (and beyond), with the combined method, the eggs are turned over twice - at 8.00 and 20.00 (approximately). At the beginning, twenty minutes of air cooling is required, by turning the drum twice. Then they are irrigated (4 minutes) from the sprayer (the position of the trays is horizontal).

The following is an indicative mode of incubation for Muscovy ducks.

1 stage (1-16 days of incubation). Temperature - 37, 8 °С. Turns to the axis, 45 degrees. Humidity 32%. Refrigeration and spraying are not required.

2 stage (17-21 days of incubation). Temperature 37.6 °C. Rotation from the axis, 45 degrees. Humidity 30.5%. Cooling twice, 25 minutes each. Spraying - twice a day.

3 stage (22-30 days of incubation). Temperature 37.4 °C. Rotation from the axis, 45 degrees. Humidity 28.5%. Cooling twice, 30 minutes each. Spray mode is the same.

4 stage (30-31 days of incubation). Temperature 37.2 °C. No rotation required. Humidity 31%. Spraying twice. Cooling - twice a day for 25 minutes.

5 stage (32-35 days of incubation). Temperature 36.9 °С, humidity 35%. No rotation required. Cooling - twice a day for 30 minutes.

Feeding

What do Muscovy ducks eat? The feeding of this bird can also be divided into stages: early (chicks) and mature (growing, adults).

Three days (from birth) it is better to feed a chicken (or duck) finely chopped egg. Then startadd cottage cheese, mash (necessarily crumbly - both dairy and broth). At the same age, greens are already given (nettle is especially useful). In two weeks, root crops are introduced. Grain can be boiled, or it can be fed dry. Two boxes are placed nearby, filled with gravel (necessarily fine) and sand (river). In winter, branches, vegetables, and hay are used for feeding. Musky duck ducklings, like adults, love Jerusalem artichoke (both tubers and greens). Moreover, when feeding this plant, weight gains faster, plumage shines, and egg production increases. By winter, it is advisable to stock up on silage from herbs (nettle, dandelion, wood lice, etc.). The grass must be crushed, placed in jars (glass), compacted, slightly s alted (a spoonful of s alt per 3 liters is enough), an aspirin tablet is placed on top. Such blanks are stored in the cellar.

Inclusion of lightly s alted boiled corn seasoned with fat in the diet speeds up fattening.

In general, when it comes to nutrition, Muscovy ducks are quite undemanding.

Diseases, prevention

In principle, immunity in musky ducks is quite high. Nevertheless, they can get viral hepatitis, lack of plumage, pasteurellosis (cholera), aspergillosis, salmonellosis (paratyphoid), etc. To avoid problems, it is necessary to responsibly approach the arrangement of the house, temperature, lighting and, of course, feeding. Contamination of drinkers with feeders is unacceptable. Rooms should always be kept clean and dry.

Quite often, amateur poultry farmers are faced with one of the serious problems - the "new duck flu". With a timely response, it is quite possible to suppress an outbreak of the disease with an antibiotic - the drug "Terramycin". Ducklings can be prone to liver damage due to viral hepatitis. Mortality from this disease, frankly, is quite high. Immunization can be the only method of struggle here. What to recommend for these purposes? An example is the Capevac vaccine. It contains the plague virus (attenuated, lyophilized form), Jansen strain. The vaccine allows for active immunization of young animals. It is done twice, on the fourth and eighth week, always before oviposition, by subcutaneous injection. Dosage - milliliter per bird. If the zone is dysfunctional, they begin to vaccinate after 21 days. Revaccination - in two, maximum three weeks.