Poultry breeding is not only carried out on an industrial level, many small farms contain chickens, geese, and turkeys. Ducks are in a special place - they are bred for meat, as well as for the delicious qualities of the liver.
You should pay attention to the breed of these waterfowl - Mulard. These individuals have a high early maturity, as well as excellent palatability of the liver. Therefore, the Mulardy have now pushed the breeds of geese raised "for the liver" on many large farms.
Mulards, despite their popularity, raise many questions from poultry farmers: is it easy to care for, is it profitable to maintain, and is it worth starting the cultivation and breeding of Mulards on your farm? Many poultry farmers grow this hybrid for sale and claim that the business with these birds is very profitable.
Breed benefits
Duck ducks are prized by farmers primarily for their cleanliness and relatively calm disposition. The poultry meat of this breed is tasty and completely low-fat. However, muscovy ducks have one rather serious drawback: they gain weight very slowly. The Peking breed is well known to all homeowners. It is this duck that is bred in most cases in villages and in suburban areas. The main advantage of this breed is its rapid weight gain. However, all farmers, without exception, consider the Peking ducks to be extremely unscrupulous and too loud. In addition, their meat, according to the exceptional majority of poultry owners, is too fatty.
Mulard ducks combine all the positive characteristics of parent breeds and are absolutely devoid of their shortcomings. According to many homeowners, with proper care, this bird gains weight faster than even early-maturing Peking birds. Neatness is also what characterizes Mularda ducks. Farmers have good reviews of this bird, also because it is completely quiet. In addition, mulard also have unusually tasty meat - lean and juicy.
Characteristics and description of the breed
This meat breed of poultry is characterized by a calm character, rapid weight gain, and high productivity. Mulards at the age of 4 months weigh 4 kg or more. The difference between drakes and females is no more than 500 g, which is not typical for all breeds of domestic ducks.
Mulard have a quiet, calm, balanced character. Unlike Peking ducks, they do not give the breeder any special problems with care and maintenance. The birds are quick-witted, so they can safely remain in the free pasture and return home in full force.
Appearance
Mulards have impressive size and snow-white feathers. There is a black spot on the head, as a sign of the purebred breed. Darkening of feathers in the tail area and rarely on the wings is possible.
Domestic birds have a massive elongated body, a short tail. The wings are wide, fit snugly to the body. The head is medium in size, the beak is flattened, elongated, light yellow in color. The neck is long and strong, due to which hybrids are considered duck-geese.
The eyes of the Mulard are transparent, set wide, and dark in color. The orange paws are short and massive, the membranes are rounded.The bird walks around the yard slowly, waddling, does not create unnecessary fuss.
Productivity
Mulard has tasty, dietary meat with 3% fat content per 100 g of product. Even true gourmets will appreciate the lack of a specific smell. In terms of nutritional value and benefits, duck can be compared to young beef.
At 4 months, hybrids weigh 4-5 kg, and by 5 months they reach 7 kg. This is a favorable period for slaughter. The output is up to 70% pure meat. Do not forget separately about the rich taste and benefits of duck liver weighing up to 500 g. Real delicacies are prepared from this offal, including foie gras.
Mulards provide quality feathers, which are used in light industry to make pillows, featherbeds and warm blankets. It is also used for sewing outerwear as a filler.
Duck eggs are large and tasty. They are not used raw because of the high likelihood of salmonellosis. Eggs are suitable for baking and can be eaten in their original form after being pre-cooked and fried.
Short description
In appearance, mulards are similar at the same time to Peking ducks and musky ducks. But they have more body weight than any parent breed. Among other things, the characteristic features of mulard include:
- elongated massive body;
- yellow legs:
- long neck.
The color of this hybrid can be either dark or light. But most often mularda have white plumage and a characteristic black cap on their head.
Characteristics of adults
- Body weight depends on the age of these waterfowl. At 8-10 weeks, the weight of the ducks is about 3.5 kg. The difference in weight between females and males is no more than 0.5 kg.
- When feeding Mulard "for the liver" its weight is no less than that of geese, which are also grown for foie gras. The taste qualities of duck liver, in the opinion of poultry farmers, are remarkable and have already been recognized as a delicacy product.
- Mulard meat - fatty, the taste is softer and does not have such a special smell as goose.
- For meat, this hybrid is not grown until the period when they begin to lay eggs, but are slaughtered earlier. And there are no specific figures for the egg production of Mulard. The testicles of these birds are sterile, unsuitable for further breeding. Therefore, eggs are not collected from these ducks.
- Specific amount of feed for young and adult poultry will be indicated below. But it has been noticed that Mularda consume the same amount of feed as other poultry, but the amount of meat they get from this species is more.
- Price for Mulard meat does not differ from the prices for such products of other breeds of ducks.
Features of behavior
According to all farmers without exception, the hybrid is completely problem-free. Although mulard ducks (reviews of the owners of household farms allow us to judge them as one of the calmest breeds) can fly a little, they do not need to clip their wings, like musky ones. The weight of this bird is significant. And therefore, in any case, she will not be able to fly over the fence.
Mulard is usually kept by the outdoor method. In households, these ducks are not left for the winter. They are not able to give offspring, but keeping them for fattening for more than three months is impractical.
Diseases of ducks
The Mulard have strong immunity, but closer to cold weather it decreases. Poultry does not tolerate drafts, dampness and low air temperatures. She becomes lethargic, eats poorly and may even die. To prevent this from happening, the herd or most of it is slaughtered.
Throughout their life, Mularda ducks can face such diseases that negatively affect their productivity:
- Pecking feathers. This problem occurs in flocks due to inadequate feeding, crowded house and lack of water. First, eliminate the provoking factor, and later start complex treatment.
- Aspergillosis. Fungal disease with respiratory infection from moldy litter. Symptoms are lethargy, lack of appetite, diarrhea, vomiting, palpitations. If antifungal therapy is not started on time, poultry will die.
- Cloacite. A complication of vitamin deficiency, in which a tumor with pus is formed in the cloaca. At an early stage of treatment, zinc ointment is successfully used. If the diagnosis is neglected, the bird dies.
You can read about the main diseases of ducks in the next article.
Disease prevention
Breeders should monitor the condition of the herd, promptly respond to the initial symptoms of disease. First of all, Mulard sits down from his relatives so as not to infect them. To avoid mass death of ducks, observe the following preventive measures:
- Clean out manure and stale food daily.
- Don't leave old hay, renew water.
- Change the bedding once every 2-3 days, more often if the bird's digestion is disturbed.
- Control the daily diet, include vitamin and mineral supplements in it.
- If the bird is sick, remove the flock, be sure to disinfect the room.
How profitable is it to grow
Ducks of the Mulard breed have earned good reviews, and many summer residents and farmers would certainly like to breed them. However, such chicks are, unfortunately, quite expensive. Not all farmers can afford to purchase them in large quantities. But if you wish, you can find a fairly simple way out of this situation.
Many farmers who want to raise mulard, for a start, simply purchase a few musk drakes and a dozen Peking ducks. By crossing these breeds at home, you can easily get your own quality mulards. The only thing you need to take care of if you breed this hybrid at home is that there are no musky ducks in the courtyard. Otherwise, the drakes of this breed will simply not pay attention to the Peking.
The weight of the mulard duck, the reviews of which are very good in this regard, are gaining almost instantly. Moreover, according to many owners of household farms, feed is spent quite rationally on the growth of meat, not fat. By the age of 2-2.5 months. with proper care, these birds gain up to 3.5-3.6 kg. At this time, they are usually slaughtered. It is impractical to keep these ducks, like any others, longer. The fact is that after three months the rate of weight gain in this economic bird slows down, but it starts to eat a lot. In addition, juvenile molt occurs at this time in ducks. If a bird is slaughtered after the end of this process, there will be a lot of hemp on its carcass, as a result of which it will lose its presentation.
How to raise mulard at home
12/13/2016 Most farmers and breeders breed ducks, mainly for delicious meat. That is why a good yield of the final product becomes the main goal. Mulard ducks are large and early maturing, so their breeding is considered the most profitable.
This breed got its name from the fusion of two words of the English language - muscovy
, which means "musky", and
mallard
, "Mallard". Although it was bred by the French, after the Second World War the English name stuck, and today it is widely used both in Europe and in the countries of North and South America, where mulard is very popular today.
Although the Mulard is called a breed, it is nevertheless an interspecific hybrid that was obtained by crossing the drakes of the Muscovy Duck with domestic breeds such as Peking White, Rouen, Orlington and others.
Due to complete sterility, mulards do not leave offspring. Their main purpose is meat. They are also prized for their fatty liver, which, like the goose, is great for making the famous French foie gras.
Mulard are ducks with a rather attractive appearance.Depending on what kind of females the musk drakes were crossed with, the color of their offspring can be very diverse, but in the classic version the mularda have a white plumage with a black spot on the head.
Outwardly, they look strong and well-knit, and also, importantly, have good health. They are hardy, have a good survival rate, easily adapt to new conditions, are resistant to various diseases, are distinguished by high productivity of tasty and less fatty meat than other breeds of ducks.
Under appropriate conditions of keeping and feeding, in industrial conditions for 9-10 weeks, birds increase their weight to 3.5-4 kg, and by the time of puberty - and up to 7 kg. Household mulards, even with the maximum efforts on the part of the owner, are unlikely to be able to achieve the same results. There is no particular difference in the weight of drakes and ducks among representatives of this breed: it is usually no more than 500 g.
As already mentioned, mulards are not capable of reproduction and do not leave offspring. Although the females do lay eggs, they are unfertilized. Therefore, it is possible to get chicks and start breeding mulard in the following ways:
· Buy eggs for hatching ducklings in an incubator;
· To purchase chicks or grown-up birds;
· Acquire a musky duck drake and several Peking females.
If you decide to use the latter method and breed such birds at home, then remember that such "families" will have to be kept separate from the rest of the livestock, but as a result you will have your own mulards. Ducks are quite capable of hatching ducklings on their own. In the future, such young animals are actively growing and developing, and after a couple of months they already surpass their own parents in weight.
If you are raising ducklings without a brood, using an incubator, then it is important:
· Strictly control the ambient temperature; · Observe the light regime;
· Properly organize meals.
Usually they sell daily or slightly grown mulard chicks. The average price for them is 80 UAH. When buying in bulk it will be cheaper, but not every owner needs so many birds.
After the ducklings are delivered home, it is imperative to water them from a pipette with a light solution of potassium permanganate. Then they should be placed in a warm room with a temperature not lower than + 20-30 ° С, next to a heat source. Prepare a thick, soft bed of straw or hay for the chicks. During the first week of life, the lighting in the room should be around the clock, and starting from the middle of the second week, it is reduced to 16 hours a day.
Newly hatched and day old ducklings cannot eat. You need to teach them this. You can use special kits for feeding chicks offered by veterinary pharmacies, but this is quite expensive.
There is a less costly method: porridge made from crushed rice or millet is mixed with hard-boiled and finely mashed chicken egg. This room temperature mixture can be sprinkled on ducklings to learn to grab food in motion, or sprinkled on a dark surface, such as a piece of cardboard.
On the second or third day, the chicks begin to eat on their own. On the fourth day, finely chopped nettle greens or herbs can be added to the feed. After a week and a half, boiled and crushed potatoes can already be introduced. Throughout the first month, low-fat milk and cottage cheese can be introduced into the diet of ducklings.
Chicks under the age of one month are fed three times a day, and then two times. Adult ducks are fed, as well as representatives of other breeds, corn, wheat and compound feed. Also, mineral supplements such as shell, chalk, eggshell and limestone should be available to birds at all times.Birds also need water to rinse their beaks and cleanse clogged nostrils. It is better to place it in deep, but not very wide drinking bowls.
Mulards have many advantages over other types of poultry:
1) first of all, the owners emphasize the profitability of breeding mulard: a good growth rate and weight gain allows farmers to gain 1-1.5 kg in live weight by the age of 8-10 weeks;
2) Mularda are very calm and, in comparison with other breeds, rather quiet and clean;
3) representatives of this breed calmly endure sharp temperature drops and cold snaps;
4) have good health and quick adaptation to different climatic conditions;
5) are unpretentious in food;
6) fatten up much faster than other domestic ducks and geese, while using much less expensive feed such as corn;
7) another indisputable advantage is the special taste of the resulting meat and liver.
Despite the large number of positive qualities, most farmers, as the main drawback, highlight the impossibility of the usual breeding method, when birds bought once regularly bring offspring with characteristics characteristic of the breed. For this reason, you have to buy mulard chicks every year. Ducks, the price of which is quite high, therefore, require considerable financial expenses from the farmer: a daily duckling costs from 80 UAH. per piece, and hatching eggs are sold at a price of 40 UAH. for a unit.
If you, nevertheless, made a firm decision in favor of self-breeding mulard, we have selected videos for you that will help you grow these ducks quickly and without loss.
Evgenia Ivanova
Mulard ducks: reviews of farmers
Of course, the opinion of this breed, since it is very convenient in maintenance, and surpasses many other varieties in productivity, poultry farmers have developed very good ones. The cost of breeding mulard pays off very quickly. Most farmers believe that this bird, in addition to its unpretentiousness and productivity, has another important advantage. Since her meat is delicious, it is very easy to implement it. Duck carcasses of this breed are eagerly bought by both ordinary citizens and cafes or restaurants.
Is it possible to remove birds from a hatching egg
Since it was already noted above, the Mulard ducks are sterile, so they cannot produce offspring. For these purposes, an incubator or hen is used. The selection of eggs for offspring should take place throughout the week. It is more advisable to use a brood hen, as it will be possible to do this more than once.
Why chickens do not rush in winter, and what to do about it, this information will help to understand.
The brood nest is located in a quiet place. To do this, you can use a wooden box or plain plywood, which is fenced off the corner in the barn. Be sure to lay a layer of hay or straw on the bottom. 15-20 eggs are laid under the hen. She covers them with her plumage. After 10 days, you should use a portable ovoscope. It will allow you to check the fertilization of the eggs. Those eggs that are light in color and lack vessels should be removed. Eggs with dead embryos may be present. They also need to be thrown away.
The hen may leave the nest several times in order to eat, drink and swim. For her, you need to organize a drink and a feeding trough located nearby. The hen is simply obliged to swim. With the help of wet wings, she is able to moisturize eggs.
Find out how long a laying hen lives from the article.
How to equip a poultry house
A room for ducks of this breed is only suitable for light and dry. In the barn, you need to equip more windows. Three ducks must have at least 1 m 2 of free space. Experienced farmers advise covering the floor in the poultry house with a sufficiently thick layer of straw bedding.It is necessary to insulate the barn and arrange ventilation in it only when breeding ducks in large quantities year-round. In any case, the air temperature in the poultry house should not fall below 16-18 C, and the humidity should not fall below 60%.
Of course, troughs should be placed in the shed. Daily bathing is also required by hybrids such as mularda. Cultivation (reviews of such ducks, as already mentioned, are good, including because of their unpretentiousness) of this breed is possible even in the absence of a natural reservoir on the site. All that needs to be done in order for the mulardy to feel comfortable is to install large containers filled with water in the walk. This will be enough for the ducks. Actually, the walking itself is equipped directly next to the poultry house, they use a netting net as a fence.
Diseases of birds
This species can withstand many infections that cannot or cannot be tolerated by ducks of other species. However, there are several different diseases that can interfere with home breeding. Diseases can be recognized by paying attention to the symptoms. In case of failure to provide timely treatment to the bird, you can lose an individual.
With insufficient order in the habitat of birds, not regularly changing the litter, which tends to rot and mold, and also serve as a breeding ground for bacteria, you can encounter aspergillosis in birds. This disease is almost impossible to cure. At the same time, half of the duck family can die in a short time.
Symptoms of aspergillosis include:
- lack of appetite;
- lethargy of the bird;
- rapid breathing;
- vomiting.
To treat the disease, copper sulfate is mixed into the duck's liquid, and "Nystatin" is added to the feed. The dosage of the drug must be checked with the veterinarian.
Insufficient amount of vitamins in food and protein of representatives of the species of birds leads to baldness. Birds pull out feathers on their own. Another factor can be a dirty house with little air flow and a lot of overcrowding. As a treatment, it is necessary to restore the intake of vitamins D and A by the birds, as well as keep the birds in a tidy room.
A significant lack of vitamins in food can lead to the appearance of cloacite - an inflamed condition of the mucous membrane of the cloaca. As a treatment, the cloaca is smeared with iodine solution, and then with zinc ointment, and the food is fortified. In an advanced case of the disease, penicillin ointment is used.
Birds in the water become infected with worms. They lead to polymorphosis. This disease can kill a duck at a young or adult age.
Signs of a painful condition:
- vomiting;
- low appetite;
- loose stools;
- drastic weight loss.
When opening a duck in the intestines, as a rule, worms are found that stick to the walls.
You can treat the disease with the same copper sulfate. The concentration of the product is not more than 0.1%. The veterinarian may also prescribe Filixan or Bithionol. Decontamination of the poultry house is also indispensable.
Feeding features
So, mulard ducks were purchased for the farm. What to feed (reviews about these hybrids are good, including due to the fact that they are not too gluttonous) young growth is, of course, the first question that farmers ask themselves. The answer is simple. In large farms and at poultry farms, at first, ducklings are given special starting compound feed. Household owners often feed their babies with just cottage cheese and eggs. Chicks are also given millet and rice porridge. Experienced poultry farmers advise throwing them directly at the ducklings. This way chicks can be easily taught to eat on their own. The fact is that ducks perceive moving food much better.
Three-day-old chicks can already start giving greens. Later (after about 10 days), boiled potatoes are introduced into the baby's diet. After a while, the menu includes vegetables and root vegetables.Beets are considered a very useful food for ducks of this breed. However, it should be given to the bird carefully. The fact is that this root vegetable weakens the intestines. Carrots can be fed in large quantities. And both fresh and boiled.
Be sure to include in the diet of ducklings products containing animal and vegetable protein. You need to add reverse and cottage cheese to the mash of root vegetables and herbs. Also, in the diet of mulard ducks, mineral and vitamin supplements must be present. In addition to the mash, the bird should receive steamed grain (wheat, corn) or boiled porridge. In order to save a little on feed, bran can be mixed into the grain of the ducks. Baker's yeast is also considered a very useful additive for these birds. They should be given in an amount of 1 g per head daily.
Duck drinkers should always be full. Firstly, this bird drinks a lot, and secondly, after eating, it necessarily rinses its nose clogged with food.
Maintenance and care
This breed does not require a reservoir for a comfortable life.
You can keep Mulard in a clean and dry room with access to a spacious walking area. The area of the house is calculated taking into account the number of livestock.
For 3 birds, you need to allocate 1m2, if you plan to raise ducks for fattening, cage keeping technology is also suitable. The cages are constructed from wooden slats; the presence of a metal lattice is optional.
Indoors, it is necessary to lay a bedding of straw or clean sawdust, which must be changed every 2 days. Insulation is required only for year-round maintenance.
The optimum room temperature for ducks should be 16-18 ° C, and the humidity should be 60-65%. It is imperative to install light sources in the shed; for ducks, daylight hours are 12-14 hours.
The chicks are kept in a separate room where heaters should be installed, so for the young the temperature should be within 28-30 ° C in the first days of life, then it is lowered. Both in the adult house and in the brooder, it is necessary to install feeders and drinkers, taking into account the number of individuals.
They are placed only on the floor to make it easier for ducks to get food. It is advisable to purchase drinking bowls of a closed type, which will reduce the risk of water pollution by waste.
Feeding ducks
In the first few days, the chicks are fed with a mash of boiled eggs, wheat porridge and cottage cheese. As a drink, use ordinary boiled water.
Starting from the 5th day of life, a special pre-start compound feed and finely crushed grains of wheat and oats are added to the feed. Feeding is carried out 4-5 times a day in small portions.
From day 10, ducklings can be offered boiled vegetables (potatoes, carrots or pumpkin), and mineral supplements must be introduced. The adult diet of chicks can be transferred from the 14th day of life.
The diet of adults is more varied.
The daily menu is made up of the following ingredients:
- fresh grass, duckweed;
- vegetables and root vegetables;
- meat and fish waste;
- cereals;
- cake;
- skim cheese.
In summer, Mulard is practically not limited in feeding, this breed is not prone to obesity, so you can use 4 meals a day. In cold periods, the volume and number of feedings are reduced.
Regardless of the season, shell rock (chalk), mineral supplements and vitamins for the health of birds are added to the feed.
Intensive feeding technology usually uses nutritional feed mixtures in the form of granules. They must contain at least 19% protein for fast weight gain.
Fattening of drakes to enlarge the liver is carried out using a special technology in 3 stages. This is always the cage content, where birds are placed from 8-10 weeks of life.
Since this period, a screw system with a tube is used, with the help of which the feed is forcibly pushed into the throat.The daily grain rate should be 1.7 kg per animal, the duration of feeding is 14-21 days.
Incubation recommendations
Thus, mulards are relatively unpretentious in feeding. Breeding at home (reviews of the breed are good and due to the almost one hundred percent survival rate of young animals) is also not too difficult. To get ducklings of this breed, you just need to cross Peking ducks with musky drakes. Many farmers and owners of suburban areas believe that, if desired, you can do the opposite. However, when crossing Peking drakes and musk ducks, the hybrids are less productive. This should be borne in mind.
If mulard ducks are supposed to be bred in large quantities, it is, of course, better not to lay eggs under the hens, but to incubate. Even a novice farmer can get young growth of this breed artificially. Incubating the chicks of this hybrid, according to many owners of household farms, is much easier than, for example, the same chickens. Good hatchability is also what mularda ducks are characterized by. A photo (the reviews about this hybrid are wonderful also because its young are distinguished by their strength and health) of the chicks hatched in the incubator are presented below. As you can see, this process is quite successful in many cases. But, of course, you shouldn't count on one hundred percent hatchability in an incubator. If 60 healthy ducklings hatch out of a hundred eggs laid, this is already a very good result.
Experienced farmers believe that the most favorable time for obtaining mulard chicks is April - June. The most suitable age for musk drakes and Pekins is 7-10 months. Eggs for incubation can be harvested within one week. Store them in a cool place. Actually, the incubation itself is carried out in the usual mode for duck eggs.
Productivity and egg production
Chicks gain weight quickly. For 90 days, young growth can reach 4 kg. With prolonged and proper cultivation, Mularda grows up to 7 kg, and their meat is valued for a low percentage of fat, lack of a specific smell and a pleasant taste. Birds are usually slaughtered at the age of 3-4 months.
Drakes are often fattened to enlarge the liver, which is used to make foie gras. Before the breeding of such interspecific hybrids, it was usually made from the liver of geese, which significantly increased the cost of the dish.
If the technology of cell content is observed, the Mulard liver can reach 550 g. The average feed consumption of ducks per day is 340 g, which is beneficial for breeding at home and subsequent sale of products.
Egg production in females begins at 3-3.5 months, always occurs cyclically. The laying period lasts no more than 5 months, then it is suspended for 3 months. During the season, the duck lays up to 250 large eggs, which are always sterile.
How to care for hatched chicks
Breeding mulard, the reviews of which are excellent, will be successful, of course, only if the technology for caring for young animals is observed. After hatching, ducklings are usually left in the incubator to dry out. Then they are transferred to a box. Since dampness is contraindicated for small chicks, a lattice bottom is preliminarily equipped in it.
For a large number of ducklings, it is advisable to use a brooder instead of a box. The frame of this device can be assembled from a bar, and the sheathing can be made of plywood and polycarbonate. It is imperative to place a special heating lamp for the brooder inside. You can buy it, for example, at a pet store. The lamp should be hung in such a way that the ducklings do not get burned, and there would be at least one shaded corner inside the brooder.
Heating in the box is arranged in the same way. Only in this case, a conventional incandescent lamp is used. Of course, feeders and drinkers should be placed in a box or brooder.
In what conditions to grow mulard?
Very young ducklings have high maintenance requirements. In the first week of life, they need to be in a room where the temperature will be about thirty degrees. After they are seven days old, the temperature can be lowered to seventeen degrees. In the first days of life, ducklings should receive a lot of light. You can either use artificial lighting or take the ducklings for a walk, if weather conditions permit.
Duck house device
For the first two weeks of life, ducklings need soft bedding. Hay or straw will do, but wood waste should never be used. Small mulards can eat them.
To prevent adult birds from getting sick, they need a closed room, that is, a barn. It should be completely closed to prevent the birds from blowing and wetting them with rain.
Experts recommend making windows to the south during the construction of a duckhouse, so that there is more natural light.
If you do not grow mulard for the sake of a valuable resource in the form of fatty liver, you need to remember that they need a large shed. It should not be allowed that there are more than four individuals per square meter.
In a closed room for ducks, you should install not only drinkers and feeders, but also containers in which they can bathe.
Duck feeder
Walking is what mulardam need. But a cramped aviary or a small fenced area is not good. One poultry should have one square meter. Prepare to enclose a large area if you want to breed many individuals.
Mulardy on the walk
A fence on the territory should be done only if any circumstances require it. Mulards are calm poultry that are unlikely to leave their habitat of their own free will.
Recommendations for the care of young animals
Three weeks after hatching, the mulardics can be transferred to the barn. When fattening for meat, this bird is usually kept by the floor method. In the morning they let her out for a walk, and in the evening they drive her back to the barn. Mulard ducks, reviews of which are excellent, including because of their unpretentiousness, like any other waterfowl, are very fond of swimming. Allowing them to swim and splash in containers installed in the walk, however, is possible only from the age of two months - after they are fully fledged.
It is advisable to feed the ducks 3 times a day in the morning, at lunchtime and in the evening. Poultry is slaughtered at 2.5-3 months.
Growing mulard ducks at home
Newborn ducklings are usually strong and unpretentious. Therefore, the further cultivation of mulard ducks has almost no special features. At the same time, the main attention is paid to the selection of a diet for the fastest growth and weight gain.
Often from poultry farmers you can hear the opinion that mulard ducks, in the photo, grow well on almost any feed. From the age of one month, chicks are released for walking and pay little attention to feeding the birds, hoping that live inquisitive ducklings will independently provide themselves with food. Such content, indeed, relieves the poultry farmer of many problems. But a bird left to itself will not be able to show the results that are inherent in it by nature. Although by the age of three months the chicks will grow larger than their parents, due to a lack of protein feed, an abundance of moisture, which contributes to the early removal of food from the intestines and serious energy expenditures per day, the mularda will not reveal the full potential of the mularda.
From the first weeks of life, chicks should have a balanced diet with a predominance of specialized feeds or nutritional mixtures based on grain.
The competent organization of feeding mulard ducks and their maintenance determines how much weight the bird will gain by 7-9 weeks and later, when the time for slaughter comes. For fast fattening of ducks, they try to restrict movement.Due to the ability to grow lean meat with a low fat content, inherited from their musky ancestors, domestic mularda ducks do not get fat even on a hearty diet and without long walks. Therefore, free range is not provided for them, and feeders and drinkers are installed in the immediate vicinity of the herd location.
Raising mulard ducks is akin to keeping broiler chickens, when everything is aimed at a quick increase in carcass weight.
Juicy food and herbs are added to the mash or given separately. Water is offered in drip troughs. When feeding mulard ducks, the tendency to pecking is also taken into account, therefore, sulfur and feed rich in calcium must be introduced into the diet. We must not forget about such important components of the menu as fish and meat and bone meal, yeast and mineral supplements. Ducklings should receive them from the first month of life.
Under industrial conditions, mulards go to slaughter at the age of 7-10 weeks. Ducks produce excellent meat, and today males are increasingly fattened to obtain the most delicate raw materials for foie gras.
When using forced feeding of mulard ducks by the age of 4 months, poultry farmers manage to obtain a 500-gram liver of the highest quality. By the same time, the weight of the bird itself can reach 4 or more kilograms.
A video about caring for mulard ducks will be a useful help for a novice poultry breeder. Subject to the rules of keeping, proper feeding and maintaining cleanliness in the poultry houses, this unpretentious, interesting bird will delight you with its rapid growth and excellent quality of meat products.
Foie gras feeding
We reviewed the basic information about birds such as mulardy ducks (growing at home, reviews). The opinion about this hybrid is good not only because it has tasty meat. Gourmets also value the liver of this bird. A special dish called foie gras is prepared from it in restaurants. It is especially popular in France. But in Russia this dish is also appreciated and is quite popular. The fattening of mulard ducks for obtaining high-quality liver is carried out using a special technology.
In the first three weeks of life, the chicks are cared for in the usual way. The bird is then placed in cages, the size of which must be such that it cannot move a lot. The grown-up youngsters, raised for the liver, are fed with food containing a very large amount of proteins and starch. Include in the diet and special mineral and vitamin supplements.
From the 8-10th day of life, ducks begin to be fed forcibly, pushing food down the throat using a special auger with a tube. A mulard grown using this technology must receive at least 1.8 kg of grain per day. Forced feeding usually lasts 12-21 days. With this content, the liver of a bird grows 10 times its normal size. At the same time, it does not lose its excellent taste.
Thus, Mulard ducks, reviews of which are positive, including because of their liver, are actually very profitable for breeding. Of course, keeping them according to the technology described above is a rather complicated procedure and can be time-consuming. However, all efforts with this approach to business are usually rewarded a hundredfold. Mulard liver is handed over to expensive restaurants, and it is very expensive.
Good health is also what characterizes the domestic mulard duck. Reviews about this breed are good, also because it is very resistant to all sorts of infections. In this regard, mulardy usually do not deliver any trouble to their owners. They tolerate even cold and serious temperature changes quite calmly.
It is rare, but it still happens that these ducks develop aspergillosis or cloacitis. In the first case, a solution of copper sulfate (inside) is used for treatment, in the second, iodine and zinc ointment.
Mulard diseases
The hybrid is very resistant to most infections that are infectious to other species of ducks, but there are still a number of diseases that prevent mulard ducks from breeding at home. Diseases differ in their symptoms and, if not treated, can lead to the death of the bird.
If it is not enough to keep the house in order, not to change the litter, then it can rot or mold. At the same time, a fungus multiplies in it, which causes aspergillosis in birds. And if the sick are not properly treated, then up to half of the livestock may die. Aspergillosis symptoms:
- the bird is sluggish;
- does not eat;
- breathes frequently;
- vomits her.
For treatment, copper sulfate (0.15%) is mixed into the water, and the human medicine "Nystatin" is added to the feed, but the veterinarian will tell you the dosage.
Lack of vitamins and protein can lead to baldness birds that pluck out their own feathers. Other factors include dirt in the house, poor air flow, and overcrowding in confined spaces. The treatment is simple: restore vitamins A and D and keep the bird tidy.
The same vitamins, if they are insufficient in the diet, can cause cloacite - inflammation of the mucous membrane of the cloaca. Increase the amount of vitamins, and lubricate the cloaca first with iodine, and over the iodine with zinc ointment. In advanced cases, you will need penicillin ointment.
Worms, with which ducks can become infected in water bodies, cause them polymorphosis - a dangerous disease from which a bird dies at any age. Symptoms:
- poor appetite;
- vomiting;
- emaciation;
- diarrhea.
When opened, worms are visible in the intestines, adhering to the walls.
Treatment - the same copper sulfate, given at a concentration of 0.1%. The doctor may prescribe btionol, dichlorophene, filixan and other drugs. Decontamination of the poultry house will also be required.
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