Content
The first experiment to breed commercial broiler cross among ducks began in 2000 at the Blagovarsky breeding plant, which is located in the Republic of Bashkortostan. Breeders crossed 3 duck breeds: Indian runner, foreign cross "Super-M" and "own" Blagovar breed of ducks. The goal was to obtain a Russian duck broiler cross with the same productive characteristics as the western ones, but less demanding on feed and housing conditions.
The Agidel duck turned out to fully meet the necessary requirements. Two lines of cross Agidel were created: А345 and А34. The lines differ slightly in their production characteristics. In general, the Agidel ducks meet industrial requirements. Work on improving the cross is still ongoing. Although there were three “parental” breeds, today the offspring with consolidated traits have already been obtained from hybrids. In other words, Agidel ducks are beginning to claim the breed title.
A duck with white feathers always looks more attractive due to the absence of dark hemp in the skin. In addition, the industry that processes duck down is more likely to take white. Such fluff is worth more than dark fluff. For a private trader, such subtleties usually do not matter. The meat and egg characteristics of poultry are more important to him.
Description of the Agidel breed and productive characteristics
Large duck with white plumage. The head is large and long. The eyes are set high, dark in color. The beak is large and wide. Beak color is yellow. The neck is long, of medium thickness. The duck's ribcage is well muscled, deep, protruding forward. The back is wide and long. The body is set almost horizontally.
As a broiler breed, Agidel ducks grow very quickly and are suitable for slaughter as early as 2 months. The breeding farm in the productive characteristics of the Agidel breed indicates the average egg production of this cross for 280 days of the season - 257 pieces. The weight of one egg is 90 g. High egg production is a heritage of one of the parent breeds - the Indian runner, improved by directed selection.
It must be remembered that the Agidel duck breed has two lines: one is closer to the egg, the second is aimed at obtaining meat. The egg production of the first line is higher than that of the second, so the data on egg production are averaged. If the "egg" version of the breed today can lay 260 eggs in 40 weeks, then the indicators of the second will be about 240 eggs in the same period.
There is also a difference in meat characteristics. The "egg" line is lighter and produces less meat than the "meat" line. Although both of these lines belong to the same Agidel breed.
By 42 days of age, ducks of the Agidel breed reach a weight of 3100 g. The fatness of the carcass in representatives of the Agidel breed is lower than in ordinary ducks of the meat direction and is 29.4%. "Standard" obesity is 35% on average.
Ducks of the Agidel breed begin to rush from 6-8 months, depending on the type of feed fed. When receiving compound feed intended for laying hens, the egg-laying season in females begins earlier.
Breeding and rearing of Agidel ducks
Since splitting is still going on in crosses, it is better not to breed the Agidel breed at home.The offspring most likely will not retain their parental qualities, and the group of Agidel ducks, which does not give splitting, is still too small in number. Therefore, it is better to buy agidel ducklings directly from the Blagovarsky breeding farm or buy an incubation egg there.
This is often what determines the dissatisfaction of the owners of private farmsteads with the growth rate of "agidels"
When eggs are incubated from ducks of the Agidel breed, 81% of ducklings hatch. Agidel ducks have good preservation of their young. More than 97% of the hatched ducklings survive.
Advantages of the Agidel ducks breed:
- fast set of muscle mass;
- relatively low fat content of meat in comparison with other breeds of ducks;
- immunity to leukemia;
- high quality down and feathers.
The disadvantages include only the need to withdraw this cross in incubators, which can be inconvenient for private owners.
Features of maintenance and feeding
It is more profitable to grow drakes for meat, ducks are smaller, but more mobile. As a result, the feed intake by the females is the same as that of the drakes, but the return is lower. The average feed cost is 2.24 feed. units
When ducklings hatch from eggs, their sex cannot be immediately determined. And given the white color, even later, the sex can only be determined by the size and the quack. By quacking, not earlier than the young stop squeaking like little ducklings. That is, around the time of slaughter.
Newly hatched ducklings are provided with a warm brooder (28-30 ° C) with round-the-clock lighting. The brooder should be large enough to stay dry for a while. Ducklings, like adults, love to splash in water, managing to pour water even from vacuum drinking bowls. But in the first days of life, the fluff of ducklings gets wet easily and staying on a damp litter can affect them critically.
Ducklings grow quickly and from the first days of life they need a high-calorie food with a high protein content to build muscle mass. With round-the-clock lighting, the ducklings will eat even at night, so one should not forget about providing the chicks with food at night. After the feed, the ducks go to drink and the presence of water is also required.
The balance between dry litter and constant water availability can be achieved either over a large area or on deep litter. The ability to splash water can also be limited by making nipple drinkers for ducklings.
Downy ducklings get wet after 2 weeks, until they change down to feathers. But those chicks who are already older than two weeks have a large body area and it is easier for them to withstand hypothermia. Therefore, in any case, it is better not to leave fledgling ducklings in the reservoir for a long time.
In the photo, Agidel ducklings are about a month old.
Industrial crosses are displayed with the expectation that they will initially be fed with ready-made compound feed. The Agidel ducks are no exception. Ducklings start life with starter feed for broilers. Even in adulthood, ducks of this breed are better served with grain than mash. Any transition to another type of feed is best done very gradually.
The duck house should be light, dry and well ventilated. And you need to monitor the cleanliness of the litter. Ducks are considered a dirty bird for a reason. True, the concept of "dirty" in this case is controversial. The duck loves to breed a swamp near a drinking bowl or a bath, but it eats clean food, unlike an omnivorous chicken.
Just in the photo, the ardent love of ducks for the swamp near the drinking bowl is clearly visible. And a beginner who wants to get himself ducks should be ready for this.
Agidel ducks can do with a small swimming pool in the aviary. If you provide them with a large reservoir, then it is better to arrange the poultry house as far as possible from the pond.In this case, the ducks will have time to dry out until they reach the house, and will not bring dirt inside the house.
In general, the content of agidels does not differ from the content of ducks of other breeds. Ducklings can even be kept in the same enclosure. Then the difference between agidels and other ducklings will be clearly visible. Agideli is larger.
Reviews of the owners of agidel crosses
Conclusion
Ducks of the Agidel breed are still little known among private traders, especially since at the moment Agidels still need to be bought directly from the factory. When the necessary productive traits are fixed and the splitting along them stops, the ducks of this breed will take their place not only in industrial poultry farms, but also in private farmsteads.
