Description and characteristics of the Moscow black breed of chickens, egg production

Among the birds bred in small backyards, the Moscow black breed of chicken is one of the most common options. The breed does not have specific maintenance requirements and demonstrates high productivity rates.

History of origin

Members of the Moscow Agricultural Academy together with employees of the Brattsevskaya poultry farm were involved in breeding the breed. Breeds such as Brown Leghorn, New Hampshire and Yurlovsky Vocal chickens were used for crossbreeding, and then the resulting 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 cream or pale brown shells. The egg production rate varies between 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, of roosters - 2.7-3.5 kg. Thanks to the well-developed muscle mass, the meat of birds of this breed is tastier in comparison with egg-laying 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 feathering on their necks. Roosters are distinguished by the presence of light feathers on their backs and shoulders.

Chickens have a wide head with a medium-sized curved beak and an erect large red comb, dark orange eyes and red and white lobes. The outline of the body is convex, the back is oblong, the paws are set wide.

Hatching instinct

The Moscow Black breed has a poorly developed brooding instinct. It is recommended to use an incubator for breeding chickens.

Character of Moscow black chickens

The breed has a calm character.Chickens are not aggressive and are usually even-tempered, so they do not require enclosed yards with high fencing.

Advantages and disadvantages

Any breed of chicken has its positive and negative characteristics. The Moscow black breed is valued for the following advantages:

• resistance to common diseases;
• calm and gentle character;
• endurance;
• unpretentiousness to environmental conditions and diet;
• good productivity;
• high taste qualities of the resulting meat.

In addition to a number of advantages, the breed has certain disadvantages. In particular, these include:

• weak brooding instinct;
• late periods of egg production;
• tendency to obesity due to overfeeding.

Conditions and care

The Moscow Black chicken breed is unpretentious in terms of keeping conditions and is resistant to frost, which simplifies the breeding process. Birds respond well to being kept both in open chicken coops and in closed enclosures.

Chicken coop

When setting up a chicken coop, it is enough to meet a number of standard conditions. The walls of the poultry house should not contain cracks, with the exception of exhaust ventilation. The indoor floor is covered with bedding, for which dry leaves, straw, peat, hay or sunflower husks are used. The presence of litter helps absorb moisture generated along with the droppings.

With a bedding layer thickness of about 0.5 m, it is possible to provide additional insulation and keep the birds in an unheated building. Bedding material begins to be prepared in the warm season and is stored in a dry room, periodically checking for the absence of mold.

Walking area

It is recommended to attach a yard for walking birds to the chicken coop in a place where a large amount of grass grows.Chickens eat green vitamin feed, which allows you to save on this. If individuals walk in rainy weather, puddles quickly form in the area, which provoke the development of diseases and invasion of worms. For this reason, you need to ensure that the exit from the patio is disinfected and dried.

Feeders and drinkers

Black chickens eat more than regular laying hens, but less compared to broilers. It is important to take into account the basic pattern - the amount of feed consumed affects productivity. You can place feeders and drinkers inside the poultry house and, by adding feed, regulate the egg production rate.

Molting and break in egg production

Molting is a natural process and occurs in the autumn, when the old plumage is replaced by new ones. Until the birds are completely covered with new feathers, they need to be protected from frost. If possible, birds should be moved to a coop and any stressful situations should be prevented. During molting, there is a break in egg production, which is restored after the growth of new feathers.

Features of feeding

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 grass, vegetables and fruits as additives. You can feed your birds boiled potatoes in moderation. Since the Moscow Black breed is phlegmatic and digests food more slowly, it is important to prevent birds from becoming obese. Chickens should always have free access to water.

Chickens

To reduce labor costs, the easiest way to feed chickens is to use complete ready-made feed. By sticking to the dry type of feeding, the chicken consumes the amount of food that it needs. The food can be in the feeders all the time and you just need to control its availability.

Subtleties of breeding

Thanks to its unpretentiousness to environmental conditions, breeding is not particularly difficult even for beginning farmers. The easiest way to raise chickens is in an incubator. The main factor in this case is monitoring 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 compliance with preventive measures can keep chickens healthy. In rare cases, infection with mycoplasmosis occurs. Treatment of the disease requires the use of antibiotics.

Analogs

There are several common breeds of chickens, which in most respects are similar to the Moscow Black. Analogues include: New Hampshire, Moscow White, Australorp, Rhode Island and Sussex. These breeds are characterized by high productivity rates, stable egg production and unpretentiousness to environmental conditions.