A duck of the Ukrainian breed was bred near the city of Kharkov, at a research institute in Borki as a result of crossing the best meat breeds. Ukrainian ducks are famous for their excellent appetite, quickly gain weight and prefer to be free-grazed. Birds are mobile, unpretentious to food and living conditions, and grow to large sizes. Young meat is tender and tasty.
Description and characteristics of the breed
Ukrainian poultry is a meat breed and is very popular among farmers because it quickly gains body weight.By the age of two months, ducklings weigh 1.8-2 kilograms, and at four months they reach 4 kilograms. Ducks have good survival rate - only 3-5% of the young die.
The plumage of Ukrainian ducks is quite thick and lush. If you feed and care for the bird properly, you can get a large number of eggs. The steppe duck of the Ukrainian breed received its name for its great love for spacious pastures. Birds are active, love freedom, swim well, and quickly rise to the wing. They are vocal, quacking can be heard from a distance from the pen.
Appearance of Ukrainian ducks:
- white - the body is covered with completely white feathers, the beak is from bright yellow to dark orange;
- clayey - brown plumage, green beak, red-orange paws;
- wild-feathered - the feathers of these ducks can be golden, light or dark brown. Males have a white stripe on their necks, bright bluish-green plumage on top, orange paws, and a greenish beak with a black dot at the end. During the molting period, males become similar to females;
- gray - these ducks have dark backs (from brown to black), gray wings and bellies, and bluish plumage visible on the sides.
Ukrainian ducks have a powerful, muscular body, a strong neck, a wide chest, and an elevated body. The head is elongated, the forehead is flat. The Ukrainian bird is active, rarely sits still, constantly searches for food and eats, due to which it quickly gains weight. The character is flexible.
Ukrainian ducks are bred not only for meat; laying hens produce 120-140 eggs throughout the year. With enhanced care and balanced nutrition, you can achieve 240-250 eggs.
Pros and cons of Ukrainian duck
The Ukrainian duck is famous for its unpretentiousness to living conditions - an adult bird does not require a warm heated room, just enough dry and deep bedding. Other advantages of the breed:
- mobility and ability to independently obtain food for oneself;
- rapid weight gain, thanks to which the first slaughter of poultry can begin as early as two months of age;
- high-quality meat - in young animals it is tender, soft and tasty;
- flexible and peaceful character;
- excellent down that can be used for stuffing pillows and feather beds;
- high egg production rates.
There are no large number of disadvantages noted for the Ukrainian breed - ducks are not susceptible to cold, but to drafts and severe dampness in a cold room. Under the influence of drafts, Ukrainian birds quickly catch colds and get sick.
Conditions of detention and care
The Ukrainian bird flies well immediately from the water and can fly quite high, so the fences of the pen should be at least two meters high. Ducks do not tolerate crowded housing; it is not recommended to place more than three individuals per square meter of pen.
The bird is unpretentious to its living conditions and feels comfortable even in winter, in frosty conditions. The only condition for good maintenance of Ukrainian ducks is pens in which there are no drafts (the bird is very sensitive to them), warm and dry bedding on the floor made of shavings or peat. Ducks do not require a thick-walled building with powerful heating.They can coexist in the same house with other birds if the barns are not very overcrowded. For laying hens, it is important to build nests made of wood measuring 40*50 centimeters. One nest can accommodate up to five laying hens.
Bird diet
The diet of chicks and adults differs. For adult ducks, it is necessary to make feeders made of wood for dry food, with walls no lower than 6 centimeters; for mixed food, metal dishes 15 centimeters high are suitable.
It is important for young animals to include in their diet:
- semi-liquid feed with milk - in the first 1-2 days of life;
- mixed feed from cereals - corn, wheat, barley with the addition of fish bone or grass meal, fresh herbs and vegetables;
- bone meal and crushed shells are necessary for young animals to replenish the volume of minerals.
As young ducks grow older, they are switched to the diet of adults. In addition to ready-made food, the bird happily eats food waste, forbs, and grain (in summer it is given up to 25% of the total food, in winter - up to 50%).
During the summer season, ducks can obtain most of the food themselves, but the farmer must provide the birds with food at least three times a day. Vegetables (beets, potatoes, cabbage, zucchini, pumpkin) and fruits (ranettes, apples) are important in the diet. It is not recommended to give compound feed in dry form; it is better to mix it with juicy grass and vegetables. It is important to provide ducks with a supply of clean water since they drink a lot.
Features of breeding at home
To breed Ukrainian ducks yourself, you need to take the eggs no later than 20 days before the date for placing them in the nest under the hen. One hen can hatch 7-12 eggs. It is recommended to place a larger number of eggs in the incubator. Ducklings hatching occurs on days 29-30.
At first, young animals are kept in a separate room with a temperature of 30 OC, after a few days the temperature is reduced to 20 OC. Ducklings need clean water, fresh food from boiled eggs, cottage cheese, wheat porridge with milk.
Possible diseases
Despite the good immunity of Ukrainian ducks, they can suffer two types of pathologies:
- infectious, for example, paratyphoid - young ducklings are most susceptible to it. Mortality rate is up to 80%. Manifested by diarrhea, inflammation of the mucous membranes of the eyes, poor appetite. Viral hepatitis is also dangerous - it leads to massive mortality of birds;
- parasitosis – when infected with helminths, ducks lose weight, lose appetite, and internal organs and the immune system suffer.
To avoid diseases, it is important to disinfect the place where the poultry is kept, give the ducks vitamins and feed enriched with nutrients. This strengthens the immune system and curbs epidemics of infectious diseases on farms.
Ukrainian duck is unpretentious and flexible, produces high-quality meat and is a very egg-laying duck. The breed has long won the love of farmers because it is suitable for home keeping and does not require special expenses.
