Master Gray: What attracts the breed?

For breeders of poultry, two main aspects are important: egg production and meat characteristics of geese, chickens or ducks. Most often, chickens are found on domestic farmsteads, and the choice of bird breed depends on the specific purpose of its rearing. At the same time, there are some universal options that, along with high egg production, can also surprise with rather high meat qualities. One of these breeds is Master Gray, about the features of the content of which at home, you can learn from this article.

History of origin and description

Chickens Master Gray or Master Grise - representatives of meat and egg breed, which were bred in Hungary for home breeding, not requiring supplementation of the diet with any additives. In the old days and nowadays, the company Hubbadr (Hungary), which has its branches in the USA and France, is engaged in breeding these birds, which is why many believe that the first chickens are of French origin.

In fact, the first chicks appeared at one of the experienced factories of the above company, although this recognition was first won among French farmers. The main breeding goal was to obtain the possibility of growing good meat and egg chickens on ordinary farm land, not only in the specialized conditions of poultry farms.

When describing chickens of this breed, it should be noted their good egg production. The first testicles can be collected already on reaching females of four months of age, and in general their number reaches 200 pieces per year. However, in addition to this, birds also have a good indicator of weight: as early as three months they weigh up to 3 kg, and roosters often reach 7 kg. These unpretentious and hardy chickens also have an attractive appearance. They have a gray-white plumage, due to which the breed got its name.It is also distinguished by a rather high survival rate of young stock (up to 98%), which means that when breeding such birds you will always have a lot of eggs and cockerel meat.

Breed characteristic

Contrary to popular belief, Master Gray is not a pure breed, but a cross (a hybrid of lines and rocks), therefore, it is quite difficult to bring out new representatives with similar characteristics at home. A distinctive feature of these chickens (if we compare them with the popular Kuchinsky or Adlersky chickens) is a meek disposition and less fearfulness. They are more obedient, calm and focused on people. In some cases, there is no need for other decorative pets at all.

Master Gray is characterized by a large stature, massive legs of medium length and various colors, with a predominance of gray.

Motley coloring is obtained as a result of the chaotic alternation of white and gray feathers, and a clearer pattern appears in the neck and at the edges of the wings. Towards the middle of the body, it becomes not so clear and the gray areas merge with white dots. Comb and earrings painted in scarlet or bright red.

However, if you manage to get really bright representatives of the breed, then you will receive not only beautiful monasteries of the farmstead, but also very productive chickens that bring large eggs (60-70 g each).

Representatives of the breed are also good and caring.: they clucked in time, did not get out of the clutch and attentively treat the chicks, although the offspring each time more and more degenerate and, due to characteristic signs, move towards one of the parents.

Where to keep chickens?

Given the unpretentiousness of the chickens described cross, it is logical to assume that they do not require any special conditions of detention. That is, you can safely do without expensive additives to the main feed and special equipment for the supply of water and feed. The bird can be kept both on the floor and in the cages, and it also behaves well on the walk.

Place for walking

Despite the fact that breeders allow the possibility of keeping the cross in cages, a high-grade poultry house with the possibility of walking will be a more optimal solution to the problem of the bird's dwelling. Having fenced off part of your plot, especially if a large number of various herbs grow on it, you will not only allow the chickens to develop well due to physical activity, but also contribute to their independent production of all vitamins from the local vegetation.

As for the size of walking, which by the way, can be both stationary and mobile, then usually for a comfortable accommodation of 10 individuals there will be enough area of ​​16 m². It is also better if the structure is located away from the paths and constant attention of people, which will reduce anxiety of chickens (stresses contribute to a decrease in egg production).

The selected area should not be constantly under the scorching sun, shade one part of it, giving your pets a place where they can hide on a hot day.Do not forget that, like in the house, fresh water must always be in the range.

Requirements for the house

Any chicken coop, regardless of the breed of its inhabitants, must meet a number of specific requirements that will help protect the bird from disease. Taking into account, the undemandingness of Master Gray for the harmonious development of representatives of the cross will be enough to have a dry, clean place with constant ventilation, and no more than 20 chickens should fall for each 10 m²

Also take care in advance about the comfortable life of the bird in winter, that is, when building it, warm it up immediately or use additional heat sources (this way you keep the bird's high egg production throughout the year). As for additional heating, it is not necessary in the room.

Master Gray is equally well tolerant of both heat and cold, but like other relatives, he endures drafts badly. By covering the floor with straw, sawdust or shavings, you can achieve a constant temperature not lower than +2 ° C, and this value will not become lower even in the most severe cold. The fact is that in the process of decomposition of the lower layers of the flooring, a rather large amount of heat is released, sufficient for the comfortable life of your chickens, so that they will be carried even in winter.

Mandatory elements of the house are perches and nests. The sizes of the latter should be at least 35 cm wide and 40 cm long, although taking into account the size of the hens of this breed, both values ​​should be increased by 2-3 cm. feathers.

Feeding rules

To feed any poultry of one grain is not enough, because for normal growth, development and good egg production, nutrition should be as balanced as possible. Consider options for rations for chickens and adults of the Master Gray breed.

Chickens

From the first days of their life, young animals can be easily fed with mixed fodders, possibly supplementing them with vegetables and green grass. At two weeks of age, wet mash and food waste are gradually introduced into the diet. Otherwise, the requirements are the same as for the content of adult birds: fresh water should always be in the barn, and fine gravel and sand can be used to improve digestion.

In the period of active growth of chickens, it is equally important to use chalk, milk cream and shells, which are added to food in ground form.

Starting from six weeks of age, when feeding the young Master Gray, ground wheat or barley grain is gradually added.

Taking into account the high growth rate of chickens during the period of ripening, when caring for them, you must be prepared for the fact that their feed consumption will also increase several times (1.5 kg of feed usually falls on 1 kg of weight gained by the bird). No need to save, because even a small hunger strike will negatively affect the development of chickens. Provide the bird with constant access to the feeders and feed there.

Adult bird

Grain, fish meal, greens, pumpkin, corn, carrots and other vegetables should be present in the diet of the already formed representatives of Master Gray.For improvement of digestion, shell rock, crushed egg shell and chalk are often used. The feeding of an adult livestock, according to the rules, should be carried out several times a day, and in the morning and in the evening the bird is given dry food (that is, grain), and in the middle of the day they are replaced by greens and mash. It will also be good to regularly produce chickens on the run with fresh green grass, where they can find useful plants or eat worms themselves.

Disease resistance

When creating the described hybrid, scientists made every effort to produce extremely hardy birds that are resistant to various diseases and infections. I must say that they succeeded, so that illnesses attack Master Gray's cross very rarely. However, this does not mean that you should forget about prevention and rely only on the genetic stability of the organism of your wards. Strong immunity will not protect them from vitamin deficiency or the invasion of parasites.

Given that these problems often lead to cannibalism (especially when shedding), the inspection of the bird should be a regular exercise. In addition to the hens themselves, the chicken coop should be regularly disinfected, which, at least a little, will reduce the risk of a possible pest invasion.

To prevent the development of beriberi, it will be enough to choose the right diet, optimally balancing it to get all the vital vitamins and trace elements.

Breeding characteristics

As we noted earlier, it is almost impossible to get full-fledged offspring at home, with the entire set of parental characteristics, since any heterotic breed does not provide for the transfer of maternal signs to offspring. Therefore, for the breeding of these birds, the owners of agricultural land will have to purchase ready-made chickens or hatching eggs of hens of this breed in the nurseries.

In principle, this can not be called a bad decision, because the percentage of survival of young stock is quite high, which means that you will not waste money on the wind.

Also, when breeding chickens, you need to know that record egg-laying rates are observed only in the first year after it began, and as the birds mature, the hens lose their positions. That is, their productive period is very, very short (from the second year onwards, this figure is reduced by 30-40%, which is why experts advise to replace the livestock at the end of its peak performance).It is important to pay attention to the period of molting birds. Accurately determine the time of this process is extremely difficult, since its beginning depends on the time of the appearance of chickens into the world and the conditions of their future life.

Usually, the beginning of the molt coincides with the end of the autumn period, but in some chickens it may begin earlier or later, often delaying throughout the winter. The advantageous advantage of this cross country is the continuation of egg production even at such a difficult time for the birds, only the owner must follow enough nutrients in their diet, additionally using fish oil and various vitamin supplements.

Of course, year-round egg production is not the only advantage of Master Gray, and compared to other breeds, these chickens have something to surprise you with.

The advantages and disadvantages of the breed

Consider some of the beneficial advantages of Master Gray cross-country, which made him the favorite poultry option of many breeders:

• Bird quickly gains weight, and there is a rapid increase in muscle mass, not fat.
• All representatives are quite economical. in terms of feed intake (of course, not during a period of active growth).
• The resulting meat is very tender and is characterized by excellent taste properties, however, the taste of large eggs is also at altitude.
• There are no special requirements for conditions of detention. and livestock breeding (Master Gray is similar in its basic characteristics to ordinary chickens, except that even in the photo their large sizes are noticeable).
• There are no special dietary requirements. and feeding regimen.
• Disease resistant livestock and temperature changes.
• These chickens are non-conflicting., able to get along well with another bird and are characterized by a calm attitude to man.
• Chickens of this cross - good hens, thanks to which they can be used to incubate other eggs.
• And finally, the representatives of the Master Gray have a very beautiful appearance, which allows them to become a real decoration of any compound.

As for the minuses of breeding such a bird, then one can not forget about the following:

• The birds described are cross, not breed, which means it is simply impossible to breed them at home, because the resulting offspring will not be like any of the parents (you will have to buy new representatives every year).
• Compared to broilers, young animals are not so quickly gaining weight (although, if you look at them, broilers belong to the purely meat version, while Grays also give a lot of testicles).

As you can see, there are a lot of reasons to give preference to the described variant of chickens, and although they are still not well known in farmers' circles, due to their undeniable advantages, they have every chance of becoming the favorites of most farmsteads soon.