Main meat-type duck and turkey breeds for poultry farming

Pekin breed. Developed in the USA based on ducks of Chinese origin. For several decades, Pekin ducks have been widely raised on collective and state farms in our country.

The poultry is large. The body is somewhat upright, long, wide, and deep. The head is elongated, the beak is slightly concave, the neck is of medium length and thick; the back is wide and long; the chest is deep and convex. The wings are small; the legs are short. Their plumage is white with a slight creamy tint; the beak is orange-yellow; the legs are orange.

Ducks weigh 3.5 kg, drakes — 4 kg. Ducklings grow rapidly; at 50—60 days of age, they weigh 2.2—2.5 kg and provide carcasses with tender, succulent meat. Egg production is 130—150 eggs or more. Poultry from crosses obtained using the Pekin duck breed weighs 3.5 kg by the 45—50-day slaughter age. The Pekin breed is widely used in the industrial production of duck meat.

Ukrainian white, black, white-breasted, clay, and grey ducks are breed groups developed in Ukraine. Ducks with white plumage have the greatest production significance.

The North Caucasian Bronze breed of turkeys, in further breeding work when crossbreeding with White Broad-Breasted turkeys, served as the basis for developing the new North Caucasian White breed.

Turkeys of the North Caucasian White breed are widely used in meat production; at 120 days of age, line crosses yield birds that weigh about 3.8 kg (females) and 5.5—6 kg (males) with meat

of high quality and white-pink skin with no traces of black feathers on the carcass. Feed consumption per 1 kg of live weight is 3.6—3.8 kg.

Further breeding work with turkeys is aimed at improving meat qualities and egg production while maintaining high fertility and viability. North Caucasian turkeys are one of the most common breeds in our country.

Bronze breed. The homeland of these turkeys is the USA. The poultry is large with a wide, convex chest; a long, wide, and level back; a long keel of the breastbone; and high, fairly thick legs. The head and neck have skin growths that change color — from red to bluish-white. Their plumage is black with a copper-bronze sheen. The primary wing feathers have white or grey-white transverse stripes; the tail coverts are black with brown transverse stripes and bronze markings at the ends; the tips of the feathers are white.

Turkey hens weigh 9 kg, gobblers — 16 kg. After fattening, carcasses with a large amount of tender, white, succulent meat are obtained. Egg production of turkeys raised in our farms is 80—90 eggs. The best layers produce more than 100 eggs per year. Turkeys are good sitters, but the manifestation of the brooding instinct reduces egg production.

In the USA, Broad-Breasted Bronze turkeys were developed, which are distinguished by their large mass: females weigh 9—11 kg, males — 17—20 kg. The poultry is called "broad-breasted" because of the very good development of the pectoral muscles. This breed was used in crossbreeding to develop the North Caucasian Bronze breed and is of significance for broiler production.

Characteristics of Moscow and Tikhoretsk turkeys

The Moscow White breed group was developed by crossbreeding local White Dutch and American Beltsville Small White turkeys at the "Berezki" state farm in the Moscow Region. Meat qualities are well-expressed, the chest is wide, and the leg muscles are well developed.

Egg production is 100 eggs or more. Turkeys of this group are raised and used for industrial meat production at the Starinskaya poultry farm in the Kyiv Region and in some other farms.

Tikhoretsk Black turkeys were developed by selection and matching of local turkeys at the Tikhoretsk state breeding nursery in the Krasnodar Territory. Meat conformation is well-expressed.

• Weight of males: 9 kg (average indicator).
• Weight of females: 4—7 kg.
• Egg production: 70—80 eggs or higher.

They are raised in the Krasnodar Territory.