Characteristics of the Dekalb White Chickens

At the moment, a huge number of different breeds of chickens are known, thanks to this a wide choice is opened for farmers. The decisive factor in choosing hens is their productivity. If the motley coloring and broiler carcass are not important for you, then you can pay attention to the Decalb White chickens.

Chicken breed Dekalb White

This variety was created in order to obtain large eggs in large quantities regardless time of year and the time spent on bird care. With this article you have it will be possible to find out more information about the origin of hens, their characteristics and care features.

General characteristics of the Dekalb breed

The Dekalb was born not so long ago, therefore it is new Cross, whose homeland is the United States of America. When compiling the description of the variety, this breed was called the “Princess Poultry”, the goal was to create a chicken with the longest egg production period and productivity at the proper level, which can carry a very good egg quality. Until today, work is underway in Europe to improve the breed.

There are varieties of Dekalbov: White and Brown. The most popular among farmers are white hens.Visually, they are a small bird with a small head and a red face. The neck is shortened, but differs in its width, it immediately goes into the back. The legs are small and there are no feathers on the yellowish-orange paws. The scallop is large, so it hangs even in chickens, the beak is small in a similar color with paws. In the photo you can see that the color of the breed is white or brown without any impurities.

Egg production of the Dekalb breed

At the moment, the hens give the maximum possible egg production. Decalb gives up to 350 eggs all year round, the weight of one egg is up to 74 g. Brown chicken will have an egg with a dark shell, and Decalb White with a white shell.

This breed is characterized by rapid maturation chicks to adult mature individuals.

They begin to lay eggs after 4 months, at the age of 10 months they have a peak in egg production. The weight of the egg is formed quite quickly, it takes 30 months by force, then the mass remains practically unchanged, a slight increase is possible.

Due to the fact that the productivity of Dekalba is slightly higher than that of other popular laying hens, this breed of chickens gradually crowds out others chickens and increasingly appears in chicken coops of experienced poultry farmers. In addition to a slight predominance in egg production, the maintenance of these laying hens requires lower feed costs in the ratio of ruble costs per kilogram of weight.

Features of the Dekalb breed

The Dekabel has a long oviposition, but despite the lack of laying instinct, there are also small periods of unproductive. In most cases, this happens starting from week 65, this is due to the molting period . In order to speed up this process, it is necessary to perform the following manipulations:

1. Reduce daylight hours, gradually bringing it up to 2 hours a day.
2. Limit chicken access to food, they should only drink.
3. After 10 days of light and feed, you should increase daily by 30 minutes of light day.
4. At the end, it is important to increase the calorie content in the food consumed by birds compared to the period of feeding before molting .

This procedure will reduce the time of the unproductive period from 60 days th to 45 days. In this period of time, this cross stops flying, but after the plumage is renewed, egg production is restored in full.

It is important to monitor the behavior of the bird, because the change of feather cover is sometimes accompanied by a high temperature in layers. If such a symptom is noticed, you need to consult a specialist.

Feeding Decalb chickens

For full life chickens especially need protein components, in connection with laying eggs they need calcium . If the Ca element in the feed is not enough, the shell becomes brittle and often deformed.Feed for laying hens can be either ready-mixed feed Monsanto, or prepared independently.

If you prefer mixed feed, it should have a balance of useful components, it should be selected depending on the needs and age of the bird. If you decide to cook the food yourself, it is important to pay attention to the components that must be included in the diet:

1. Russia is rich in cereal crops (wheat, barley, corn), which should become the basis of daily nutrition birds.
2. Fodder yeast, sunflower meal and fish or meat meal are also included in the list of necessary and irreplaceable elements.
3. Shredded shell rock, chalk and crushed bones are necessary for the strength of eggshells.
4. Greens, especially nettles and alfalfa, are favorable but it affects the egg yolk, making it more saturated in color and nutritious.
5. In the cold season, you need to include herbal flour or granules in the diet, this procedure will strengthen the immunity of the bird and allow the winter to survive without consequences.

Feeding of chickens of this breed should occur at least 3 times during the day, this is due to accelerated metabolism. Food should be well chopped. It is important to choose a specific composition of the feed and try not to change it throughout the whole time, because Dekalb takes a very long time to get used to the new diet.

In the case of a change in composition, there are high risks of a sharp decrease in the productivity of chickens.However, if circumstances arise due to which changes in the composition of the feed are inevitable, it is necessary to introduce new food gradually.

Breeding the Dekalb breed

Chickens of this breed do not differ in the brooding instinct, therefore, hatchery must be used to breed chickens. Of course, in special cases, Decalb females lay their eggs, but this is rare.

For this procedure, the best large incubation egg should be selected without any defects. The material should be taken from a bird that has been producing eggs for more than 3 months, such chickens are called res, i.e. productive laying hens. The survival rate of chickens pleases with its high level, so their breeding does not require much effort.

Conclusion

A chicken of the Dekalb breed hatch with a mass of 50 g and within 7 days add in weight up to 25 g, even if an egg It was incubation, not domestic. The average weight after 2 weeks after birth is about 125 g. If the chick hatched weak, he will die first e days of your life, the rest in the future will please with their productivity.