The Mechelen cuckoo is known to poultry breeders by several similar names: it is called Mecklin, Mechelen and Mechelny. A common name is Malin. Mechelen chicken meat was bred in the XIX century, and in 1979 a club of breed admirers was created. To create the hens, they crossed the Shanghai breed and the Brahma, adding a share of the genetic material of the Flanders and Mechel cuckoo breeds.
- Appearance features of Mechelen hens
- About the productivity of cuckoos
- How to keep chickens
- How to feed cuckoos
- About the content of young cuckoos
Mechelen cuckoo
The bird is of Belgian origin, it was named after the city of Mechelen. Several variations of the name of the breed cuckoo may be thanks to the constant and repeated changes of name mountains ode.
Peculiarities of the appearance of Mechelen chickens
Mechelen cuckoo, as already noted, belongs to the meat direction , therefore it is distinguished by its stockiness and size, which can be seen according to any photo of the breed’s representatives, the Mecheln female can weigh about 4 kg, while the male reaches a weight of more than 5 kg.
Her external description is very special, because the main color of the birds is black and white stripes, and sometimes there are pure black, white and blue individuals as in the photo. The limbs of chickens are quite strong, decorated with “feather pants”. The Mechelen cuckoo is distinguished by a bright red comb and earrings, which seem to be created to decorate the breed. The crest has a leaf-like shape, but chickens with a folate-like crest are also found.The beak is painted in a light, beige shade and is also quite strong.
As for the males, the breed rewarded them with a wide rounded chest with a prominent trunk. Both females and males have short wings that are firmly pressed to the body, therefore, there is no need to trim the wings if you do not want the neighbors to laugh. The Mechelen cuckoo has bright red or orange eyes, and the character of the birds is calm and unusually balanced. Despite the meat direction, chickens can be used as a decorative breed because of their attractive and unusual appearance.
Despite the fact that it may seem that using the name “Cuckoo” is ridiculous, in fact it is completely justified. Raspberry has a mottled color and an undeveloped maternal instinct, which brings it closer to the cuckoo, while being a negative feature of the laying hen, reluctantly hatching its eggs. Therefore, to save the population, they use incubation equipment or a foster mother that can take care of the chicks.
About the productivity of cuckoos
It is important to note that in addition to performing exclusively the meat function, the breed can also please with good egg production. a raspberry cuckoo is capable of producing up to 150 eggs of rather large size and weight in one year, which reaches 70 g. The weight of males on average rarely exceeds 4 kg, and chickens – 3 kg.
In addition, the taste of the products is delicate and, according to reviews, have thin fibers. Mechelen chicken is used for many Belgian dishes, and one of the most famous recipes is to make breasts using Belgian beer.
How to properly contain chicken
On the quality and size of the room First of all, the size and characteristics of the rock affect. In order for the Malin chickens to feel comfortable, it is necessary to provide them with the necessary conditions, among which:
- A spacious, classic floor room with a low hedge (about a meter). Due to the large size, the Mechelen cuckoo of raspberries does not have the ability to fly, therefore, the main funds must be allocated to a wide area of the house;
- Low temperature of maintenance (about 15 ° C).
- Dry and clean a site that is not exposed to drafts and winds.
- Lighting that does not exceed 10-12 hours.
As for chickens, the eggs are placed in the incubator for a month, and before biting, each egg is shone through in order to reveal dead embryos or unfertilized biomaterials. After birth, the chickens are placed in wooden boxes or cardboard boxes with the bottom covered with paper. The floor is covered with straw, sawdust and peat.
There is no difficulty in hatching eggs from the Mechelen chicken.But do not forget that incubating cuckoos can only cause disappointment, because the breed’s maternal instinct is completely absent, therefore, withdrawal using an incubator or other laying hen is considered the most acceptable option.
Mechelen breed “gives itself out” more from infancy: chickens survive in any conditions and have a special gender. Chickens are distinguished by a bright spot on their heads and black backs, and cockerels by a spot on their backs. In the chicken coop, all individuals behave extremely calmly, therefore they never cause problems when kept with other breeds. However, one rooster considers itself the guard of the whole herd, therefore it is better to keep it away from other males. You can preliminarily see what the behavior and appearance of chickens is in the video.
How to feed cuckoos
Not only the appearance and lack of requirements in the content can please the poultry farmer who chose the Malin breed. There is another feature of growing cuckoos – unpretentiousness in nutrition. In order to feed the birds, it is enough:
- factory feed for the meat industry or the usual “home” food;
- grass, grain, mash , greens, cereals;
- a certain amount of vitamin supplements, minerals, fish oil .
Proper diet and balanced nutrition contributes to rapid weight gain.If we take into account ordinary birds, talking about killing in 4-5 months, this can only amuse, but as for the Mechelen specimens, at this age their meat already reaches the desired weight, and the carcass is suitable for slaughter.
About the content of young cuckoos
In order to maintain the vital activity of the chicks, you will also not need extra-complicated efforts. Feeding should be repeated every couple of hours, and protein feed should be included in the diet for development. As they grow older, the chicken is transferred to four meals a day. Chickens do not need a long daylight, because 10 hours of lighting will be enough for them. In general, one young chicken per day requires only 100 g of feed. According to professional poultry farmers, sometimes a cuckoo can show its selectivity in food, which, although it happens quite rarely, is not explained by any theoretical evidence.
Carcass meat is ideal for mechanically deboning with a separator. The procedure allows you to grind the bones with meat, dividing them into several components. Using this procedure, semi-dry bone mass and soft compounds are obtained in the form of minced meat, which can be used for meat production immediately after processing.
Thus, hens of the Mechelen breed are a rather profitable investment. Besides the fact that the birds are balanced and calm, they are able to survive even in very difficult conditions, due to their stability and good immunity. The meat of birds, in addition, is in demand due to its high palatability.And let this breed not be able to answer the question about life expectancy with the help of a typical “cuckoo”, its advantages delight so that the choice of breed Mechelen chickens will be justified.
