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The undeservedly forgotten Adler silver chicken breed was bred at the Adler poultry farm. Hence the name of the breed – Adler. Breeding work was carried out from 1950 to 1960. In the breeding of the breed were used: Yurlovskaya vociferous, May Day, white plymouth rock, white, New Hampshire. Breeding did not take place on the principle of “everything was mixed and looked what happened.” The rocks were added sequentially. In the intervals between the infusion of a new breed of hybrids, they propagated “in themselves”. The task of breeders was to obtain high-quality meat and high egg production of a new breed of chickens.
The domestic Pervomaisky and White became the basic breeds. Later, the blood of Yurlovskys, White Plymouthrocks and New Hampshires was added to them. The new breed has long been in demand on the industrial poultry farms of Soviet collective farms and state farms. The Adler breed of chickens lost its position only after the appearance of specialized industrial hybrids, moving into the category of chickens for private farmsteads.
The breeding scheme of the Adler breed of chickens:
- May Day x Moscow White = F1 hybrid;
- Breeding crosses in oneself: hybrid F2;
- F2 hen x New Hampshire rooster = F3 hybrid. Chickens were selected with high vitality and egg production;
- Breeding crossbreeds in itself: F4 hybrid and selection for uniformity and meat precocity;
- F4 hens x white plymouthrock roosters = F5 hybrid;
- Breeding F5 hybrids in themselves with selection according to the desired qualities: F6 hybrid;
- Further selection of F6 for the desired qualities and crossing of a part of F6 hens with Yurlov roosters to obtain F7 hybrids;
- Breeding F7 in itself.
Feedback from the owner of Adler silver chickens.
Description and photo of the breed of chickens silver Adler
Adler breed of chickens, photo of a purebred rooster.
Adler silver chickens are one of the best domestic meat and egg breeds. The description of the Adler silver breed of chickens indicates that outwardly these birds are similar to the Sussex breed.
The head of the Adler silver is small with a leaf-shaped crest of medium size in roosters and rather large in hens. The lobes are whitish. Faces and earrings are red. The beak is yellow. The eyes are red-orange.
The neck is medium in size, the mane of the roosters is poorly developed. The body is medium, horizontally set. The back and loin are straight. The chest is wide, fleshy. The belly is full. Long wings are so tightly pressed to the body that they are almost invisible. The tail is small, rounded. The pigtails of the roosters are not long. Legs of medium length. Metatarsus yellow.
This distinguishes Sussex chickens from the Silver Adler chicken breed.
In the photo below, the Adler silver chicken is right in the background, and the white and pink shin of the Sussex breed is clearly visible in the left in the background.
Colombian color: with completely white plumage, the necks and tails of chickens are decorated in black. Feathers on the neck are black with a white border. On the tail are black tail feathers. The outer integumentary feather is black with a white border. The pigtails of the roosters are black. The reverse side of the flight feathers on the wings is black, but this is not visible when folded.
Photo of an Adler silver rooster with spread wings.
Vices that are unacceptable for purebred adlers:
- long braids in the tail:
- long thin neck;
- too large comb hanging to one side;
- a long tail;
- high body position.
Sometimes Adler breed chickens can give birth to offspring with feathered metatarsus. This is the legacy of the parent breeds. Such chickens are purebred, but are culled from breeding.
Photo of chicken Adler silver.
The productive characteristics of the Adler silver chickens are very good for the meat and egg direction. Roosters weigh 3,5 – 4 kg, chickens 3 – 3,5 kg. The egg production of Adler silver laying hens is 170 – 190 eggs per year. Some are able to carry up to 200 eggs. Compared to industrial egg crosses, adler eggs today are considered medium in size, although their weight is 58 – 59 g.
Pros and cons of the breed
According to reviews, Adler silver chickens have a very docile nature and quickly become attached to the owner. They are little sick and resistant to adverse weather conditions. Unpretentious to feed and conditions of detention. The egg production of Adler chickens does not decrease even in the heat, provided there is shelter from the sun’s rays.
To obtain eggs, adlerok can be kept for 3 to 4 years, as opposed to industrial crosses. The age when Adler silver chickens begin to lay is 6 – 6,5 months. This is late for egg breeds in poultry farms, but it is advantageous if the bird can be kept for several years instead of a year.
The disadvantage is considered a poor incubation instinct, forcing the owners to use the incubator.
Breeding adlerok
Since the incubation instinct was lost during the formation of the breed, the eggs will have to be incubated. For incubation, it is better to select an egg of medium size, without shell defects. A good solution would be to enlighten the egg with an ovoscope.
If a laying hen lays an egg on the pavement, it may crack slightly at the sharp end. These eggs are not suitable for incubation.
The specimens selected for incubation are preliminarily disinfected. There is an opinion that you can do without it. But wise farmers say: “You can hatch a couple of times without decontaminating the eggs, but then you have to throw out the incubator.”
Incubation occurs similarly to any other breeds of chickens. Adlerok has a high fertility and a 95% chick yield. The hatched chicks are all yellow.
The safety of chickens is 98%.
When breeding laying hens, it must be borne in mind that an early hatched chicken will ripen ahead of schedule. Spring chicks can start laying eggs as early as 5 months old. But such early egg-laying leads to a reduction in the life of the bird. The optimal time for breeding chickens – future laying hens: the end of May – June.
Description of the content of Adler silver chickens with a photo
Despite the unpretentiousness of adlerok, they need shelter from the weather. Well-flying, these birds need perches for psychological comfort. A hen, if she can, always flies up a tree at night. Of course, at home, adlers do not need perches 5 m high, but it is advisable for them to put at least low poles. The photo shows such perches in the aviary, where the adlers are kept.
The second option for keeping chicken livestock is outdoor. This option is well suited to farms that contain a significant number of livestock. With floor maintenance, it is necessary to monitor the level of humidity in the chicken coop. All chickens do not tolerate high humidity. Even with low humidity and deep litter, it is necessary to watch the fingers of the hens.
Such balls block the blood flow in the fingers and interfere with the normal development of the claws. In advanced cases, the phalanx of the finger may die. Therefore, deep litter must be stirred daily. And check the birds periodically.
Outdoor maintenance of young chickens of the Adler silver breed in the photo.
Adlerki are well suited for keeping in small and medium-sized farms. There, too, floor content is more convenient, although adlers can well exist in cages. Due to their unpretentiousness, these chickens are beneficial for medium-sized farms.
Adler silver breed of chickens. Farm photo.
Today adlerok is bred in the Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories, as well as in Azerbaijan. After a period of decline, the number of adlers began to grow again. If in 1975 there were 110 thousand heads, today the livestock has exceeded 2,5 million. Adlers are popular throughout the post-Soviet space, due to their complaisant nature and good productivity.
Diet
Being a “Soviet-made” bird, Adlers are not picky about food, but require a high protein content. This type of feeding was the norm in the USSR, where meat and bone meal was added even to feed for herbivorous cattle. With a lack of calcium and protein, adlers lay small (40 g) eggs, which often causes dissatisfaction among farmers. You can increase eggs to normal by balancing the diet for minerals, trace elements and protein. Chickens without protein are stunted.
Many advise adding small boiled fish and porridge in fish broth to bird feed. But keep in mind that in this case, the meat of slaughtered chicken may smell like fish. The solution to the problem can be feeding the birds with vitamin and mineral premixes and dairy products.
Adler silver, results.
Reviews about the Adler silver breed of chickens
Conclusion
The description of the breed of Adler chickens on websites is often very different from reality. This may be due to the loss of the purity of the breed by Adlers, since Sussex chickens are often sold under their guise, and few people look at their paws. And it’s not difficult to convince an inexperienced buyer that white paws are normal for a chicken, “then they turn yellow.” Colombian color is also not uncommon among other breeds. As a result, negative reviews appear about the shortcomings of the Adler silver chickens, and the photo is not at all Adler.
Purebred adlers, bought from a conscientious breeder, delight their owners with longevity and fairly large eggs.