Contents
According to modern owners, the Pervomaisky breed of chickens is one of the most successful among those that were bred in the Soviet era. Breeding May Day chickens began in 1935. The breeders were tasked with breeding a large breed with high egg production, high-quality meat and calmly enduring the climate. Previously, these three qualities were usually present in three different breeds, and it was necessary to combine them in one. But livestock specialists coped with the task.
Moreover, they did it in such a way that today someone may have a delusion that in genetics 1 + 1 + 1 = 3. In fact, a colossal work was carried out on the selection, breeding and further selection of offspring according to the necessary characteristics.
Three breeds were used to breed Pervomaiskaya:
- The Wyandottes produced quality meat;
- Rhode Islands – high egg production in winter;
- Yurlovsky vociferous added frost resistance.
The May Day breed of chickens was registered in 1941. Hens were bred at the state farm. May 54st in Kharkiv region. Almost immediately after registration, war swept through this area. After the war, only fifty birds remained from the breed. But the productive characteristics of Pervomaisky chickens were too good to simply refuse to restore the livestock. From the remaining 1962 individuals, a dozen of the best laying hens and a rooster were selected and work began again. By 56, nothing threatened the breed. The total number of chickens of this breed reached XNUMX thousand. Today, May Day chickens are bred in the courtyards of Belarus, Our Country and Ukraine.
Description
The description of the May Day breed of chickens draws a bird of a meat and egg direction of a rather large size. The weight of roosters exceeds 3 kg and averages 3,2-3,7 kg. Chickens weigh 2-2,5 kg.
A dense, massive body is planted on relatively short legs. This is very clearly visible if you look at the photo of the laying hens of the Pervomaisky breed of chickens.
The head is small, wide, with a small pink crest. Pink crests are preferred for breeds living in regions that experience extreme cold. These combs have less risk of frostbite. The face, lobes and earrings are red. Earrings are quite long, oval in shape. The beak is black and yellow. Yellow edging goes along the edges of the beak.
As you can see in the photo, the neck of the May Day breed of chickens is short. The back is wide, even. Shoulders well muscled. The wings are tightly pressed to the body. The tail is lush. The tail of a chicken is almost horizontal. The rooster’s tail should be vertical. Both sexes have short tails. The pigtails of the rooster are poorly developed.
The chest is broad and well muscled. The abdomen is well developed. The legs are short with powerful thighs. Metatarsus unfeathered, yellow.
The plumage is dense, well adjacent to the body. The color of May Day chickens is Colombian:
- the head is white;
- lanceolate feathers on the mane are black with a white stem;
- the body is pure white;
- the wings are white on the outside, with black feathers on the inside;
- lanceolate feathers on the lower back of a rooster are white;
- tail feathers are black, in chickens they may be trimmed with white.
The shade of dark feathers can vary from jet black to dark gray.
Disqualifying faults
The May Day breed of chickens should not have long pluses. The color of the metatarsus cannot be white-pink. The fault is white lobes and a leaf-shaped comb. Dark feathers on the body are also unacceptable.
In the photo of this rooster of the Pervomaisky breed of chickens, there are two drawbacks, because of which reviews about the breed are unlikely to be flattering: dark feathers on the body and white and pink metatarsus. With a high degree of probability, the rooster has an admixture of other blood, which means that the offspring from it will not be purebred.
Character
The matured Pervomaiskys are distinguished by a very calm disposition. They are not afraid of people and do not fight with other chickens. But farmers note that up to 5 months, these chickens of Pervomaiskaya breed are somewhat wild.
Productivity
For meat and egg breeds, Pervomaisky laying hens are distinguished by high egg production. Their first egg-laying begins at 6-7 months. For a year, laying hens of this breed can produce from 150 to 190 eggs with an average weight of 65 g. Pullets carry eggs weighing 55 g. In winter, egg production does not stop, but decreases by 20-30%. Shell color can vary from light brown to dark brown.
The meat characteristics of the breed are also not bad. Three-month-old bettas weigh more than 2 kg. According to reviews, the meat of May Day chickens is juicy and delicate in taste.
Content
Pervomaisky are quite finicky in content. Their best qualities are manifested only with a properly composed diet and well-organized living conditions. The May Day breed is not at all similar to the “standard” village laying hens.
The description indicates that the breed is frost-resistant, and many owners calmly keep these chickens in unheated chicken coops. And the birds start to get sick. After that, reviews appear that the description of the Pervomaisky breed of chickens is incorrect and there are no photos confirming that these birds can feel good in cold weather. There really is no photo, but for good health in winter, Pervomaisky must definitely receive vitamin supplements.
In the spring, it is imperative for chickens to put baths with sand or ash so that birds walking on the street can dry and clean their feathers.
Breeding
For the first herd, it is better to buy a hatching egg at poultry farms that breed thoroughbred birds. After receiving the chickens, they need to be sorted according to signs of deformity. Plus breed – a good response to breeding work, is its own minus.
At birth, in a population of any animals with desirable traits, about the same percentage of animals with unwanted traits is born. Therefore, if you need to improve the breed, the selection of chickens must be done very strictly and more than once.
How to select
The first culling is done immediately after hatching. Married on signs of ugliness and health. But usually such chickens die on their own within 1-2 days. The second time chickens are selected at 2-3 months, removing from potential breeders individuals with scallops that are not pink-shaped, too large or any color other than red. Birds with white metatarsus are also culled. The flock is “cleaned” for the last time after the juvenile molt, when the exact color of the chicken becomes clear.
With closely related breeding, the manifestation of deformities and defects is most likely.
From the remaining individuals for breeding, a group of 8-10 hens per rooster is selected. Fewer females are highly undesirable as males are very active and may kill females. For small private farms, there are three ways to get quality poultry.
First option
Purchase of hatching eggs from different factories for the subsequent creation of two unrelated families. Each of the families should have a main and reserve roosters. From these hens, first-generation chicks are obtained. The first generation roosters from the original flock are slaughtered and the young are left with their family.
The next year, the second generation of home-grown Pervomaisky will be obtained from the abandoned pullets and further “family” ties become undesirable. Therefore, a young rooster is chosen from a parallel family to replace the old one, and pullets in families are mixed in the proportion of 50 “friends” / 50 “strangers”. The next year the cycle is repeated. This method allows you to breed chickens without blood flow for 7-10 years. Then birds from outside are required.
The second option
In the presence of large areas, if a sufficient number of eggs were purchased and, preferably, from different factories, 5 groups can be formed. Of the four groups of grown chickens, 2 lines are formed, planting a rooster from the second group to the chickens of the first group. The fifth is propagated in itself and kept as a reserve. In the group from which the roosters are selected, only the largest bird is allowed to breed. In the “chicken” group, the best laying hens are bred.
Third Embodiment
Suitable for those who do not have the opportunity to purchase and incubate eggs of purebred chickens, but there are outlets for purebred unrelated roosters.
In this case, the “blood purification” method is used using purebred roosters. Outbred chickens are crossed with the first rooster. The offspring are allowed to breed with the second. The third generation is crossed with the third. In order not to be confused, the previous groups of chickens can be sent for slaughter by winter. Among the young, a rigorous selection is carried out according to the exterior and productivity. The result is chickens that are almost indistinguishable from real thoroughbreds. Although sometimes “outbred” genes can “shoot”.
In this case, one should not be surprised at the appearance of qualities that are not characteristic of May Day chickens.
Reviews
Conclusion
The owners’ reviews are often opposite to the description and photo of the May Day breed of chickens. But with a photo, the problem is more often that a non-purebred bird was bought. And to the description, most of the claims to immunity and frost resistance. But just these qualities in animals largely depend on the conditions of detention and diet. With beriberi, birds are guaranteed to get sick and the breed is not to blame.
At the same time, there are rave reviews when chicken breeders claim that, apart from Pervomaisky, they do not need other chickens. Therefore, we can conclude that the breed reveals itself with proper maintenance.