Contents
The origin of the Master Gray chicken breed is hidden in a veil of secrecy. There are two versions explaining where this meat and egg cross came from. Some believe that these chickens were bred in France, others that they were bred in Hungary by the Hubbard company.
In which country, indeed, the breed was bred is unknown, because the ownership of the Hubbard company itself is shrouded in mystery. The company is international and they did not bother to indicate the address of the head office on the website. There are breeding centers in several countries, and their representatives work all over the world. The company’s products come to Our Country from Hungary. But the breed received its first recognition in France 20 years ago, hence the opinion arose that it was bred in this country.
Description of the breed of chickens “Master Gray”
Master Gray chickens are named for the color of their plumage, which is dominated by gray feathers with randomly scattered individual white and black feathers. The mottled pattern stands out most clearly in the neck area and along the edges of the wings. On the case the speck is greased.
Chickens have powerful legs that support a large body. The weight of the laying hen is 4 kg, the roosters grow up to 6 kg. Master Gray hens start laying even before industrial egg crosses.
Meat without excess fat, very tender. A large yield of dietary meat makes the chicken suitable for making baby food. And there are also those who wish for large meaty legs.
Master gray chickens are very accommodating and have a phlegmatic temperament. They tame very quickly. However, all crosses are distinguished by the absence of fear of a person. Many owners, having started chickens of this breed, refuse to keep ornamental chickens.
In the photo cross Master gray:
Since this is a cross, there is a splitting according to the genotype in the offspring. Even a brilliant geneticist will not be able to breed a cross on his own using parent breeds, for the simple reason that the original breeds are kept secret. Therefore, you will have to purchase chickens from Hubbard.
The hens themselves can be used to incubate eggs from hens of other breeds, but this may not be profitable if we are not talking about rare and expensive breeds for sale.
The disadvantage of the Master Gray chicken breed can be considered too slow weight gain compared to broiler crosses.
Plus in private farms – hens easily carry 200 eggs a year, but they don’t reach 300. According to the owners, this may be due to the fact that it is impossible to provide the best conditions for keeping poultry in the farmstead, similar to the conditions in poultry farms.
However, the same thing is observed in the personal farmstead and when growing broilers, which is why the myth arose about the addition of steroids to broiler feed in poultry farms.
Content
The breed of chickens Master Gray is distinguished by high adaptive abilities and is unpretentious in content. But it still makes minimum requirements for its content. All requirements are dictated by the exceptionally large size of chickens.
Chickens could satisfy the dust-rolling instinct by bathing in sawdust, but it is the ash that is needed. Bathing in the ashes is necessary for chickens to destroy the feather-eaters that settle in the feather cover. Without sand, too light ash will quickly scatter throughout the chicken coop, without bringing any benefit. So that the ashes do not fly everywhere, they mix it with sand.
The calculation of the area for chickens is done taking into account the fact that Master Gray chickens need much more space than ordinary chickens. Therefore, there should be no more than two chickens of this breed per square meter of floor area.
For winter maintenance, the chicken coop is insulated and equipped with infrared lamps. In addition to warmth, such lamps provide additional lighting during the short winter days, helping to keep laying hens at a high level.
Feeding
Fundamentally, feed for Master Gray chickens does not differ from feed for any other breed of chickens. If there is no goal of fattening chickens like broilers, then Master Gray is not given food that is especially rich in protein and carbohydrates.
Actually, the feeding of broilers and egg hens is different in that broilers focus on protein and carbohydrates, while egg hens contain large amounts of vitamin E, calcium and protein.
Feed Master Gray at least 3 times a day. Grain is given in the morning and in the evening, and in the afternoon greens, vegetables and a wet mash with bran and turd. If there is a green area with weeds, you can let the chickens go for a walk there.
In the diet of chickens, there must be feed of animal origin: bone, meat and bone, blood or fish meal. For the strength of the shell, chickens will need mineral supplements in the form of ground egg shells, chalk or shells. Grains, herbs and vegetables form the basis of the diet.
In the photo, day-old chickens Master gray:
Grown up chicken Master gray:
Chickens under the age of one month should receive feed with a high protein content: finely chopped hard-boiled eggs, meat, chopped fish. It’s also good to add greens. You can use ready-made feed for chickens. But you need to be more careful with compound feed, because when using compound feed for broilers, chickens will grow faster, but will not rush.
In addition to protein components, cereals are also necessary. From the first day you can give boiled millet mixed with an egg. Although chickens that have access to sand can also digest raw cereals.
From a month and a half, “heavy” cereals are added to chickens: ground barley and wheat, with a high content of carbohydrates. An increase in feed consumption occurs along with the growth of the chicken. For each kilogram of gained weight of feed, it is consumed:
- up to 2 weeks – 1,3 kg;
- from 2 weeks to 1 month – 1,7 kg;
- from 1 to 2 months – 2,3 kg.
For normal development, chickens should not be deficient in food. In order to avoid malnutrition and struggle for food, where the stronger will inevitably push the weak from the feeder, it is better not to save on feed and give it in excess so that everyone can eat plenty.
Other breed variants
The mysterious breed “Master Gris” is still the same “Master Grey”, but in the French reading of this name.
This is due to the fact that this breed of chickens comes to Our Country from Hungary.
Based on the same parent breeds, Hubbard developed another line with a red color, which was called “Foxy chick” (literal translation “fox cheek”). Another name for this breed is Red Bro. They have similar characteristics to the Master Gray, but their plumage is red.
The direction of this line is also egg-meat, but the breeders believe that the Red Bro is larger than the Master Gray and is better laid.
The photo shows a typical Red Bro chicken or Foxy chick:
Daily chickens Red bro:
Grown up chicken Red bro:
In addition to the original Master Gray and Red Bro, the company has already brought out two more subspecies:
- Master Gray M – the result of crossing gray Master Gray roosters and Red Bro hens;
- Master Gray S – the result of crossing Master Gray M roosters and Red Bro hens.
Both subspecies differ from the original breeds in a pale yellow, almost white color, dark wing edging and a characteristic gray dot on the crown.
In the photo line Master gray M:
And on the bottom photo is the next line of Master Gray S, in the color of which is a little more red.
Since Master gray and Foxy chick are similar in their characteristics, chickens can be kept together from the first day. In case of warm weather, the chickens calmly walk outside in the aviary.
Owner reviews of Master Gray chickens
The owner of these chickens describes his impressions of Red Bro very well on the video:
Hubbard chickens are already quite popular in the West and are becoming more and more famous in the CIS. They are a very good replacement in private farmsteads for broiler and egg industrial crosses that require special conditions of detention.
