Description, photos, foxy chick chicken breed productivity

Traditionally, breeds of domestic chickens are divided into egg, meat and decorative. Choosing among them, the owners thus focus their efforts on one or the other direction of their farm. but there are universal birds, possessing excellent meat, high egg production and at the same time (small but nice!) pleasing the eye with their bright plumage. It is to these breeds applies foxy chick. This hybrid appeared on our market quite recently, but has already managed to get a lot of rave reviews.

History of origin and description

The homeland of this amazing in its characteristics of the cross is Hungary, from there the birds came to Europe, where they immediately gained immense popularity and today are not just known all over the world, but are among the ten most successful hybrids of European origin. For impressive sizes they are also called "Hungarian giant", and for the characteristic color of plumage - red cross or red broiler. The official name of the hybrid, translated from English meaning "fox chicken", is also associated with the fiery-red color of the feather, resembling fox fur, which distinguishes the foxy chick breed and makes it exceptionally attractive.

It is the thick, fluffy and bright plumage of red, red or brown color of different intensity that is the hallmark of the foxy chicken. The abundance of fluff makes the hybrid extremely resistant to cold and frost. Continuing the description of the appearance of the bird, it should be noted a large head with a straight or slightly inclined red comb and round earrings of the same color, perfectly in harmony with the color of the feather. The color range is complemented by small and slightly bulging orange eyes, as well as paws and beak of a soft yellow hue.

The birds have a strong, well-knit physique, a massive neck, a wide chest, a deep belly and strong legs. The wings fit snugly to the body, the small tail is flirtatiously raised. With a small height, the chickens look very proportionate, neat and harmonious.

Indokury, Amroks, Maran, Loman Brown, Redbrough, Heisex Brown and Heisex White, as well as chicken foxchik, belong to the meat and egg breeds of chickens, obtained by crossing two types - meat and egg.

Breed characteristic

The foxy chickens, as already mentioned, have excellent characteristics both in meat indicators and in egg production. At the same time, the breed is distinguished by endurance and unpretentiousness, which makes it especially popular among poultry farmers.

Weight indicators

Hungarian broilers are rather large birds. The average weight of roosters is 4.5-5 kg, although individuals are known to gain up to 7 kg. Layers are slightly smaller, their weight usually does not exceed 3.5-4 kg.

Important! The undeniable advantage of the breed is a quick weight gain. This indicator is especially interesting for farmers who choose which poultry to stay on.

If we present the growth dynamics of chickens in the form of a table, it will look like this:

Of course, at one and a half months the growth of the chicken does not stop, although its pace is somewhat slower. The bird usually reaches its final size by the year, although sometimes it can gain some weight up to a year and a half.

What else the Hungarian cross is valued for is meat quality. In addition to excellent taste, it is completely non-greasy, and therefore is perfect for baby and diet food.

Egg production

A fox chicken in the heyday of its productivity can carry 250, and with good care even 300 fairly large (up to 70 g) eggs during the year. For meat and egg breed is an excellent indicator.

Did you know? You can often hear that a good hen should bring one egg per day. In fact, this figure is greatly overestimated, because even for egg breeds, two and a half hundred eggs per year are even higher than normal, and meat and egg chickens, on average, are 15% less productive.

Egg laying birds always have natural seasonal fluctuations, but the Hungarian cross here also compares favorably with its counterparts. These birds rush almost constantly, although in winter, of course, not so intense. Breaks are associated only with periods of molting, which can be greatly reduced by artificially reducing the length of daylight at a time when the hens' egg production has ceased or has greatly decreased, and the hens themselves have lost their luxurious plumage.

The first laying of red broiler eggs can be obtained by the end of the fourth month of the hens or a few weeks later. The eggs of the breed have a rather dense light beige shell. Their size increases with the maturing of the chicken, reaching its maximum size within a month after the first laying, but after passing through the peak of productivity, they again begin to decrease.

Important! One of the main disadvantages of the breed is the short period of high egg production. On average, it lasts only 12 months. But here the second direction of the use of foxy chic — meat — comes into force. Hungarian broilers are usually slaughtered at the age of two years.

But the red cross has excellent immunity and very rarely suffer from certain diseases including those affecting growth and development. Even in the case of not very good care and lack of certain nutrients, chickens will still be nice to nest, just the beginning of the period of egg production may come a little later.

Completing the description of the productive qualities of foxy chick, it should be said that the hens of this breed are not record breakers of egg production and do not possess particularly outstanding indicators regarding meat. The main advantage of the Hungarian hybrid is a balanced middle between the two indicated directions. Moreover, if the poultry meat is simply very good, then they even benefit somewhat in terms of egg production compared to other breeds of meat and egg orientation.

Where to keep chickens

Due to its unpretentiousness, excellent health and the ability to easily adapt to a variety of climatic conditions, including quite aggressive, chickens foxy chic well suited for breeding at home. For this you need to create literally the minimum conditions.

Get acquainted with the features of breeding meat and egg breeds of chickens.

Place for walking

Free walking outdoors is very desirable in the warm season for adult birds and chickens from the age of one and a half months. The time of such walks can not be limited.

Hungarian cross perfectly mastered in nature and easily earn their own food on their own, so that for the farmer such activities - a solid economy.

If for one reason or another it’s impossible to organize free-range walking for a bird, can be equipped for her so-called tanning bed - a place where the chicken will breathe fresh air and bask in the sun, while remaining at the same time limited in movement. To this end, on the southern side of the house, with the help of a metal grid, a small space about 2 meters high and with an area that the yard allows is enclosed. Since the amount of pasture in such a solarium is limited, it is necessary to place a trough in it, however, it is necessary to monitor its cleanliness especially carefully, because on the street food spoils much faster than indoors.

If chickens in the house are kept on the ground, walking, even if limited, is simply necessary for them.

Important! Free walking significantly improves the taste of poultry meat, and the eggs of such hens contain six times more natural carotenoids necessary for our body, compared to the “production” of birds, unable to walk in the fresh air.

You should not stop walking with the onset of cold weather. If the temperature has not dropped below ten degrees of frost, the bird will not interfere with refreshingly leaving the stuffy poultry house for a while.

Requirements for the house

It is not necessary to heat the house, which will contain foxy chic. It is only important that the litter is clean and dry, in which case it will ensure the preservation of heat at the right level. Peat, straw, dry leaves or branches or sawdust will be suitable for bedding. In the warm season, the thickness of this layer should be no more than 12 cm; in winter, especially in extreme cold, the material will need more.

There should be no drafts for the well-being of feathered pets in the house, but the ventilation system should be well organized: favorable conditions for reproduction of pathogenic and putrefactive bacteria, as well as pathogens of fungal diseases are created in the stale and humid air. In order to avoid such a problem, in addition to ventilation, it is necessary to clean the house in a timely manner, change litter and carry out preventive antifungal treatment of the walls.

Hungarian cross - the bird is quite large, therefore, it is often kept on the floor, considering that such a giant would be problematic to climb a high perch. Nevertheless, many farmers note the excellent flying ability of the foxy chicks, so a wooden perch with a diameter of 3.5–5 cm, located at a height of 0.8 m, is suitable for this breed as well as possible. Do not forget to build nests for layers at the rate of from three to five for each bird.

Bathing is an integral part of the hygiene of poultry. Applied to chickens, of course, this is not about water, but about dust. In the house it is necessary to provide special baths (baths), filling them with a mixture of ash and sand of small fraction (one-to-one ratio). Scrubbing feathers in such a composition, chickens reliably protect them from various dangerous parasites.

Feeding rules

Foxy Chick is not only unpretentious to the conditions of detention, but also not picky about food. Of course, the rules for feeding adult birds and young animals have their own characteristics.

Chickens

Feed the chickens of the Hungarian cross need special feed for broiler chicks. Conventional food, which is traditionally used for young chickens meat and egg breeds, for this hybrid is not suitable!

Some poultry farmers recommend feeding the chicks with a mixture of boiled chicken eggs and milled grain, gradually adding boiled vegetables and finely chopped green clover, nettle or alfalfa to it. After some time, the feed begins to diversify with lime additives, meat and bone or fish meal.

Important! In the diet of chicks, all the time are in a closed poultry house, be sure to add fish oil.

However, starting from the age of six weeks, the bird can be transferred to the usual diet used for adult chickens, giving preference to food more fine grinding, so chickens will be easier to cope with swallowing and digestion.

By the age of four months, when the chickens of the Hungarian cross-country race begin to nest, they should be completely transferred to natural food.

Not only food, but also drink is of great importance for the health of young birds. Drinking bowls should be constructed in such a way that the chicks could not get there with their feet, otherwise the water will immediately become dirty.

Important! Drinking bowls and feeders for young animals should be cleaned especially often and thoroughly.

Adult bird

With adult food it's much easier. Any combination feed will be suitable here, including concentrates used for meat and egg chickens. In a balanced state, they contain all the main components necessary for maintaining the health of the bird.

When choosing a natural feed, one should proceed from the fact that cereals and legumes such as wheat, barley, corn, and peas should form its basis. Also, do not forget about the green component of the diet. Chickens with pleasure eat finely chopped shoots of alfalfa, nettle, clover and the same peas. It is good to supplement the food with fresh or boiled vegetables. Blend of boiled root crops (potatoes, carrots) and milk, dairy products have remarkably proven themselves.

As already mentioned, in summer, chickens that have the ability to freely graze in the open air, independently provide themselves to the animal (small insects and their larvae, worms, etc.) and vegetable (grass, seeds, seeds) food. But in winter, in order for the diet of the bird to be fairly balanced, it’s still need to enrich the various additives. In particular, at this time it is necessary to add vitamin components to the mash, to give the bird sprouted millet, in addition to the usual, and also to diversify the feed with fish and meat components, meat and bone meal, fish oil, dairy products, maggots. Special vitamins for broilers are available for sale, and they can also be purchased to make the poultry nutrition truly complete.

One more an important element of the diet - mineral supplements. In the house should always be crushed chalk, eggshell or rakushnyak.

Breeding characteristics

Thanks to the excellent health and excellent survival of the young, fox chic breeding chickens is a real pleasure. Prophylactic vaccinations and compliance with all the above requirements for feeding and care - that's all that is required of this bird.

Did you know? Chicken is the most common pet. Scientists estimate that the number of these birds on earth today is three times the number of people. And this is despite the fact that each person eats up, on average, between 1,200 and 2,400 chickens in his life!

Foxy chick peas are excellent hens and attentive mothers. Hungarians managed to create a hybrid with a surprisingly developed incubation instinct, with golden chickens being equally concerned with both their own and alien eggs, making them used as hens for hatching chicks of less “responsible” breeds.

A dozen chicks at a time - a very real result for one hen. At the same time, the bird not only does not leave its “post” and is not distracted by trifles, but even conscientiously turns over hatched eggs so that the warmth of the maternal body warms the future babies as evenly as possible. Such care gives the results.

Important! Foxy chick is one of the few chicken breeds that can boast almost one hundred percent survival among chickens.

All the farmer needs to do is to feed the hens in a timely and full-fledged manner during the hatching period, since the bird itself may not take care of itself, paying full attention to the “mother duty”. And then the saying that chickens are counted until the fall doesn’t touch your business.

Still, a fox chic cannot be called a chicken with an ideal character, and this applies not only to roosters, but also to laying hens. With all their responsibility towards the offspring, towards each other, the clubs are quite odious and often shit "over trifles." And already cockerels temperament in general can be a serious problem. Experienced breeders strongly advise to limit the male part of the livestock to one mature individual, otherwise serious fights and even injuries cannot be avoided.

Important! The Hungarian giant is generally distinguished by its hectic. The birds can make an incredible noise, barely seeing a stranger approaching them or even a small animal.

This feature must be borne in mind when choosing a place for walking the birds, so as not to create problems for her or her neighbors.

If the results obtained by Hungarian scientists seem to someone not impressive enough, you can try to correct the hybrid yourself.

Did you know? The chickens, excellent in meat quality, are obtained from the “union” of two meat-egg breeds, namely the layer of the Hungarian giant with the red Orpington breed rooster. But replanting rooster island rooster hooks (meat and egg chickens of American origin) will have little effect on the productive numbers of the offspring. So, if there was no rooster of a suitable breed in the house, - no problem, you can replace the player in the team.

Speaking about the breeding of foxy chick, one should also mention that the breed has not yet received wide distribution in our country; therefore, it is necessary to acquire birds only in specialized nurseries, otherwise you may encounter scammers. If the farmer chooses to buy for later egg breeding, one should prefer medium specimens. The consideration is very simple: the small chicks are weak and painful, and the larger ones are more difficult to transport without damaging.

Advantages and disadvantages

Having studied all the characteristics of foxy chickens and having admired the photos of these luxurious fire birds, it is safe to say that This breed has a lot of undeniable advantages. As a matter of fact, all of them have already been listed above, however, to summarize:

• the bird is unpretentious, does not require the creation of any special conditions for housing, easily tolerates severe frosts and temperature drops, and also perfectly adapts to different climates;
• Hungarian cross, unlike meat breeds of chickens, practically does not get sick and has excellent immunity;
• feeding of red broilers is also not associated with particular difficulties, besides, if there is an opportunity for free-range, the bird can pretty much feed itself;
• the hybrid has excellent egg production (above average), puberty comes early enough;
• taste and dietary quality of meat is quite high;
• hens of this breed are very responsible for their maternal responsibilities, so that the survival rate among chickens tends to be one hundred percent;
• young animals gain weight very intensively;
• Add to this charming appearance - and the list can be considered complete.

Perhaps the only drawback of "fox chickens" (except for the hateful nature and craving for constant disassembly between themselves, as well as zapoloshnosti and noisiness) is a rather short period of productivity - as it was said, the largest eggs carry no more than one year. However, this deficiency in the farm is easily compensated by the rapid replenishment of livestock, as well as excellent meat, which has a broiler slaughtered at the age of two.

Thus, foxy chik - A great choice for a novice farmer, wishing with minimal effort and money, always have fresh eggs and tender meat on the table, and also cause white envy among the neighbors who watch the hens of fiery red fox coloring proudly nursing on free grazing.

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