Recently, on Russian poultry farms, you can increasingly find black chickens. These birds are unpretentious in care, they can be bred without much hassle. Even a novice poultry farmer can handle the breeding of black chickens. The unusual color of these birds makes them bright and noticeable against the background of other inhabitants of the poultry yard.

Black chickens: a history of the species

Black chickens are a variety of domestic chickens that became popular about 20 years ago. Previously, such birds were considered a huge rarity. At the moment, black chickens are successfully grown on all continents. In these birds, not only the plumage has black color, but also the insides, so their meat is not always in demand, despite the excellent taste.

Black chickens

There are several breeds of black birds, and all of them were bred artificially, through a long selection. At the moment, on domestic poultry farms, you can most often see the breed of chickens Russian black bearded. This breed got its name for the presence of a pronounced "beard" in birds.

On a note! The black bearded breed of chickens is unpretentious in care and easily adapts to any climate.

Also in Russia, the Uheyilui breed is willingly bred. Sometimes Brahma chickens are black. However, in bram, black is more often combined with white. These birds are not only meat or egg, but also decorative. Different types of black chickens are often found in children's mini-zoos. Their children - black chickens - look especially cute and unusual.

Characteristics and features of black chickens

Descriptions of black chickens can be easily found in specialized poultry literature. Usually, the literature describes primarily the Russian black bearded Galan, the most famous breed of chickens. Most species have the following features:

  • The color of the bird is bluish-black, resembling a crow, without spots and blotches of a different color. A good example is Galan chickens. The breast may be slightly lighter than the rest of the body. Spots are considered a sign of a defect. The presence of gray (like the hair of a wolf) blotches is also recognized as a marriage. The meat is slightly lighter in color than the plumage, but also dark. Internal organs also have pronounced pigmentation;
  • Differences between a male and a female - roosters are slightly larger than chickens, grow faster, gain weight more actively. The cock's beak is slightly larger, sharper and wider. The head of roosters is slightly larger in size or the same as that of chickens;
  • The average weight of a female is 1.5 kg, the average weight of a rooster is up to 2 kg. There are also larger specimens, 3-4 kg. Pedigree are larger than "outbred";
  • Size - medium or large, black chickens are almost never small;
  • Fertility - a hen can lay 100-150 eggs per year, depending on the conditions of detention. The better the chicken is taken care of, the more productive the hen will be. They start laying eggs very early;
  • Focus - egg, meat and meat and egg breeds. There are also decorative;
  • Most breeds are distinguished by a developed hatching instinct. However, in some breeds, chicks can only be born in an incubator;
  • Among the many varieties there are several breeds of laying hens, the most famous of which are Minorca and Castellana. There has been a long debate over which of these breeds is more productive. Bearded hens are also good laying hens;
  • Food - no different from the food of other birds.They are omnivorous: the diet of adults contains vegetables, cereals, industrial feed;
  • Raising black chickens is no different from raising chickens of other breeds.
Black tomatoes

You can hatch chicks both naturally (with the help of a brood hen) or artificially - using a homemade or store-bought incubator.

Advice! Choose an incubator that has an automatic egg-turning cycle of 4 hours.

Features of breeding black chickens

It is profitable to breed them, since waste-free production can be easily organized. In addition to valuable meat (and it has medicinal properties in black birds) and eggs, plumage can also be realized (used for making pillows and featherbeds with natural filler), as well as "guano" - bird droppings; it contains a large amount of minerals and is considered an excellent agricultural fertilizer.

Valuable meat and eggs

Dwarf chickens

When breeding, the recommendations of experienced poultry breeders should be taken into account:

  • When breeding ornamental breeds, it should be borne in mind that the birds of these species are quite capricious in care and are sensitive to any environmental influences;
  • Caring for chicks includes feeding, treatment and prevention of infectious diseases, cleaning the premises from poultry droppings and walking in a specially equipped place;
  • In the absence of light, the chicks develop poorly, so there must be electric lighting in the house, it turns off only at night. Birds should sleep in complete darkness;
  • From the walking area, birds should easily return to the house;
  • At temperatures less than 7 degrees, young animals may die. Sharp temperature changes negatively affect the condition of the internal organs of the bird;
  • The floor should be covered with straw or hay. Useful bedding helps keep you warm;
  • High air humidity can lead to the development of fungal diseases in young animals;
  • Feeding is carried out three times a day;
  • The feeder and drinker should be located not only in the poultry house, but also in the walking area;
  • In addition to the feeder and drinker, it is necessary to install a container with ash in the house. Bathing in ash, birds get rid of dangerous pests and parasites. Both a small chicken and an adult rooster love to swim in the ash;
  • In the first days of life, chickens are given chopped eggs, then dairy products are added. Boiled eggs are a valuable source of calcium. Also, chicks can be added to food with ground eggshell;
  • Adult chickens should eat grain, grass, seasonal fresh vegetables and ready-made poultry feed. When feeding green grass to birds, you need to make sure that no poisonous plants come across there. You can also make your own feed according to any recipe.

Since all breeds of black chickens were bred artificially, they are distinguished by good immunity. However, it is necessary from the first day of life to engage in disease prevention. To do this, experienced poultry farmers recommend giving chickens from the first days of life the immunostimulating drug gammatonik. For any signs of illness, chicks or adult birds are isolated from other individuals. When treating a sick livestock, it is necessary to strictly follow the recommendations of the veterinarian; self-treatment can lead to massive death of birds. If conditions are poor, black chickens often suffer from pneumonia and other respiratory infections, in which case they are prescribed subcutaneous injections of antibiotics. To combat worms, chicks and adult birds should receive antiparasitic agents for internal use.

Important! To destroy the parasites living on the skin of weakened chickens and chickens, you need to place a large container with ash in the house. Birds willingly "bathe" in ash, cleansing the skin.

To increase egg production, yeast must be added to poultry foods. Yeast contains vitamin D, which strengthens the eggshell, increases eggs in size and increases their nutritional value.However, if yeast is fed to birds too often, they can develop gastrointestinal upset due to the yeast fermenting in the stomach.

The chicken coop must be insulated with straw.

The chicken coop must be insulated with straw. Straw helps maintain the desired microclimate in the room, and also absorbs all dirt well. When cleaning the chicken coop, the straw must be replaced periodically, throwing out the old one and burning it.

You need to feed the birds at the same time, then they develop a conditioned reflex to food and the birds eat their food better. During daylight hours, birds should receive a mash, and in the evening, shortly before bedtime, mixed feed and whole grains.

Advantages and disadvantages

Black Russian beans (cultivation)

The following advantages of black chickens, in comparison with other breeds, can be noted:

  • Spectacular appearance;
  • High taste and medicinal properties of meat. Its medicinal properties are especially appreciated in China and the countries of Southeast Asia. There, Chinese black chicken is used for medicinal purposes. Black Tibetan chicken dishes are often served in national restaurants;
  • Good egg production;
  • Peaceful, non-aggressive character.

However, some disadvantages should be noted, for example:

  • Females bred from incubators often lack the incubation instinct;
  • Superstitious people treat black birds badly, so the meat of these birds is sometimes difficult to sell;
  • Birds are prone to gastrointestinal upset if not fed properly;
  • If you cross a black chicken with a bird of a different color, the appearance can change for the worse.

Despite these shortcomings, the breed is quite popular with Russian farmers.

Black chickens are not only beautiful, but also extremely productive. Therefore, it undoubtedly makes sense to purchase such unusual birds for keeping on a home farm.