Broiler Cobb 500 - description of cultivation for beginners

Breed characteristics

According to the characteristics, the Cobb 500 hybrid was bred in the Czech Republic. It was obtained by crossing different meat and meat-egg breeds. The main goal was to achieve rapid weight gain with minimal feed consumption. Egg production was not taken into account, so these chickens are not raised for eggs.

Participated in the creation:

• Cornish variety (a hybrid of fighting breeds - Azil, British and Malay)
• Plymouthrock (American meat-egg variety)
• Kuchinsky Jubilee (universal breed, whose homeland is Russia)
• Zagorsk salmon chickens (another domestic universal breed with beautiful salmon plumage)
• Pencerevskaya (meat-egg breed, popular in homesteads)
• Rhode Island (classic meat-egg breed from the USA)
• New Hampshire (American chickens for meat and egg production)
• May Day chickens

All breeds that were used to create the cross have a universal direction. But during selection, lines with predominantly meat qualities were isolated. Experiments are currently being conducted to include new varieties of chickens in hybridization.

Several crosses with similar characteristics have already been obtained. For example, Ross-308, Ross-708, Cobb-700. The difference between Cobb 500 and Cobb 700 and other similar hybrids is that it is unpretentious in food, feed costs per unit of weight are much lower, which makes breeding more profitable.

Appearance

Description of the Cobb 500 chicken breed:

• Massive physique
• Thigh strong, muscular
• Legs are tall and thick
• The feather is white, without spots or inclusions of a different color
• The comb and earrings are small and scarlet
• The face is red, with thin integumentary skin
• The skin on the body is naturally yellow, which improves the quality of the carcass

Deviations from the standard include thinness, short legs, poorly developed hips, yellowish plumage or inclusions of other colors.

According to the description, day-old Cobb broilers 500 sucklings are not similar to adult birds. When purchasing them, pay attention to the color of the down; it should be light yellow, evenly colored. Broiler chicks are large, on high legs. All individuals in the batch are approximately the same weight and size, active, with a good appetite.

Origin

The Cobb 500 broiler breed appeared in the Czech Republic in the early 80s of the last century, as a result of crossing meat and meat-egg chickens. When breeding, the following popular lines were combined:

• Cornish (Cornish). Honored breed of meat chicken breeding. It developed in England after crossing the genes of local fighting chickens and birds imported in the 19th century from India and the countries of Southeast Asia.
• Plymouth Rock. Poultry for meat, dairy and meat production, obtained by US breeders in the second half of the 19th century. For crossbreeding, black Spanish roosters and chickens of several breeds were used (Dominican, white Cochin).
• Kuchinsky anniversary. Bred by breeders of the Kuchinsky breeding plant (in Balashikha) in 1990, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the enterprise.
• Pantsirevskaya black. The breed originates from the Volga region, where it was bred by crossing several productive breeds (New Hampshire, white Plymouthrock, Leghorn, Rhode Island, black Australorp).

Plymouth rock chickens Source kartinki24.ru

• Rhode Island. A breed bred in the state of the same name in the second half of the 19th century based on Mediterranean and Asian chickens.
• New Hampshire. Rhode Island birds were used for breeding.
• Zagorsk salmon. A chicken with light colored plumage in hens and roosters was bred in 1959 at the Poultry Institute in Sergiev Posad.
• Pervomayskaya. The bird was obtained in the 30s of the last century at the Pervomaisky state farm (Ukraine) by gradually crossing the Rhode Island, White Wyandotte, and Yurlovskaya Volosistaya breeds.

It is important to understand that broiler chickens have parents that are not broilers, but hybrids of other original forms. If a cross was created from two initial forms, then it is called two-line, from four - four-line.

Zagorsk salmon grazing Source 2img.net

Productivity

When buying Cobb 500 broilers for growing, first of all, pay attention to their productivity.

The most intensive period for the growth of broilers is 20 - 40 days, at this moment it is important to provide it with adequate nutrition

The main indicators for broiler hybrids are the weight of the young at 20-40 days and the rate of weight gain. Cross Cobb 500 weighs approximately 2 kg at 30 days, 2.5 kg at 40 days, and more than 3 kg at 60 days. If you keep the bird for up to 90 days, the carcass will weigh 4.5-5.5 kg. Further rearing is unprofitable; chickens recover slowly, while consuming a standard amount of feed.

For a better understanding of growth characteristics, it is recommended to use the Cobb 500 growth chart:

Feed conversion is understood as its cost per unit of weight gain. For example, to obtain 1 g of live weight of a 1 month old broiler, you need to spend 1.5 g of feed. The lower the indicator, the more profitable it is to raise poultry and the breeding fully pays for itself.

The weight of the Cobb 500 broiler will increase by day if you keep males and females separately. This can be seen if we compare the norms in birds of different sexes.

Cobb 500 breed growth chart:

The indicators given in the table may change in each specific case. They largely depend on the feed and growing conditions.

Growing Cobb 500 broilers at home

Broilers of the COBB 500 cross are characterized by very fast growth. Upon reaching the age of forty days, the bird is already gaining marketable weight, and therefore this age is considered the most optimal for slaughter.

The average weight of chickens at this stage reaches 2.5 kg. You can, of course, fatten them longer, but you should remember that keeping chickens for more than 80 days does not make sense, since further growth slowdown is observed.

The undoubted advantages of the COBB 500 cross include the following:

• very rapid increase in live weight;
• low cost of the final product, that is, meat;
• presence of large and strong legs;
• excellent feed conversion rates;
• impressive size and excellent white color of the breast;
• very high survival rate.

Origin

To breed COBB 500 broilers, representatives of several meat chicken breeds were used:

• Cornish, obtained in England as a result of crossing Fighting chickens of an old English breed with Malayan and white Azil chickens.
• Plymouth rock, belonging to the mixed meat and egg direction. The birthplace of this breed is the USA.

In addition to these two fundamental breeds, the use of Kuchinsky Jubilee, Pantsirevsky, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Zagorsky salmon, Pervomaisky and some others was also practiced.

Content Rules

Warm rooms with good ventilation should be used to house chickens. The presence of windows is not at all necessary. From the moment of birth, lighting should be present around the clock for two weeks.

This is explained by the fact that at this stage the chickens experience a constant need for food, and in the dark it is quite difficult for them to find food. After two weeks, daylight hours can be reduced to eighteen hours.

A prerequisite is the cleanliness of the room in which the chickens are kept. Only in this case can you be sure that their development will occur normally.

After all, the presence of dirt leads to the emergence of infectious diseases, which will certainly lead to the death of young animals. Stuffiness is strictly contraindicated for broiler chickens, however, they also do not like drafts.

The room temperature should be maintained between 28 and 33 degrees.

Care and maintenance of broilers

Cages or closed poultry houses are suitable for keeping Cobb 500 broilers.

There should be no more than 35-40 kg of live weight of birds per 1 m². For floor maintenance, a mesh floor with a small cell size is suitable. A mixture of sawdust, shavings and straw mixed with lime is used as bedding. It is important to change the litter on time and keep the chicken coop clean.

Cobb 500 broilers are highly sensitive to low temperatures. The poultry house should not be colder than 14⁰C. But this temperature is not ideal; the herd grows worse.

It is recommended to keep them warm, at 25⁰С-30⁰С and humidity 60-70%. Lighting in the first 2 weeks is 24 hours a day. From the 14th day it is reduced by 1 hour daily until the indicator is reached 16-18 hours. The light should not be too bright.

Chickens of the Cobb 500 hybrid are prone to cannibalism; in bright light, weak individuals begin to be pecked by strong ones.

Drinkers and feeders are installed under the walls. If the bird grows in cages, they are attached to the outer wall. When feeding with compound feed, one container for food and one for water is enough. If the diet includes wet mash, separate dishes are provided for them. You need to change the water twice a day. It is advisable to wash feeders and drinkers daily.

Feeding the cross

Growing the Cobb 500 cross means not only proper maintenance and care, but also regulated feeding. The right diet can ensure maximum productivity of the breed. It is best if the bird eats specialized feed. They already include all vitamin and mineral supplements, and the composition of the main components is adjusted to meet all the needs of an intensively growing body.

What to feed Cobb 500 chickens so that they grow well? For normal weight gain, feed should be selected in accordance with age. The technology is not at all complicated:

• From 0 to 10 days - starter feed in the form of grains.
• 11-22 days, when chickens gain weight most intensively, use granulated feed of the “Growth” type.
• after a month, the diet consists of feed such as “Finish-1” or “Finish-2”.

It is difficult to independently choose a balanced diet for broiler chickens. Economically, this is not very profitable, since the rate of growth and weight gain will be lower. In order to fully meet the need for proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals, birds need to be fed the following foods:

• grain mash (wheat, corn, barley, oats);
• legumes (peas, beans, vetch);
• vegetable mash with herbs or herbal flour;
• meat and bone meal, meat broth, skim milk to meet the need for animal proteins;
• cake or meal from oilseed plants.

Be sure to include mineral supplements (chalk, salt, crushed shells) and “Premix” vitamins in the diet. To improve digestion, the bird should eat small pebbles and large sand. 24-hour access to fresh water should also be provided.

As you can see, feeding Cobb 500 broilers with natural products is quite difficult and expensive. You need to spend more time preparing mash, and the result will be worse than if you feed chickens with ready-made mixed feed, so most farmers abandon this method, which significantly reduces the cost of funds.

Breeding broiler chickens

Breeding Cobb 500 broilers in the usual way is not possible. Chickens are produced by complex crossing of several parental lines. Only professionals on special farms can do this. Therefore, for rearing, they buy hatching eggs, day-old or week-old chicks.

A balanced menu is the basis for the success of such a procedure as raising broiler chickens. We feed well - we get a lot of meat

The price of Cobb eggs 500 is low, only 35-40 rubles per piece, when buying a large batch you can pay 25-30 rubles. Day-old chicks cost 50-150 rubles, depending on the size of the batch. Week-old chicks - 200-250 rubles. If you do not have an incubator or experience in hatching chickens, it is better to buy live chicks.

The yield of broilers of this breed during incubation is high - 80-95%, but the survival rate of young animals is higher - 97-99%. Therefore, losses when buying chickens are always lower. Buying chickens is more profitable than hatching birds from eggs yourself.

Egg incubation

If you decide to start incubating, it is better to purchase a model with automatic egg turning. This technology saves effort and time and increases the hatchability of chicks. The capacity of household incubators varies - from 35 to 500 eggs. Industrial installations can accommodate several thousand eggs.

The incubation regime is the same as for other breeds. The temperature should be 37-38⁰С, humidity 65-75%. In the first two weeks, the eggs inside the incubator are turned 6-8 times a day so that the embryos do not stick to the shell. To know which eggs have been turned over, a mark is placed on the shell. In the middle of the cycle, the material is cooled for 15-20 minutes 2 times a day. Broiler chickens hatch after 21 days.

Caring for day old chicks

Day-old Cobb 500 chicks are kept in a brooder or heated box. The temperature regime at the first stage is 30-32⁰С, at the end of the week it begins to be gradually reduced by 1-2⁰С until it reaches optimal values ​​of 23-25⁰С.

Lighting is provided around the clock for up to two weeks, then it is reduced by an hour every day. In a large chicken coop, chicks are placed in cages from the second week. It is important to keep the poultry house clean.

Feeding day old chicks

Cobb 500 broiler chickens are recommended to be fed with ready-made formulas from birth. In the first week they are given Prestar with the following composition:

• Ground corn, wheat and barley in a ratio of 3:2:1
• Meat and bone meal or fish meal
• Soybean meal or sunflower cake
• Chalk
• Kitchen salt
• Vitamins, microelements, set of amino acids

After a week, broiler chickens will switch to starter feed, to the “Growth” mixture for weight gain, and from the third week to finishing feed. The feeding schedule in the first week is 6-8 times a day, after 7 days the number of feedings per day is reduced until the birds are transferred to 2-3 meals a day.

When feeding natural food, a boiled egg is given on the first day. From the second day, cottage cheese and herbs are added. From the third day - corn flour or steamed corn grits. In order for the Cobb 500 broiler breed to gain weight well, half of the diet, even with natural feeding, should be compound feed.

Diseases and prevention

Cobb 500 chickens have good immunity. But improper care, feeding and maintenance provoke diseases:

• Dyspepsia. Affects small chickens when feed is administered incorrectly. Chicks have not yet developed enzyme systems; if they are given food that is inappropriate for their age, gastrointestinal upset occurs. The feces become liquid, with particles of undigested food. The disease is treated by correcting the diet; chickens are given plenty to drink to prevent dehydration.
• Bronchopneumonia. It occurs due to the activation of opportunistic flora due to hypothermia, drafts, and decreased immunity. Birds develop a fever, are panting, stretch their necks, eat poorly and move little. Bronchopneumonia is treated with antibiotics.
• Marek's disease. A viral infection that can infect up to 80-85% of the livestock in a short time. The pathogen attacks the nervous system. The chickens begin to limp, the wings and tail droop, sometimes conjunctivitis occurs, and the bird goes blind. Treatment is not provided, the entire flock is destroyed, the poultry house is disinfected.
• Avitaminosis. Cobb 500 chickens grow quickly and are therefore sensitive to vitamin deficiencies. With a deficiency of retinol, birds' feathers become dull and fall out, and their eyes become watery and inflamed. Group B deficiency causes paralysis, anemia, weakening of the body and slow growth. Deficiency of ascorbic acid and tocopherol causes decreased immunity. If chickens do not consume enough vitamin D, their legs become bent, growth retardation occurs, and heart problems occur.
• Aspergilosis. A fungal disease that is difficult to treat. The lungs are affected, the bird suffocates, mucus comes out of the nose, and after a couple of days it dies. The main reason is dampness in the room, weakened immunity due to improper feeding and maintenance.
• Salmonellosis. A bacterial infection, manifested by fever, green diarrhea, dehydration, in the final stage all organs and systems are affected. Meat from birds that have died from salmonellosis cannot be consumed; the infection can be transmitted to humans.

Advantages and disadvantages of the breed

The Cobb 500 breed has long been appreciated by farmers. Its cultivation is carried out in large industrial farms and in private farmsteads. It has a number of advantages:

• Rapid growth and weight gain.
• Feed costs per 1 kg of weight are minimal.
• Slaughter is carried out in 1.5 months, up to 3 batches are grown per season.
• The natural yellowish tint of the skin increases the commercial quality of the carcasses.
• Large weight of breast and thighs, high yield (71-72%).
• The survival rate of young animals is more than 97%.
• The difference between chickens and roosters in weight and height is minimal, the livestock is homogeneous.
• Good immunity and disease resistance.

Cobb 500 broilers have a number of disadvantages:

• It is impossible to breed at home; you have to buy hatching eggs or ready-made chickens.
• Lack of hen instinct in chickens.
• Low egg production, chickens begin to lay eggs at 7 months.
• The need for artificial incubation of the material.
• Sensitivity to low temperatures, which causes additional heating costs in winter.

Cobb 500 is a cross originally from the Czech Republic. Several breeds and lines took part in its creation: Cornish, Plymouth Rock, Kuchinskaya Yubileinyaya, Pantsirevskaya, Zagorskaya Salmon, Pervomaiskaya, Rhode Island and some others.

COBB500

The main distinguishing feature of the KOBB-500 cross is the slightly yellowish color of the skin, even if feed was used that does not contain yellow pigment at all. For some reason, this quality is very attractive to buyers of chicken carcasses at the market and in stores.

The plumage of these chickens is mostly white. Broiler chickens of the KOBB-500 breed are characterized by excellent early maturity and at the time of slaughter (40-45 days) weigh approximately 2500 grams.

It is not without reason that chickens of the KOBB-500 cross are popular among poultry farmers, since, as experience shows, they have an almost ideal ratio of growth rate with proportional accumulation of muscle mass. The presence of red and white meat in the carcass is proportional.

The COBB-500 breed is bred for:

1. rapid increase in live weight;
2. low cost of carcasses;
3. high white meat content;
4. omnivorous;
5. good survival of young animals.

The productivity of KOBB-500 is influenced by housing conditions, quantity and quality composition of feed.

Description of the breed

The head is small and flat. The beak is yellow, medium length, hooked. The comb is small, leaf-shaped, bright pink. The earlobes are small, the color matches the crest.

The back is wide, massive, slightly sloping. The tail is short. Shins with feathers, dense, high. The metatarsus is short, thick, yellow.

Chicks after birth are light yellow, with uniform down color. The weight of a day-old chick is 50-55 g.

The birds have a calm disposition; chickens and roosters do not provoke fights and rarely engage in provocations. Due to this, they often become the target of attacks from more aggressive breeds. They cannot fend for themselves, so it is recommended to keep the birds separately.

The maternal instinct is completely absent. Removal on your own is impossible . The survival rate of chicks from hatching eggs is about 100%.

Slaughter is carried out in 40-60 days; as the slaughter progresses, the herd is replaced. Early ripening allows you to raise several families in a season . They purchase mainly hatching eggs or day-old chicks.

Advantages:

• low price;
• precocity;
• delicious meat;
• unpretentiousness in care and feed;
• calm disposition;
• beautiful skin color;
• high survival rate.

Flaws:

• can be confused with some other crosses;
• impossibility of breeding;
• low egg production (a debatable minus, the cross did not initially assume high rates).

The cross is used as meat. Productivity is high; by one month, chickens can reach 2 kg, and by one and a half months - 2.5-2.6 kg. By day 60 you can get a bird weighing more than 3.5 kg. Chickens that are already one month old can be slaughtered. Growth rates decrease by 80 days after hatching .

The skin of the carcass has an interesting yellow color, which distinguishes it from many others. The meat is lean, despite the lack of much activity in birds.

Keeping as laying hens is unprofitable - birds rarely produce more than 120 eggs per year, and the meat of adult chickens loses its taste characteristics, becomes tougher and fattier.

Broilers are one of the most popular chicken breeds. They are mainly bred to produce tender meat, because broilers are 3-4 times larger than ordinary laying hens. This article will focus on the first stage of cultivation - incubation of broiler eggs.

Preparation

The preparatory stage is very important for the entire incubation process. The first step is choosing which eggs to incubate. Eggs must be fresh, no more than 5-6 days old. The ideal option is 1-2 days. It is not advisable to use specimens stored for more than a week - the percentage of chicks hatching decreases, the incubation time increases, and the chicks may turn out to be weak and sick. When purchasing the starting material, check the storage conditions of the eggs to see if they have been subjected to temperature changes - sudden overheating or cooling harms the embryo.

Carefully inspect the eggs for external damage. Any cracks, growths or other irregularities on the shell are grounds for rejection. Try to select specimens that are identical in size and volume, sticking to the “golden mean” – a weight of approximately 55-60 g and medium dimensions. Eggs that are too small - there is a risk of producing non-viable or sickly offspring. Too large ones are often unfertilized (2 yolks).

Incubation mode

At the moment, it is common to use 2 methods of incubating bird eggs.

• Classic. Eggs are laid simultaneously and once, after which the mode is adjusted and incubation starts. The chicks hatch on the same day with short intervals.
• Universal. Its difference from the classical scheme is that every 4-7 days one or two more eggs are placed in the incubator. After two weeks in the incubator, the specimens begin to actively heat up (if the embryo develops correctly). Gradually adding fresh eggs helps balance the temperature and prevents overheating.

Raising broiler chickens in an incubator is practically no different from incubating chickens of other breeds. Small nuances are associated with the size of the eggs - they are about one and a half times larger than usual. Perhaps the main difference is only in the ventilation mode of the incubator: for broilers, the time and frequency of ventilation should be increased by about 2-3 times.

The frequency of egg turning also increases - this is done for the harmonious development of the embryo and to prevent it from sticking to any side of the egg.

Table 1. Incubation mode for broiler eggs

Incubation period, days

From day 5, 1 time per day for 8-10 minutes

2 times a day for 25-30 minutes.

2 times a day for 25-30 minutes.

Don't forget about the humidity level in the incubator. If the air is too dry, spray the eggs with warm water, once every few days will be enough. After the first week, check the eggs; if you find substandard (rotten) eggs, discard them immediately. The same procedure must be carried out after 17 days.

In recent days (20-21), some poultry farmers have advised to slightly increase the temperature in the device to facilitate pecking and destruction of the shell. If you have chosen the COBB-500 broiler breed for breeding, the mode can be slightly changed.

Table 2. Egg hatching mode COBB-500

Turning over, once a day

Every 12 hours for 20 minutes

Before placing in the incubator

Storage takes place at 3 points: farm, transport and hatchery room. It is necessary that all these places have approximately the same conditions. Sudden changes in temperature and humidity should not be allowed. The temperature drop should be smooth, and in the same way the temperature should rise smoothly before being placed in the incubator. Therefore, at first the eggs are kept in the room for some time, and only after that they are sent to a container.

Eggs should not be stored for long, as this causes the following:

• The time allocated for incubation is extended. So, every day increases the incubation period by about an hour. It is advisable that all eggs have the same shelf life.
• Chick hatchability decreases. They need to be stored for at least 6 days, since after a week the hatchability decreases to 15%, then decreasing every day.

Table 1. The influence of storage time of broiler eggs on the hatchability of young animals

• The vital signs of chickens and their weight decrease. When eggs are stored in the hatchery for more than 14 days, water evaporates from them and the concentration of carbon dioxide in the protein increases. Therefore, the quality of future young animals deteriorates.

Before placing eggs in the incubator, they should be processed. To do this, they are washed in a solution of potassium permanganate, which serves as an excellent disinfectant. Warm water at a temperature of 30 degrees is poured into a container intended for washing. After this, potassium permanganate is added so that the solution gets a rich crimson color.

You need to carefully lower the eggs into the solution so that their contents do not shake. They should be kept in the liquid for 5 minutes. Clean specimens are spread onto a cloth and left until the water drains. After complete drying, they can be placed in the incubator.

Tips for Beginners

If you want to try raising broiler chickens at home for the first time, here are some simple tips from experts.

• 2-3 days before adding the product to the device, do not forget to thoroughly rinse and disinfect the incubator. A bleach solution is often used for disinfection. After these procedures, the device must be rinsed and dried.
• After washing the incubator, be sure to set it up and check the operation of all systems. To do this, run it for 10-12 hours in operating mode and test it. If you find any problems, try to fix them yourself or invite a professional.
• The ideal option is to place the eggs in the incubator in the evening. In this case, the chicks begin to hatch in the morning of the 21st day, and by the evening almost all of them have recovered and can even eat. Evening laying has one more advantage: examinations of eggs using an ovoscope, carried out at the beginning of 7 and 18 days after the start of the incubation process, are more comfortable to carry out in the evening, without rushing anywhere.
• Do not place the eggs close to each other; the gap between them should be at least one and a half centimeters. A closer arrangement is fraught with overheating and death (developmental disorders) of the embryos.
• Carefully monitor the temperature and humidity conditions in the chick hatcher. Small short-term fluctuations, of course, may occur, but it is still advisable to avoid such deviations. Prolonged temperature violations are strictly prohibited. In this case, the location of the thermometer is very important - do not hang it next to the ventilation hole, in this case its readings will be underestimated. If there is uneven heat distribution in different parts of the device, just regularly swap the eggs: move them from the center to the edge, and vice versa.
• On days 19-20, install an additional container of water in the incubator to increase the humidity level and make it easier for the chicks to emerge.

To summarize, we can say: raising broilers at home in an incubator is a task quite suitable even for a beginner.

For details on the features of the broiler incubation process, see the following video.

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Before laying, the eggs are transferred from storage to a room with a temperature of 25-27 degrees and kept here for about eight hours. This is necessary to ensure that the egg has the same temperature over its entire surface.

If the room ventilation is poor, the process may take longer. Therefore, it is recommended to ensure good air ingress. In addition, before laying, pre-incubation heating should be performed for 6-12 hours.

It is better to place broiler eggs for the incubator horizontally or at an angle of 45 degrees. There should be a small distance between them so that they do not overheat. The number of eggs depends on the incubator model; this number must be strictly observed.