Broilers COBB and ROSS, which of these two breeds is better

Poultry farming » Chickens

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Kira Stoletova

Chickens are raised on large farms or at home to obtain large quantities of meat products or eggs. If the main purpose of breeding is financial profit from the sale of these products, it is necessary to select the most profitable chicken breeds for the farmer. Thus, the constant development of poultry farming, as well as competition in the market, became the main reason for the emergence of crosses (crossed breeds). Some of the most popular cross-breed birds are COBB and ROSS broilers.

Broilers COBB and ROSS

It was these breeds that showed the highest results in terms of survival and rapid weight gain. Choosing such a breed allows you to place bets on future offspring based on the initial data.

Which cross is better

Long-term debates among poultry farmers about the best breed for growing are constantly “fueled” by new facts about the benefits of breeding certain cross-breed broilers. Thus, ROSS 708 is valued for its highest carcass weight, as well as its speed of gain (this cross is considered the most profitable). Other broiler crosses are more productive. One of these is ROSS 308. It has a more modest weight, but high egg production. In addition, such birds tolerate incubation rearing well.

Broilers ROSS 308 and 708 have another competitor - the COBB 500 breed.

Numerous reviews from farmers about the intensive growth of COBB broilers are not inferior in number to representatives of any other breed, such as PM3. In addition, the cross gains its weight of 2.2-2.5 kg by 35-40 days, if there is proper and regular feeding. But such chickens have one important difference: a large breast (the most valuable part of the carcass). 308 or 708 ROSS, although they are tall crosses, do not have this feature, so every novice poultry farmer needs to decide on the exact purpose of his activity before buying chickens. You should also know that each cross has its own nuances in its content.

Breeding farms | Broiler hatching egg I Broiler chickens

Breeding farms maintain genetic collections of bird breeds and provide products to poultry farms and the public.

Breeding farms sell hatching eggs, day-old and grown-up chicks, as well as adult crosses and purebred birds.

Breeding farms in Russia

There are two main breeding industries in Russia.

1. LLC "Genofond"

, contacts: 141315, Sergiev Posad, st. Maslieva, 44 Telephone/fax; Email

2. LLC "VNIIGRZH"

— genetic collection of rare and endangered chicken breeds.

Actual address: 196634 St. Petersburg, Shushary village, Detskoselsky state farm, territory of VNIIGRZH.

Postal address: 196601 St. Petersburg, Pushkin, Moskovskoe highway, 55a, tel/fax, mob. tel. + 7 (911) 82-85-161.

In addition, in each region there are breeding farms that support and nurture certain breeds of chickens. You can also buy eggs for incubation from them, as well as day-old and grown-up chicks.

Breeding farms abroad

The main supplier of hatching eggs to Russia is the Czech Republic. This company has many branches in the Czech Republic and Slovenia and produces such a quantity of eggs that it has practically no competitors in the field of sales to small farms in Europe and Russia.

releases egg Koob-500 and Ross-308 too.

Russian poultry farms, in my opinion, are trying to get away from the dominance of this company and hatch their own eggs or buy from Russian producers.

But there is little information about this. Perhaps where the eggs are purchased and the price are a trade secret of the enterprise.

For the household, we buy those hatching eggs or those chickens that are sold geographically closer, because long trips to buy goods for a small farmstead will not pay off.

Why is ROSS 708 so popular among farmers?

The main goal of every poultry farmer is to obtain maximum profit from the productivity of the bird or from its weight. Broilers ROSS 708 are the most popular among farmers. A key factor in this is the bird's high growth rate. Chickens can gain weight up to 2.9 kg in just 35 days. But novice poultry farmers should also be aware that ROSS 708 is easily confused with some other breeds due to external similarity, so broilers should be selected only from trusted suppliers. You can also watch a VIDEO on how not to make a mistake when choosing this cross.

In addition to their heavy weight, ROSS 708 broilers are characterized by:

• low cost of meat;
• size and power of legs;
• weighty white breast.

Keeping such a breed of birds is beneficial both from the point of view of a high percentage of brood survival and from the point of view of rapid growth. If we talk about the value (and, accordingly, the price) of such chicken meat, taking into account the rapid weight gain, such a breed is financially beneficial for farming.

If you choose this particular breed, it is important to remember the standards for keeping such birds. The health and growth of the breed directly depend on how high their quality of life, care, nutrition, etc. are.

Reviews

Poultry farmers have left a large number of reviews about the Ross 308 broiler on the forum of this breed. Some of them are given below.

1. Irina, 45 years old: my husband and I decided to start breeding broilers for meat. We purchased one-day-old chicks of the Ross 308 breed. The chickens grew literally by leaps and bounds, and after 1.5 months we sent them to slaughter. The amount of meat was large - one carcass weighed more than 2.4 kg, and the taste of the meat was very tender and not greasy. A few hens were left behind because we were told that these hens produce quite a lot of egg production - and so it turned out. In total, each female produced at least 190 eggs.
2. Katerina, 39 years old: We have been breeding this breed of broilers for several years at our summer cottage, and in 5 months we manage to raise two broods of chickens. We get enough meat for personal needs; we sell about 1/3 of it. As a result, it is possible to justify the costs of maintaining young animals.
3. Tatyana, 50 years old: keeping chickens of this breed is not too difficult. We grow them in cages, as a result, you don’t need to think about bedding or cleaning the chicken coop, and the chicks gain weight faster than when kept on the floor.

Maintenance and feeding of ROSS 708

The best results from breeding birds for meat are achieved by following certain poultry care features. These include:

1. Correct choice of premises for maintenance. Dry, well-ventilated chicken coops are suitable for these purposes.
2. Disinfection. This procedure is necessary to avoid the risk of chickens becoming infected with various diseases that can reduce growth rates and even lead to death.
3. Insulation of the floor in the chicken coop. For this purpose, hay and sawdust are used.
4. Maintaining temperature conditions. Raising poultry requires control of the air temperature in the coop. For this breed, a temperature of 28-32°C is the most favorable indicator for active growth.
5. The need to equip the chicken coop with lighting fixtures.

The ROSS 708 broiler breed also requires the fulfillment of certain requirements for the organization of housing space. From the first days of life, chickens can be kept in cages, but by the age of ten days it is necessary to expand the space; the bird must be transferred to a chicken coop, where it will remain until it gains full weight.

Broilers of this cross also require knowledge about the peculiarities of their diet. Like all meat breeds, the daily menu of chickens consists of dry and wet food, consisting of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. We must not forget about vitamins and minerals. Experienced farmers advise purchasing chickens that are already ten days old to avoid nutritional mistakes. If this fails, the novice poultry farmer should:

1. Provide chickens with free access to the feeder and drinker. Raw water cannot be poured. Decoctions of rosehip or chamomile should be used.
2. In the first days of life, give the bird soft food, which includes a boiled egg, cottage cheese and oatmeal. From the 3rd day of life, chickens also eat ground oatmeal.
3. Gradually introduce crushed grain, chalk and shells into the diet, starting from day 10. You can also add boiled potatoes and carrots to your food.

The concept of complete care includes not only feeding and watering. Here it is important to pay attention to vitamin supplements and the gradual introduction of green food.

The poultry house arrangement factor will also play an important role. If there is dampness or mold, if there are parasites or a risk of infection, it will not be possible to raise healthy and full-fledged individuals.

Nutritional Features

Broilers of this breed need to be fed in a special way. During the first days of life after birth, nutrition is practically no different from feeding ordinary chickens. Most often during this period, a small chicken should be given:

• chopped oatmeal;
• boiled eggs;
• millet;
• wheat and barley, which must be crushed;
• cottage cheese.

Read also: Gilyan breed of chickens: description, photos, characteristics

The basis of the daily diet of children should be crushed grain. After the third day of life, professionals recommend starting to add green food, in particular sprouted grains and vegetables (carrots, cabbage, beets). A week after birth, they begin to gradually introduce potatoes and fish waste into the diet.

For better quality meat, it is recommended to add chalk to food in at least minimal quantities. On the twentieth day, the food can be the most varied, and in the 4th week the hybrid gains the greatest weight, so nutrition during this period should be correct and include fermented milk products. And, of course, don’t forget about water. Raw water is completely contraindicated for them; it is best to use decoctions of chamomile and rose hips.

By purchasing the offspring of this chicken hybrid, your home will always have high-quality meat and eggs, since this bird produces a huge amount of production.

If you breed ROSS 308

Meat and egg cross breeds do not always satisfy the needs of farmers, because some poultry farmers want to receive both meat and eggs. Broiler crosses have a narrow focus on producing only 1 of 2 products. Anyone who wants to find a “balance” needs to pay attention to a cross that is popular among farmers: ROSS 308. These chickens are raised not only for meat products, but also for the purpose of producing eggs. But in order to get maximum profit from one and the other, you should know about the features of caring for birds.

If all the nuances are taken into account, the following advantages will be noticeable:

• high performance;
• large mass of carcasses;
• active growth.

Not a single broiler cross can boast such a “balanced” description. However, according to some calculations by experts, this breed is inferior to representatives of COBB in terms of feed conversion and more economical maintenance costs.

In terms of egg production, cross-country chicken is not inferior even to the “Rodonit” breed. Cross-laying hens even surpass their opponents in terms of productive period.

Why broilers gain weight quickly

Those poultry farmers who want to make maximum profit from poultry breeding need to:

1. Know about the nuances of keeping birds from the first days of life, which relate not only to equipping the chicken coop with drinkers and feeders, but also to calculating the daily feed requirement.
2. Create a temperature regime favorable for poultry breeding (up to 24°C) with an air humidity of no more than 50%.
3. Regularly disinfect the chicken coop to prevent chickens from becoming infected with infectious diseases.

Feeding birds also has its own characteristics. Day-old chicks should be fed 8 times a day. On day 5 - 7 times. Broilers are not picky about food, but at the same time they require quality feed.

They readily eat mash of potatoes, carrots, dairy products and crushed grains. All vegetables are suitable, except beets, which have a negative effect on the digestive tract of birds.

If you purchase chickens COBB-500

COBB cross chickens differ from other breeds in skin color. It has a yellow tint, which can be seen even in the photo. This cross has earned its popularity thanks to its highest growth rates. In addition, these chickens have several other advantages:

• high survival rate (up to 98%);
• minimal feed costs (birds eat large amounts of grain and vegetables and do not require additional purchases of specialized feed);
• active growth of muscle mass;
• Broilers have strong legs and a plump chest.

For proper bird growth, you should know about the feed consumption in relation to the weight of the bird itself. The table will help you find out more about this:

Cross chickens KOBB-5OO gain weight of 2.5-2.8 kg in 40-44 days. In addition, higher results were recorded, because a lot depends on the conditions in which the cross is kept. Feeding of birds and other factors also play an important role.

By observing the standards of care and maintenance of broilers, you can significantly increase the number of livestock in a short period of time. The official characteristics of these breeds show that clean water, good nutrition (the right choice of food), warmth in barns (poultry houses) allow the birds to lay eggs well and quickly gain weight.

Description, characteristics of the breed

This cross was bred by breeders from the English company Aviagen, and currently hatching eggs and Ross 308 broiler chicks are distributed in representative offices of this company located in more than 95 countries around the world.

To develop this variety of broiler, breeders crossed several breeds of meat chickens. As a result, representatives of the Ross 308 broiler are distinguished not only by high meat productivity, but also by good egg production. Therefore, these individuals have become popular not only in personal backyards, they are also grown on an industrial scale.

Ross 308 broilers are designed for floor and cage keeping, which is very important for those farmers who do not have too much space in their personal backyard.

If broilers are kept in the right conditions, then these birds can be sent to waste already at the age of 45 days. It is at this age that the meat of young animals is most tasty, and with age its taste deteriorates. Therefore, the most suitable period for slaughtering young animals is 60 days.

These chickens differ significantly in appearance from other common breeds of this meat poultry, although for broilers the appearance of Ross 308 is quite natural.

The head is less than medium in size, crowned with a neat leaf-shaped comb with a large number of teeth. The earrings are poorly developed, colored deep red, like the comb. The beak is slightly curved, yellow in color. The neck is of medium length.

The body of Ross 308 is massive, oval in shape, with a wide chest protruding forward. The muscles of these chickens are excellently developed. The limbs are strong and strong, set wide apart, the hips stand out well. The coloring of the metatarsus, power, and wide spacing were inherited by these broilers from fighting chickens, the genes of which are also found in Ross 308.

The wings are short, pressed to the body. The tail is small, slightly raised.

The color of the plumage of representatives of these broilers is boiling white; there should be no other inclusions. The presence of other colors is a reason for culling individuals. Uniform plumage and even coloration of the skin of the carcass are the main tasks that breeders set for themselves when breeding this variety of broilers. This is necessary to give the carcasses a good presentation. It is also worth noting the elasticity of the skin, which does not deform during the freezing process.

Although this broiler has genes from fighting chickens, the character of Ross 308 is peaceful. Even young cockerels do not get cocky in the poultry yard, despite their large size. Therefore, these broilers can be safely kept next to other breeds of chickens in the poultry house. However, if representatives of this breed are angered, they can cause quite serious injuries with their beak.

By one and a half months, the weight of the young is about 2.5 kg, the survival rate of the chicks is up to 97%, the chicks gain about 60 g daily. If the young gain less than 58 g per day, then such specimens are subject to culling.

The percentage relationship between nutrition and weight gain in Ross 308 is more rational than in Cobb 500.

In addition, laying hens of this breed are distinguished by a fairly high egg production - one hen lays up to 190-210 eggs per year, the weight of each egg is up to 60 g. In hens of this breed, puberty occurs quite early - by 5 months, at this age the pullets are already begins to lay eggs.

When a hen begins to molt, her egg production decreases sharply or may disappear completely. During this period, laying hens need to add more vitamins to their feed, as well as fish oil. With a balanced diet, laying hens molt faster.