Poultry farming

Chickens have been raised in Russia since ancient times. It is known that domestic chickens were kept by the Eastern Slavs even before the Baptism of Russia. Chickens were bred a lot, they were not expensive. For example, in the XVII century a live chicken could be bought for one penny (a dozen and a half chicken eggs cost the same amount). Poultry farming in Russia has not been given much importance for a long time. The peasants treated the villagers who raised chickens with a grin. Domestic birds were kept by small peasant farms. There was little return on this: the laying hen gave 50−60 eggs per season, the eggs were small, with dirty shells, and the carcasses of the bird had a small mass. Poultry meat and eggs in Russia were bought up cheaply by foreign offices (English and German). In some farms, fighting and decorative breeds were bred altogether. In the nineteenth century, there was an unexpected interest in poultry farming. At the end of the 19th century, there were 20 million farms in Russia that kept chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese. Poultry products grew significantly abroad, and by the beginning of the twentieth century. Russia has taken one of the leading places in the world in terms of egg production.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the cultivation of poultry and the sale of poultry products became a priority of the state. The first Soviet poultry farms appeared.

During the Great Patriotic War, the poultry industry of the country suffered serious losses. Over 110 million heads of poultry were destroyed, 176 hatchery and poultry stations and many poultry farms were destroyed. The pre-war poultry population in the country was restored only in 1955. In subsequent years, poultry farming has become an important component of the Siberian economy. Currently, poultry farming maintains its firm position.

Scientists believe that the duck was domesticated several thousand years ago. And already in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, domestic ducks were the most common occurrence. In Rome, special courtyards were even set up to keep ducks. Domestic ducks were bred for meat, to a much lesser extent for eggs. Since the 19th century, they have been kept as ornamental birds on ponds. Since domestic ducks are inferior in decorativeness to wild mallards, wild ducks of other species were more often used for these purposes — mandarin ducks, Carolina ducks, ogari, piebald ducks.

Many breeds of domestic ducks have been bred. They lost the ability to fly, their physique changed, their weight and egg production increased. The coloring has also changed. White color often prevails. Some breeds have received a monotonous brown-gray outfit (khaki). The so-called "royal ducks" are distinguished by lush tufts of soft feathers. Pure white, silver-tinged English Aylesbury ducks are known for their delicious meat and soft feathers, which are used for decorations. Peking ducks have a massive body and a straight fit, the color is white with a yellow tinge. The Peking duck is the most common duck breed in the world and the only one that is grown on an industrial scale.

Geese were tamed in ancient times. It is believed that even the ancient Egyptians kept geese, as images of geese and peasants carrying them to market have been preserved on the walls of the tombs. Geese were kept in ancient Greece and Rome. There is a saying: "Geese saved Rome."

In the Middle Ages, the breeding of geese was widespread throughout Europe. In Russia, geese began to be bred somewhat later than in other European countries. However, in pre-Petrine times, geese were already kept, as Russian folk tales say. Geese are even mentioned in the "Word about Igor’s Regiment". This industry reached its greatest development in the period between the XVII and XIX centuries. The country exported a lot of down, feathers and goose meat abroad. Geese were herded and even driven over long distances. The peasants bred geese for meat, fat and feathers. Geese were kept in special rooms in goose coops. They fed the geese with oats, barley, and finely chopped cabbage, carrots, and turnips. In the twentieth century, industrial goose breeding began to be practiced in our country.

The first turkeys appeared on the territory of Russia at the end of the XVIII century. They were brought to our country from Europe, and got there from America. Only wealthy people were engaged in breeding turkeys. Gradually, organized societies of poultry farmers turned from the elite occupation of breeding turkeys, who built experienced poultry yards, where they were engaged in observing and studying these birds, choosing the breeds that are most suitable for our climate. According to official data, by 1913 there were 2.7 million turkeys in Russia. However, during the First World War, and then the revolution, the number of livestock decreased sharply.

The revival of this type of poultry farming occurred in the 1930s. Poultry incubator stations and turkey farms were established at collective farms and state farms, mainly in the south of the country. During the Great Patriotic War, the industry suffered serious losses, especially in the southern regions of the country — some farms were completely destroyed during the occupation. After the war, old turkey farms are being revived and new ones are emerging. In Western Siberia, the Omsk Region has become such a center. In the 1960s, special turkey-breeding enterprises were built in the country. However, they could not replace traditional chicken with elite turkey meat. In the 1990s, this type of poultry farming was almost overthrown, only the population of the southern regions continued to grow turkeys on household and farmsteads. In the 2000s, the rise of the turkey breeding industry in Russia began again. There are large poultry complexes for growing turkeys based on imported technology, equipment and breeding material in various regions of the country. Turkeys began to be bred in the Tyumen region. In 2022, a turkey breeding reproducer was opened in the vicinity of the village of Isetskoye. On November 21, 2022, three sites began operating: near Kirsanov and the villages of Rafailovo and Krasnovo.

There is a caricature of the Soviet era. The poultry woman shows the ostrich egg to the ashamed chickens and says: "Here, my dears, what kind of eggs you need to lay!". But seriously. Is it possible to breed ostriches in Russia? And in Siberia? It turns out that it is possible. At least this was done back in 2010 by Natalia and Alexander Demchenko from the village of Chikcha in the Tyumen region of the Tyumen region. They brought the first batch of ostriches — 10 large individuals and 36 babies from Perm. Today, the couple raise about 150 birds a year for sale.

It turned out that keeping ostriches is quite simple. They are omnivorous. On Demchenko’s farm, ostriches eat hay, grain, oats, clover, peas, and in cold weather, carrots and cabbage. The need for feed in these birds is two times lower than in cows, and five times lower than in pigs. And ostriches also have two stomachs, they digest food for 48 hours, so there is almost nothing left "at the exit" - the manure on the ostrich farm is cleaned only once a year. But ostriches need very large areas: for the maintenance of one adult bird, at least 100 square meters are needed for walking and 50 square meters for indoor maintenance. Now Demchenko’s farm has 1.5 hectares of land. When farmers were just planning an ostrich farm, they applied for a lease to the district administration, wrote a business plan, and were allocated a plot. They cleaned the site of garbage on their own, pulled nets, and rebuilt the former granary for the maintenance of birds.

According to the farmers themselves, the ostrich is a waste-free bird. They recycle everything. Their skin is appreciated: it is more expensive than a crocodile and denser than an elephant’s. Eyelashes are used to produce false eyelashes and brushes for artists, boas and costumes are made from feathers. Fat is used in cosmetology, and claw is used in diamond cutting. And most importantly, ostrich meat, which looks like young veal.

Borovskaya Poultry Farm is one of the first industrial poultry enterprises in Western Siberia, which provides dietary eggs and meat to workers of the Tyumen region and the population of northern cities and towns.

The Borovskaya poultry farm began operation in 1963, and the first stage of the enterprise was launched for only 160 thousand industrial laying hens and 40 thousand breeding chickens. In 1963, gross production amounted to 3.9 million eggs, but the cost of the product was significantly lower than the actual cost. Skilful management of production processes, hard work of the entire team made it possible to turn the situation around by next year. Since then, the poultry farm has never been unprofitable. By 1966, 190 thousand laying hens were already listed here, and at that time comfortable houses for employees were being built in the village of Borovsky, a permanent school for training workers and specialists appeared. In the 1970s and 1980s, advanced technologies were introduced at the factory: limited feeding of poultry, the introduction of herbal flour into the diet, the establishment of effective light modes.

In the 1990s, the company survived. In 1994, the company was the first in Russia where the Belarus-9 cross was replaced by the highly productive Haysex Brown cross bird, which, among other benefits, had an economic effect of more than 1.5 billion rubles. Twice a year — in spring and autumn — 40,000 day-old chickens were delivered by plane from Holland to Borovskaya. Since then, the factory has been working exclusively with the best poultry crosses, known for their performance all over the world.

Since 2007, the company has been keeping a High-line American cross-country bird, characterized by high genetic potential. Over time, the factory began to produce eggs with the specified properties: "Oleoresin", "Egg for breakfast", "Surprise", "Borovskoye golden", "Zdorovyak", "Borovskoye iodine plus", "Hummingbird". Currently, there are over two and a half million poultry heads, including more than one and a half million laying hens, and more than one million eggs are produced per day.