Pavlovskaya chickens breed
- Country of origin: Russia
- Primary uses: For eggs, meat, preservation, and decoration
- Eggs:
- Production: 120 to 310 eggs
- Size: Medium
- Egg color: White or cream
- Weight:
- Cock: 1.6 to 2 kg
- Hen: 2.5 to 3 kg
- Colors: Gold and silver
- Useful to know: trusting, friendly and active. Besides their stunning beauty, they can bring many benefits to egg and meat production.
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Introduction
The Pavlovskaya chicken breed is famous for their stunning appearance. Besides, they are also easy to raise in different conditions. Therefore, They are the first choice of many skillful chicken keepers.
However, if you are new and want to find a suitable type of chicken, let’s read all of the following information to determine whether you should raise them or not.
Background and history of the Pavlovskaya chicken breed
Pavlovskaya chickens are considered as one of the oldest breeds in Russia. Actually, a Greek merchant is the first person who brought this chicken breed into Russia.
In the 19th century, Russia started describing Pavlovskaya chicken as their national breed. However, after a short period, those decorative chickens did not receive much attention from the public anymore.
In 1917, the Pavlovskaya breed was completely lost. Luckily, in the last 20 years of this century, many efforts have been made to help this breed bloom again.
Appearance
The Pavlovskaya breed has two varieties including silver and golden chickens. In general, they have some outstanding features which make them identifiable with other breeds as belows:
- A small head can move nearly 180 degrees
- Small earlobes and combs
- Medium-sized eyes with yellow or black color
- This chicken breed does not belong to a group of giant chickens. Their body is compact and horizontal along with a medium-length back
- Spotted, colorful, and stylish tail which is very unique compared to other breeds.
- Full-feathered legs which often have dark colors
Behavior
Most Pavlovskayas are very trusting and friendly to humans. They are also active and love to run around all day. So it requires a space which would be large enough for their regular walks.
In addition, Pavlovskaya hens are able to fly over obstacles to change direction during their flight.
Compared to other breeds, Pavlovskaya roosters seem to be quite snooty. Meanwhile, hens of this breed are quite sociable and can get along well with other poultries such as geese, ducks, Guinea fowl, and turkeys.
All of those behaviors make them attractive to many chicken keepers in different areas.
The Pavlovskaya chickens productivity
Are They Good for eggs?
Even though they are more well-known for preservation and decoration purposes, Pavlovskaya chickens are still able to produce a good number of eggs around 120 to 310 eggs per year.
All of their eggs are medium with about 50 grams each egg. Those eggs have white to light cream colors. Besides, Pavlovskaya hens have good mothering skills which can help them to protect their chicks well.
Compared to other decorative chickens, many chicken raisers would prioritize Pavlovskayas for egg production.
Are They Good for meat?
Pavlovskaya chicken meat is quite not common for many people. However, in fact, their meat is extremely tender and smells very delicious. So you can add your chickens to many different recipes to get a good taste.
It is widely stated that they do not lead to any allergy for humans. Nevertheless, some people claim that they suffer from a serious allergic reaction after eating Pavlovskaya chicken products.
Further reading: Beginner’s Guide to Keeping Chickens
Common issues
The majority of them have a strong immune system and are resistant to many diseases or the cold. However, you should vaccinate your chickens routinely to avoid all potential diseases.
There are 3 common diseases often found in a large flock of Pavlovskaya chickens:
- Marek: This disease is a result of a herpes virus in chickens. Your chickens might suffer from significant production loss or even death. That is because the herpes virus is able to destroy many nerves as well as create some tumours in the internal organs.
- Gamboro: It is a viral disease that is common for young chickens. This virus tends to have a negative impact on the Bursa of Fabricius organ. It does mean that it can cause severe issues for your chicken immune system through damage of this organ.
- Newcastle: Newcastle disease is caused by a paramyxovirus. If your chickens can cope with this disease, it can create a long lasting immunity to further infection with Newcastle disease.
In order to make sure that Pavlovskaya chickens are clear from any health issues, it is essential to have all of them vaccinated fully.
A poultry vet would give you some useful advice about the vaccination of your chickens. You should not vaccinate your chickens based on your own decisions. If there is any mistake, those vaccines will be harmful to your chickens.
Environment requirements
Those chickens are one of the coldest hardy breeds in the world. Many features have been developed to keep them adaptable to the cold weather.
However, it is probably dangerous for Pavlovskaya chicken health when the temperature is below 10 degrees Celsius. Therefore, those chickens require a warmer place to hide under the extremely cold weather.
When it becomes warmer or hotter, Pavlovskaya chickens are still able to adapt to those weather conditions. However, you should leave them outside if the temperatures are too high.
Regarding humidity, the ideal environment for Pavlovskaya chickens’ growth should not exceed 65% and not fall under 55%. So it is not too dry and still clean enough for your chickens.
Benefits and drawbacks of raising the Pavlovskaya chicken
Benefits
- Attractive appearance for decoration purposes: Pavlovskaya chickens are always listed on the top of decorative chickens. They have beautiful colors together with many unique features to make them more special than other breeds.
- Trusting and friendly: The docile and friendly nature would help those chickens get along well with their owners. Specifically, Pavlovskaya hens also have a good relationship with other types of poultries in your backyards. Therefore, you can have a diversified flock simply with those chickens.
- Good egg production: In spite of their decorative aims, they can still give you a large number of eggs from 120 to 310 eggs annually. Due to the good maternal instinct, their hatching rate is so high up to 93%. They do not have many difficulties in laying and raising their chicks well.
- High adaptability to different weather conditions: Pavlovskaya chickens are able to overcome both hot and cold weather. Originating from Russia, they have developed many features to go through the winter months. Besides, they can still suffer from not too high weather.
- Low feed consumption: Unlike other chickens, the Pavlovskayas only require a small amount of feed each day. There is no special demand for their daily feed so you can let them eat almost anything safe for poultry.
Challenges or drawbacks
- Fluctuating egg production: The number of eggs produced by Pavlovskaya chickens is not fixed but changed over different individuals. So it is hard for you to predict exactly how many eggs you can get from your new chickens.
- Quite harmful meat: Even though their meat tastes soft and delicious, it can cause some allergic reactions for certain people.
- Snooty Pavlovskaya roosters: Unlike their hens, those cocks are very snooty and not bonding well with others. Therefore, you should balance the number of hens and roosters to optimize efficiency.
How to raise the Pavlovskaya chicken?
To keep Pavlovskaya chickens healthy throughout the year, you should consider some important factors as belows:
Daily diet for laying hens:
During the laying time, Pavlovskaya hens require a higher level of protein and vitamins to assure their egg production. It is useful for you to prepare them daily feeding including grains, animal origin food, juicy vegetable mixture, and mineral supplements.
You may also like: 21 Best Chicken Keeping eBooks
Suitable nest boxes:
Depending on Pavlovskaya hens’ size, the optimal size of the nest box should be 35х35х30 cm. You can make a hole and place it on the wall or on the ground. Inside the nesting place, it is possible to fill it with straw or hay.
Chicken coop:
Their chicken coop should be quite spacious, warm, and well-equipped for feed and drink. This coop can help your chickens survive well through extremely harsh conditions as well as avoid any potential predators.
Dietary feed for all chickens:
Pavlovskaya chickens only consume around 50g of feed each day. They are able to eat different types of food such as white bread, bran, salt, chalk, fish, and meat flour. For vitamin improvement, you should chop some carrots, raw potatoes, nettle leaves, fruits, and vegetables (fresh or dried).
Especially in the cold season, ⅓ of their diet should be solid food. Therefore, this can help your chickens have enough nutrients and energy to cope with the harsh conditions. You can also offer them warm milk or hot clean water in a tray.
Using an incubator to raise baby chicks:
Although Pavlovskaya hens have very good skills in raising their chicks, an incubator can be used to give the best result. You have to install heaters for your incubators including: special heating pads, 100 or 150 watts electric lamps, and reflectors.
- Pavlovskaya chicks eat easily and do not cling to each other if the temperature is right.
- If the temperature is too low, the consumption of food decreases significantly, and they can climb or trample each other to get closer to the heat source.
- They may even refuse to feed if the weather is too hot, and instead spread their wings or lie down all day.
Therefore, it is necessary for you to check your chicks in the incubator regularly to keep them safe and healthy.
Some questions related to the Pavlovskaya chicken breed
Which foods are healthy and safe enough to feed your Pavlovskaya chickens?
- For protein food: you can use fish, maszoperia, or meat
- Milk, yogurt, cheese, beans, yeast, meal, cake, or nettle
It is a good idea to give them a mixture of different healthy food to optimize the nutrition value of their diet.
What is the difference between silver and golden Pavlovskaya chickens?
Actually, these two varieties only have nothing different but their appearance.
The gold chickens have golden brown ground. For roosters, there is a V-shaped black tip in the heckle. Besides, their muffs and beard are all black as well.
The silver chickens do not have many different features from black ones, except for the silver-white ground.
Final thoughts
So, is the Pavlovskaya chicken right for you? If you are looking for a stunning chicken with both good egg and meat production, this should be your first choice.
Those chickens have a special beauty that can make them identifiable among other chicken breeds. Besides, they can give you from 120 to 310 eggs each year, even in the winter months. Otherwise, you can make various recipes with their decent and tasty meat.
Pavlovskaya chickens are highly flexible with different weather conditions with some basic requirements. In spite of their impressive adaptability, they would consume a small amount of food compared to others. So, it does not cost you a lot to raise those beautiful chickens.
However, you should consider giving them a suitable coop as well as a nesting place so that they can get the best development. It is necessary to provide enough nutritious feed for them during the extremely cold season as well.
Hopefully, this article can sum up some necessary and key information which can be useful and contributes to your right decision.
Links to useful resources:
- Yellow Bread, https://en.yellowbreadshorts.com/4230-pavlovskaya-golden-and-pavlovian-silvery-characteristics-advice-on-content-and-breeding.html
- Yuri Dmitriev, http://www.aviculture-europe.nl/nummers/15E01A11.pdf, 2014
- Livestock, https://2man.org/livestock/pavlovskaya-chicken-a-description-of-the-breed.html, June 2021