Chicken is the most common poultry. It is easy to maintain, caring for her is not troublesome, and there are many benefits to the bird. It is a source of dietary meat and eggs. People who keep the farm, try to get such birds that will be well-trotted and their meat will not be very hard. The breeders knew about these needs for a long time, therefore they bred breeds of meat and egg hens. Among them, the most popular is the Moscow black.
A bit of history
Breed breeding involved in the Soviet Union. Representatives of the Moscow Agricultural Academy and the Bratsevskaya Poultry Factory worked on it. The task was to bring a universal unpretentious breed. Therefore, the crossing was carried out between the Yurlov, Italian partridge and New Hampshire chickens. 
The resulting hybrids were crossed together. This made it possible to achieve a good egg production without losing weight on the layer. Years of hard work were crowned with success.
Did you know? The Moscow black breed was brought into the state register in 1980.
Description
When describing a bird, you should stop at its main featuresthat distinguish it from their relatives:
- wide and muscular body;
- large head;
- broad chest;
- medium sized scallop;
- orange eyes;
- black brilliant plumage.
External features
The main distinguishing feature of the breed from others - black color feathers of birds and a neat appearance. Chickens are born black. The presence of white feathers on the crown, chest, abdomen and under the tail is permissible. Growing up, they acquire a gloss of feather and a golden-copper shade on the neck of the females, and on the males on the shoulders and back. The head is wide, with a black curved beak. The crest is leaf-shaped with pronounced teeth. The lobes may be white or red.
Maran, amrox, legbar, lakenfelder, austlororp, velzumer, Kyrgyz gray, Pushkin, Kuban red, black Pantsirevskaya also belong to the breeds of chicken meat and egg productivity.
The head passes into a wide, powerful, medium length neck. The chest is arched, and the back is straight. The body rests on strong, wide-set paws, also painted black. May be with greens. In females, the color of the legs is darker than that of the males. The wings and tail are medium in size with thick plumage and well developed.
Did you know? The sex of Moscow black chickens is difficult to determine until they are one and a half months old.
Character
Moscow black calm peaceful character. Therefore, keeping them with other birds will not cause any problems. This breed is also quite hardy. 
Hatching instinct
Young growth begins to sweep at 5.5-6 months, but is not inclined to hatching. Therefore, if you want your hens to sit on eggs, you will have to put a lot of effort into it. But it is best to get an incubator.
Learn more about the incubation of chicken eggs and the characteristics of the best incubators: "Layer", "Perfect hen", "Cinderella", "Blitz".
Productive characteristics
The female of Moscow black weighs 2-2.3 kg, the male - 2.7-3.5 kg. These figures at 500 g differ from the weight of broilers, downwards.
The fertility of females at a high level is about 90%. Of all hatched eggs, about 92% of the chickens are born.
Weight gain and meat taste
Weight gain is slower than in broiler chickens. The meat has excellent taste. It is a bit tougher than broilers, so it is not always favored in second courses. But the broths and soups from it are excellent. 
Puberty and annual egg production
Sexual maturity occurs at 8 months, although eggs are carried from 5-6 months. On average, a hen per year can produce 200-210 eggs. With good care, some individuals give out 280 eggs per year. Eggs of medium size, weighing up to 60 g. In the incubators, they use laying eggs older than eight months.
To get ten eggs from a chicken, you need to spend about 2 kg of feed.
Important! If the hens are fed poorly, the number of eggs laid is significantly reduced. Birds can even completely stop rushing. With the normalization of the diet everything returns to normal.
Feeding ration
The Moscow black breed of chickens is unpretentious in food, but still proper nutrition does not hurt anyone. 
Adult chickens
The main dish of chickens - feed and hay flour. They also add wet food (greens, vegetables, fruits). In summer, you can even give up hay flour and feed it with greens. Sometimes birds can pamper boiled potatoes. The main thing: do not overfeed the bird, as the breed is prone to obesity.
Water should always be freely available.
Read also about the diet and vitamins for laying hens.
Chickens
In the first five days of life, the youngsters are fed corn grits and shredded boiled eggs. On the third day of life, you can add feed and green onions to these products. Weekly chicks are introduced into the diet cottage cheese. Boiled vegetables are added from two weeks of age. Monthly chickens are gradually transferred to the crushed grain. Two months can already be translated into adult nutrition and in a common pen. 
What else to take care
Breed differs in good frost resistance. She feels great in unheated chicken coops even at -20 ° C. Therefore, it is necessary to create at least minimally comfortable conditions for its maintenance.
The main thing with the equipment of the chicken coop - lay the floor with a bed of straw, sunflower husk, dry leaves, peat. It will not only warm, but also absorb moisture. To form the flooring should be based on 10-15 kg of dry litter per individual per year.
To make the bird more comfortable, you can hang an infrared lamp above the perch.
Learn all about the chicken coop: choosing and buying a ready-made chicken house; self-production and arrangement of the chicken coop (how to make roost and nests, heating and ventilation); construction of a winter chicken coop.
The Moscow black one does not want to leave its hen house, therefore it is not necessary to enclose the territory of a walking area with a high fence. And if you have a stationary poultry house with access to the street, then there will be no problems with walking at all. 
Feeders and drinkers can be set special, and you can use for this purpose, the usual large bowls.
Important! In the summer, chickens need access to the sand in order to swim in it, thereby clearing themselves from the parasites.
Pros and cons of breed
TO pluses This breed can include the following indicators:
- the bird adapts easily;
- she has a calm temper;
- constant egg production regardless of external factors;
- unpretentiousness in the diet;
- delicious meat.
Minuses the breed, unfortunately, has:
- late puberty;
- lost instinct nasizhivaniya;
- addiction to obesity.
Video: Moscow breed of chickens
Reviews about breed Moscow black
Having studied the description of the Moscow black chicken breed, it becomes clear why it is so popular. Due to its stress tolerance, the bird can carry eggs under any conditions. And if it is not possible to build a chicken coop, then the Moscow black one will be comfortable in cages.
