Cherry Valley ducks for many years remain the most popular breed for breeding. This cross with minimal cost allows you to achieve high profits, because it is characterized by precocity and good productivity. What are the main advantages of this breed of ducks and how to care for them - we will tell in our material.
Origin and distribution
Under this unusual name hides a cross of Peking breed ducks. The main goal pursued by the English company Cherry-velly during breeding is to create birds with high productivity and fast growth rates.
Important! Duck productivity indicators are completely dependent on the quality of the feed. Therefore, it should always be fresh, varied and contain a sufficient amount of nutrients.Cherry Valley battled after the appearance attracted many poultry farms in the territory of the Soviet Union. Today, this cross is extremely popular in the entire post-Soviet space.
Standard and breed description
The appearance of the Cherry Valley breed is distinguished by the following features:
- wide chest and slightly elongated body.
- thick neck and bulging frontal part.
- big eyes of dark blue color.
- bright yellow-orange beak of medium size.
- medium length thick legs of red-orange color.
- snow-white color.
Did you know? Red duck meat contains a large amount of beneficial trace elements and vitamins.
Characteristics of breed productivity
This cross poultry belongs to the meat and egg direction. For a year, a duck can carry 120 to 150 eggs. 
Representatives of this cross-country quickly gain weight - at the age of 7 weeks the weight of an individual is from 2.6 to 3 kg. The weight of an adult duck is about 4 kg. Cherry Valley puberty reaches as early as 6.5 months.
The virtues of cherry ducks
Birds of this cross:
- unpretentious to the living conditions and diet;
- early (by the age of 1.5 months, the weight of a duck reaches 3 kg);
- have high meat and egg productivity;
- have a high percentage of survival of ducklings.
We recommend reading about what types of ducks are, what diseases are dangerous for ducks, why a duck floats on water, how a duck differs from a drake, how to properly trim duck wings, how long a duck sits on eggs for hatching.
Deficiencies of Cherry Valley Ducks
They have almost no flaws. The only difficulty in growing them is that the ducks must have access to water and walking. 
Breeding Cherry Valley at home
These birds do not require much attention. Their breeding is possible even for beginner poultry farmers.
Nutrition and feeding
Cherry Valley is completely unpretentious in food, they gladly eat sprouted grains, mash, roots, green fodder and silage. Feed them should be 2-3 times a day and do not forget to provide enough fresh water. Be sure to add to the diet combined silage (a mixture of grass meal and cabbage) and pelleted feed.
Read more about how to properly formulate a diet for ducks at home, how to feed little ducklings, as well as how to independently prepare feed for ducks.
With the ducklings of this cross will have to tinker a bit, especially when there is a need to feed the offspring from the first day of life. Here the main emphasis should be placed on protein food - start feeding with eggs, cottage cheese and kefir.
Video: duck feeding At the end of the week, you can begin to add green food. To the two-week age in the diet of ducklings, you can add mash and roots. Make sure that all food for ducklings is chopped and always fresh.
We advise you to read about how to make drinking bowls for ducklings, a nest and a pond for ducks, as well as learn how to build a barn for ducks with your own hands.
Bird care
Cherry Valley should be able to walk. Therefore, planning their breeding, be sure to take care of the paddock. Given the love of this cross to the water, it is logical to place an artificial pond for ducks on the run.
Cleaning the duckling should be done as needed. Do not allow strong contamination, as such an environment is the optimal place for the reproduction of infections. 
Cherry Valley cross-country representatives have strong health, so the need for vaccination depends on the well-being of the farm regarding the most common diseases.
Important! With the onset of cold weather, water procedures for birds should be discontinued in order to avoid a surge in incidence.
Conditions of detention
Growing ducks is a rather laborious process. Of course, you need to know about this case, some theoretical information and then put them into practice:
- the density of individuals should not exceed 3 heads per 1 square meter;
- light day for these birds should last at least 10-12 hours. Lighting should be as uniform as possible. For this you can use ordinary lamps;
- temperature in the duck should be maintained at + 5 ° C around the clock. For young animals, round-the-clock temperature should be within + 16-18 ° С;
- Peat, straw and sawdust are best used for bedding. These materials absorb moisture well and generate heat;
- Ventilation should be provided in the house, which prevents the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the room.
This cross is an ideal choice for beginning poultry farmers who want to quickly achieve good results.Did you know? Duck paws do not have nerve endings, so the bird can safely walk through the snow and ice.The high productivity of these agricultural birds and their unpretentiousness allow them for many years to be a leader in breeding both in large farms and in individual farms.
