Who are the mule-ducks?

Which meat is the most expensive meat? The analysis of the prices has shown, that for today the most expensive there was a crocodile (meat of crocodiles). It is slightly inferior to the bear cub, and then comes a fat goose liver - its price ranges from $ 45 to $ 48 per kilogram. France uses foie gras in huge quantities. There are annually produced more than 18 000 tons of meat per year. The researchers found that this liver contributes to the removal of cholesterol from the human body, and improves metabolic processes. Therefore, the average life expectancy of the French, living in the south, is much higher than others. They remain active until old age. Approximately sixty years ago, instead of goose liver, the liver of mulberries was used - the cross ducks obtained from crossing musk duck drakes with females of the white Peking duck. It turned out that they contain much cheaper and easier than geese.

Musky ducks arrived in Europe

In 1944, Allied troops landed in the south of France. American soldiers fed relatively well, they were delivered meat products in large refrigerators. In addition, in Argentina and Uruguay, the US bought meat cows and musk ducks. They were carried on specially equipped ships to Europe in a live form. When the military units were established small farms, which for the holidays cheered their warriors with fresh meat. In France itself, as a result of the war, there was a shortage of products, so the French sought ways to purchase food from Americans. It so happened that some of the musk ducks imported from Argentina were found by the French. They started breeding them on their farms. One of the businessmen, Charles Bone, had Peking ducks. All the ducks were kept together.

Preconditions for the appearance of muler

The situation developed in such a way that only one drake remained in the farm of Monsieur Bonet from all musk ducks. He actively mated with the ducks of the white Peking breed. Those brought eggs from which the ducklings were taken. They surprisingly quickly grew, overtaking their peers. Their appearance was different from ordinary ducks, because they were already mullards - ducks, which in many ways look more like geese. Monsieur Bonet could not distinguish ducklings by sex. To understand this, veterinarian Anatole Grum was invited, who, after researching all available ducklings, announced that they were all male. Some of the ducklings were fattened, and the other was left to the tribe (Charles Bonet expected the veterinarian to make a mistake). The bird showed enviable weight gain on special fattening by the technology "fat goose liver". Weighing after slaughter showed that all duck mulberries have a liver up to 500 g.

The appearance of mullards as an industrial bird species

Veterinarian Anatol Groom had a lot of experience in growing mules - a cross between an ass and a mare. Having studied the features that muleard ducks had, he noticed signs of asexuality, similar to those of mules. Hence the invented name of a wonder bird. He decided to experiment. He came up with a method for obtaining seminal fluid from the spleen of a musk duck and began to fertilize it with white Peking ducks. They carried the eggs from a difficult crossing. In the incubator, new and new ducklings were taken out. An inquisitive researcher regularly conducted experiments on them, he shared his observations with Monsieur Bonet. They were able to interest the new ducks of the banker Pierre Sha Tone, who created a firm for the production of fatty liver. Some dozens of musk ducks were removed from Argentina, white Peking ducks were purchased, and a farm was established on the banks of the Loire. Mulberry ducks were displayed daily by dozens, they grew rapidly, business expanded. The restoration of France after the war went on quite intensively. Accordingly, the population's income increased, which allowed to create a whole trend in industrial poultry farming - the cultivation of mulberries for meat and fatty liver. In passing, the duck-goose-mulberry gives up to 120 g of down that is used for the production of down jackets. The price of this product today ranges from $ 125 to $ 135 per kilogram, goose is somewhat more expensive, but the duck is in high demand.

Perspectives of work in the cultivation of mules

Time has shown that a promising direction has been found in poultry farming. At present, in a number of countries, the cultivation of birds for fatty liver has become one of the important components of the gross domestic product (GDP). For example, Hungary delivers to the European market more than 2000 tons of fatty liver, which brings to it more than 80 million dollars annually. In France, this figure is much higher - about 800-850 million dollars a year. Duck-mulberry (the photo above represents its general appearance), turns out to be a "golden" bird, which is beneficial to grow in our country. Fashion for foie gras came to us. Of course, the price of the product is quite high, but the consumer properties are such that in the foreseeable future the product will be in demand in the Russian market.