Show Off Your Games!

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That's it, rub it in. Just keep rubbing it in Josh44!
Haha
She looks good

Thanks,
Here's a pic of her pure grey half sister.
They share the same father, they have diff moms.
12005_imag1725-1-1.jpg

Their father
12005_father_asil.jpg
 
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My Madagascar pullet and stag have lost their prey instincts and will walk right up to a fox. If it were not for an alert neighbor, the pullet would have been carried off. She didn't even make a sound or put up a struggle. But then these birds were raised in a brooder and left on their own to free range at about three weeks of age. Still, other gamefowl that I raised that didn't have the benefit of a hen, had pretty decent instinct. Then the Tuzo chicks I had that were incubated and hatched by a Silkie didn't want anything to do with her after two weeks. My strain of Silkies are fierce mothers, too. One would stalk a cat until she would get close enough to latch onto its nose. After several times of that happening, the cat would run like heck.
 
Hey Paul s got any pics of your Madagascars? I got a Rooster last year from a friend and all was going well- he seemed fine and healthy and I had started looking around for a suitable hen for him. Then I went out to feed and water him and he looked like he just laid down and went to sleep - dead as a doornail. I really liked that bird too
 
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A strain of what?

of game bird.

Still rather vague.

If you want something that can run around in your yard, evade predators, and rear young... You're really asking the impossible. I have game hens and non-game hens alike that once they go broody out on the yard, it's a death sentence. If they do survive to bring babies out, something gets all the babies or even the hen too.
 
Cuban Longtails,

Egghead may be looking for games after reading my accounts on my front yard flock. I breed for numbers with free range birds. Losses incurred but acceptable and management options used for controlling losses.
 
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Long winded answer. Two systems are in place. All birds wing banded at hatch. I use dog for varmint control. We used to use both systems for games although first system was not as refined. We did not use tie-cords but wanting to use them once second dog in place.
1) Presently most of my production involves mating pens with one to six hens per rooster. Eggs are collected from as many ≤ 6 pens over 10 days. Those eggs (target number is 72 or 36 eggs) are incubated as a cohort, brooded for 4 weeks and transferred to chicken tractor for another four weeks. Chicks then free range for a couple more weeks while roosting in chicken tractor before they are encouraged to use elevated roosts. Free range continues through 24 weeks. A few games are run through using this method but mostly is it either pure Dominiques or Dominique crosses. Six cohorts, at 28 day intervals, will be run by end of production season, number five goes into tractor this weekend. Start was late this year. Working out technique yet but will have cycled through about 170 birds this year. Following years want to do about 500 hundred. Details concerning mating system left out but you should be able find that under my thread on your UGF site under breeding and genetics by searching moniker "centrachid" and "Missouri Dominique".

2) Presenlty games (American) are free ranged. Hens selected as brood stock can number from 1 to 10 and be placed on walk with single broodcock usually during March. Stags harvested usually by September. Most pullets and late hatch stags used as Sunday dinner. We used to have as many as ten walks going at any one time, twenty when grandfather was alive. Now just one. When we had more, would harvest 50 to 75 quality stags per season of those 10 walks. Presently I do not have capacity for even 10 stags per year. Games now just for fun. One flock is maintained in front yard and allowed to breed. Only restriction is in regard to nest site which must be on front porch. Loss to predators minimal owing to dog. Loss to PMS (poor management syndrome) complicated by cocci and scratch are my biggest hurdles. I am not used to using so much management on free-range birds.
 
Centrarchid,

My concern is the lack of planning behind the statement of someone looking for "good free-ranging" fowl. They likely do not realize the quantities required and preparations involved in keeping such a flock. I highly doubt you could just turn them loose (effectively becoming feral) and expect survival for many generations.

I've read your posts on UFF, they are quite educating.
 

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