Successful 100% forage diet experiment (long post)

[AccidentalFarm]

Point well taken...I should have phrased that a bit better.

It's really from the chickens point of view that I am speaking. I believe you said you are not providing any food for this flock. So when they see you they are probably not seeing "the bringer of food". They see you more as a "neutral but friendly entity" that walks amongst us.

Yes you provide shelter and safety if they so desire but I don't think they can comprehend that concept or corelate that with the human unit..."oh look, here comes the builder of my home and my protector" is probably not on their minds when they see you. Perhaps some lingering memory as a parental unit?

If I'm understanding right, both flocks can fully free range the same full area? So how is the other flock "forced" into the coop at night if they can wander the same woods or do they just return by habit because of the food that is always there?

More interestingly, how has the experimental flock not figured out how to follow the first flock and find free food? Are the two coop far enough apart that neither flock is aware of the other coop? I guess never having been raised together probably look at each other as "rival clans".

All good questions and things to ponder. It is interesting to watch both flocks and try to understand why they do the things they do.

No, I don't provide food in terms of filling feeders or scattering feed by hand at a certain time and place every day. They get eggshells after breakfast and occasional kitchen scraps. I don't think they see me as a reliable food bringer, but I get the impression that they are aware of the possibility of food when they see me.

Yes, both flocks are able to range the same areas but they don't mingle. The foraging flock probably doesn't follow the barn flock around because they don't associate other chickens with food availability. As far as they know, everyone has to hunt and scratch up their own food.

The barn flock returns to their coop every night with or without food I guess because it's what they have always done? I scatter layer pellets for them in the evenings because it lets me close up the barn a little earlier than if I waited on them to meander back to the coop. They expect it and when they see me headed down the road to the barn, they race over there and it just makes the whole process easier for me. I have other livestock to feed and water down there every evening too and I wanna get done asap when it's cold out.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Is the sweet feed an all-stock type or is it specifically for poultry?

All stock.

 

[SulkyBantam]

Enjoyed this!

Good idea and very well though-out and written.

 

[AccidentalFarm]

If you can get the egg side of this figured out you will be my hero.

I haven't given egg harvest much thought, but you've got me thinking more about it now.

I have 25 hens in the forage flock, all of which are from breeds known to lay 150-250 eggs/year.

If we split the difference of that range and go with an expected 200 eggs per year, that's 4 eggs per week per each of my 25 hens, so 100 eggs per week.

Today I gathered 12 eggs so far from the known forager nests. I know of one more nest that I haven't checked, so possibly another egg or two today. Yesterday, I'm pretty sure I gathered 9.

So I guess I need to find 14 eggs a day to reach that 200 eggs per year average, and safely assume that I am at or very close to 100% harvest?

Does that sound right?

 

[linguini]

Thanks!
I just placed a chick order for March to raise the same way. It will be interesting to see if there are behavioral differences between hatchery chicks and the 'homegrown' ones I'm working with now.

What an interesting story! Thanks for sharing. How long has it been since you let them out in the "wilderness" on their own? Is it long enough to find out if there are new chicks they hatched? Just curious if there is extension to the next generation?

 

[AccidentalFarm]

What an interesting story! Thanks for sharing. How long has it been since you let them out in the "wilderness" on their own? Is it long enough to find out if there are new chicks they hatched? Just curious if there is extension to the next generation?

Technically yes, it's been long enough for them to have hatched chicks, but none of them have been inclined to do so yet.
They've been out there for something like 5 months now.

 

[highrockieschic]

This thread is awesome! So fun to read! Solely free ranging would never work where I live, 10,000 feet in elevation and 9 months of winter (frozen ground, feet of snow and crazy strong winds). I'm so jealous of others who can. We can't even hatch eggs here. I've had 4 friends try with zero success. People are always giving away incubators, lol! I would love to someday live somewhere that letting chickens solely forage would work.

 

[0die]

I haven't given egg harvest much thought, but you've got me thinking more about it now.

I have 25 hens in the forage flock, all of which are from breeds known to lay 150-250 eggs/year.

If we split the difference of that range and go with an expected 200 eggs per year, that's 4 eggs per week per each of my 25 hens, so 100 eggs per week.

Today I gathered 12 eggs so far from the known forager nests. I know of one more nest that I haven't checked, so possibly another egg or two today. Yesterday, I'm pretty sure I gathered 9.

So I guess I need to find 14 eggs a day to reach that 200 eggs per year average, and safely assume that I am at or very close to 100% harvest?

Does that sound right?

not exactly...what I meant was getting all the forage only flock to lay consistently in the provided coop. Otherwise, you are kinda foraging for wild eggs yourself even though you have a fairly good idea of where you might find these eggs. I think you did mention that some of the nests you found and took eggs from, the hens just moved to a new nest sight as a result.

I think part of the concept of domesticated animals is that they are harvested in a planned and controlled manner...whether that means daily milking in a planned/designated area, centralized egg collection, controlled breeding, planned slaughter, etc to make the process reliable and consistent to improve efficiency. It's easier and more reliable to breed and slaughter meat than to go hunt it. Easier to collect eggs from a coop than to climb trees and raid bird nests everyday.

I know you are not personally interested in the eggs but that is the interest of probably the other 99% here. I mean they are just cool to look at in themselves but most will expect some return on their investment as well.

 

[0die]

No, I don't provide food in terms of filling feeders or scattering feed by hand at a certain time and place every day. They get eggshells after breakfast and occasional kitchen scraps. I don't think they see me as a reliable food bringer, but I get the impression that they are aware of the possibility of food when they see me.

technically then it's not 100% forage. they do see you as a food source. not a primary source but enough that they are not too interested in going totally feral and completely migrating deeper into the woods in search of greener pastures.

If you totally cut them off it would be interesting to see how long they stay around or if they slowly "disappear" to new grounds.

 

[0die]

Since one flock always returns to the coop to lay because they have always food but the other flock doesn't because they were weaned off food very early...

Perhaps that is a key factor in their egg laying behavior?

Might you try raising a free range flock to full maturity and a full egg production cycle with complete food provided at their designated coop and egg boxes...then systematically reduce then eliminate all provided food...see if they 100% forage but continue to return to lay in the coop that they are conditioned to think of as their home?