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The guy is a hobbiest and not a farmer. He talks out his butt.

Do an advanced search on the word "cannibalize" in the meat bird section and you will find a number of people other than myself who have had their cornish cross cannibalized by hens. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/607746/somebody-pecked-a-hole-in-my-birds-leg...

I would separate them from the meat birds. The layers will cannibalize the sluggish, slow moving cornish cross.

Also a place to run for cover in the event of aerial predator.

Yes, extra shelters will help to increase the chickens comfort level when foraging on open pasture. I used to bring an empty hay wagon out in the field with food and water under it to encourage further foraging. Chickens were also hanging out under the 55 gallon barrel gravity fed waterer stand.

Obviously you have very limited experience with chickens and feed companies.

I use 75 watts worth of amorphous solar panels charging two marine batteries. Hooked to the batteries is a Patriot P20 120/12 volt 2 joule output energizer connected to 800 feet of electric poultry netting. The system is grounded using two ground grounds. Yes, within reason the system...

Your fox will probably be back because it knows that your dogs are typically locked inside the house, and that it can evade (outrun) a pyr.

How do you define "best". To me the "best" would be the most profitable, with the lowest feed to egg weight ratio.

We use Premier's heavier PermaNet poultry fencing. Though a great deterrent, it is not foolproof. Coyotes and wolves are fully capable of knocking it down or jumping over it. A big livestock guardian dog inside the fence adds a little more security, and also keeps flying predators away.

This is our current practice, and it seems most of the hens make it to the second cycle. Along with economic viability, we employ this method for humanitarian reasons. One of my friends has two flocks. He purchases new chicks in February and keeps them until November the following year...

Usually my bachelor roosters will grab a small chick by the neck, and hold it in the air while they copulate on the floor to an imaginary hen.

That calculates to about 100 square feet of pasture per chicken per month, or 25 square feet of pasture per chicken per week. My pastured poultry operation is about 100 square feet per chicken per week. Even then the ground shows damage and needs time to recover. In short, I recommend you...

Google this, google that. Can't provide a link? So, again problems with reading comprehension. Read the title of this thread. The broilers in the study were not free range, but rather in confined housing with no other food sources available. I mentioned that earlier.

Again, you are having problems with reading comprehension.

From a statistic's point of view, it is way more representative than the mean flock size on BYC. I am willing to change the way I raise my chickens, but I won't do it by taking the advice of a small hobbyist who does his "homework" and can not provide any documentation.

I'm tired of googling and finding very little on the subject. Please enlighten us by showing some of your "homework".

Ahhh yes, the rooster. I have several cuckoo marans roosters that have been eating layer for close to four years now. Other people on here have similar experiences. Kind of puts a cloud of doubt into the "no higher calcium levels for non layers" argument.

Seriously, can you provide a study on that? By free ranging, you introduce acidifiers and also limit the amount of processed feed they consume. I use a Fertrell based/recommended laying mix. As mentioned before, I have a flock 400 hens and they aren't dying after two years. They are...

This may be only partially true. The research I read supporting this argument was performed on birds that were confined and had no other food options. This is a free range flock.