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I live in Far West TX (Alpine, if you know where that is) and have had my birds for about a year now. I ordered hatchery stock from McMurray, and got an assortment of breeds to try, needing hardy free rangers that are smart enough to escape from predators, etc. on their own. I provided them with a great coop (Fort Knox, as you described) and let nature take its course. My original order consisted of the follwoing breeds...I'll also include a little info on which ones have worked well for me
Cuckoo Marans = none living any longer (skunks, neighbor dog & racoons got 'em all) They were great, gentle girls & laid big brown eggs, but all died.
Easter Eggers = all but one living! The one that died was killed by the neighbor dog also (he got 10 of my hens, the b@st@rd). These birds lay very nice sized green or blue eggs, and were the only ones that continued laying through the entire winter. They are also excellent broody mothers (if you want chicks). Two of them have "disappeared" for almost a month, then showed back up with a bunch of chicks, surviving hidden out on a ranch...we have pretty much every predator you listed in your original post, and these birds survived with no coop. I was amazed. They are also very gentle.
Partridge Rocks = all but one dead. These are gentle birds, but not survivors...lay good sized light brown eggs, but they are pretty stupid.
Dark Cornish Game = all alive! These are AMAZING little free range hens, very wiley & predator smart. They are very alert, always in the best places during the day (shade while hot, etc.) and are good layers for me. Their eggs are medium sized, light brown, but they are regular layers and easy keepers. I've spent a good amount of time watching my flock, and these girls seem to be the ones to find all the goodies, and alert the rest of the birds to where they are. They are also very efficient little snake killers - last summer (when they were 6 - 9 months old) they got 11 snakes that I counted...who knows how many there were that I didn't witness. They slacked off on laying over the winter, but have all picked back up like clockwork. Love these birds...they get my highest recommendation based on your criteria. They are also very good eating (I ordered some cockrels also, and dispatched them at about 6 months of age...YUM!)
RIR = pretty much the same results as you've listed in my area. Plus, both my hens & roo are very agressive (the rooster is no longer with us, nasty thing).
Gold Laced & Blue Laced Red Wyandottes = all but three dead. Skunks in my area seemed to have developed a particular taste for my 1/2 grown Wyandottes, and did a number on them. The three that have made it are excellent layers, and seem to be pretty smart now (the cream of the crop, I guess). No laying at all over the winter, but are now laying an egg every other day, large to extra large size.
Overall, I'd recommend Easter Eggers and the Cornish Game hens. They are great!
Thanks for all the hands on great information. I will definitely look at the Dark Cornish Hens and the Easter Eggers. My eventual goal is to have two flocks, one totally free range and one penned. My penned ones are feed a special diet for egg laying. When I finally do set the other ones free they will be allowed to reproduce naturally for meat birds and sale. It was my intention to let all of my original flock of mixed breeds run free once once my RIRs got into full production, but since I lost most of them before they were one year old, I never let the other ones out of the pen. I have a 120 foot by 70 foot divided pen. My coup is built so as to allow my to control access to each pen. I grow natural forage in the pen that is not in use, such as, milo and oat (summer) and winter wheat. When the crop is grown enough I switch flock over and replant the other side. This provides the hens natural food (aside from the lay pellets and oyster shell) and shade in the summer. It also attracts bugs for them to eat. Needless to say, my pen hens are well taken care of. I am already preparing for my free rangers (game hens) though and have planted an acre of winter wheat for them that will be full grown when I let them go. But I don't have a rooster for them right now. I hope I can find a full grown Gamefowl roo to give my game hens when the are set free.
