Best chicken for the apocalypse?

[SanCarlos6127]

I wonder about how all these rare hard to get breeds are great at all for common people for an apocalypse.. they can't be that great if endangered! lol. also you may want sex linkage, but also know roosters determine eggs of daughters, and you may as they are hatchlings may not pick fittest. it may be decent to keep production and foragers as one, but broody and foragers to raise young and let less valuable broody types let loose before others so they can learn lay of land were feed is to be found and dangers, then give them more valuable production chooks to go and then be safer. or keep brooder type silkie, cochin, muscovy duck, ect. or is that just un necessary? my muscovy ducks free range and hardly any pred trouble in pair with young, but now flock of fifteen, nothing bothers them. they eat grass, moss, lichens, algae, slimy and flying insects out of air,rodents, snakes, spiders scorpions, carcass meat from dog and cat kills (they tear at to get flesh like gatars). They are pretty much silent, so not attracting anyone or thing that'd hear chickens and mallard breed ducks free ranging, or cooped up around your hidout. only trouble is they seem to need ability to forage some for food to do good, but need an inclosed shed ect to stay warm preferably below forty for mine so far. They can see and actively forage in dark making great if need to hide during day from sight. the hatches can be staggered so hens lay at different times so one lays daily exrta large egg for thirty days or lot longer, all year long as long as have place out of freezing temps to nest ect. bad point is wimter can take lot out of them when just kept out in three sided metal. coop to see how do and having no place else to lock them up so they don't fly up and roost in neighbors barn at night.

my bantam Americana are second as haved grown the KCs out yet. my Americana also forage for all of own food, calm with me from handling from young ones caged. they have tiny combs ect that haven't had trouble in below zero temps but also the beards and muffs ect to block wind so go out and forage cheerfully in wet windyfreezing weather. hens are not standard color/pattern nor are eggs ranging from blue green pink tinted tan brown cream and white, but they seem better survivalists for, maybe cause of varied landscapes and colors n ect of that hide different ones/their eggs better. roosters are fighters to death for hens like games and hens even are spurred and can use as saw when one was attacked by hawk two or more her size.. she turned and spurred it then ran back under bush as lead hen got hold of screeching and tore it up so bad it couldn't fly away or stand and layed propped up on wings bleeding from mouth ect heaving unable to screach any more, as i finally walked up and picked up exuasted tore up hen that had chipped her beak and lost some toe nails scales feathers and had sores torn open on bottom of feet. she still screamed at and wanted to attack this in her territory that challenged her flock (she is piss n vinager on bad days and flock roo knows to stay back when she goes off on usually cats shrews, weasel, snake, occasional dog, songbirds ect. so the rest just hung back screaching and dashing in for blows on other side of were ever she was so she wouldn't turn on them for getting in her way). the roos are small enough to fly forage anywere easily see eating more smaller bugs but can tear apart larger ones, and be meaty carcasses. the hens at a few mothes begin laying taking a month to get into a med egg a day (have had prolapsing ect issues as suspicions that this tiny a bird not ment to lay that large an egg every day, so some babying for week. for one that was really bad was needed). they can and have as flock fought off preds when there was some light in on or around coop so they can actively see ect at night. every day is Easter egg hunt as new laying hens seemingly instinctively make and hide nest of some eggs, before settle in and accept nesting and roosting coop/box whatever. they need summer shade but can and do oddly bath in water to cool off (never seen this in anything but games and leghorns, so guessing breeder got from probly crossed those in for laying and then every other great trait that didn't come from ameruacaunas), hens still cackle at times when laying being great for me then to narrow down nests of young hens that do but bad as others can also close around hear, roos crow softly though, but still bad to be heard when trying not to let every hungry belly around know were you are..

First, don't like ducks.
Second, Dominiques aren't really that hard to get...
Third, the sex-link thing is more about raising/selling chicks than the apocalypse.
Fourth, I have Eggers and Ameraucanas (not bantams) and yes great layers, but not much of a carcass.
Fifth, Maine is in "the north," days are short and very cold during the winter, Rocks and Dominiques are about the best layers in this climate even laying through the winter without artificial light.

 

[enola]

What I want to know is how the chickens will be protected from the starving masses of people who will be scavaging in the country?

 

[LindaB220]

First, don't like ducks.
Second, Dominiques aren't really that hard to get...
Third, the sex-link thing is more about raising/selling chicks than the apocalypse.
Fourth, I have Eggers and Ameraucanas (not bantams) and yes great layers, but not much of a carcass.
Fifth, Maine is in "the north," days are short and very cold during the winter, Rocks and Dominiques are about the best layers in this climate even laying through the winter without artificial light.

Third, the sex-link thing is more about raising/selling chicks than the apocalypse.

Well, they do sell readily. But the joy of this is the hybrid vigor. Mixing two kinds of pure bred birds produces a bird that is bigger, healthier, better laying. Just be sure to only breed the pure breds. Use the offspring for eggs and meat. You won't need a lot. The offspring lay during the entire winter while the pure breds take it off. Then they start laying for the breeding season. You don't need to keep that many. A few new breeders each year. Retire the two or three year olds. Then when the new babies grow and start laying retire older hens. Ready source of eggs and meat.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

The second and third generations of sex links are no longer sex-linked and can show significant regression to the mean.

Dominiques aren't difficult to find; they breed true; and they are good mothers - which are not considered characteristic of sex links.

The wandering, starving, hordes? Black powder when out of the other kind.

There are individuals who have survival plans predicated on taking from others; some of them are currently doing exactly that as a way of living.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Third, the sex-link thing is more about raising/selling chicks than the apocalypse.

Well, they do sell readily. But the joy of this is the hybrid vigor. Mixing two kinds of pure bred birds produces a bird that is bigger, healthier, better laying. Just be sure to only breed the pure breds. Use the offspring for eggs and meat. You won't need a lot. The offspring lay during the entire winter while the pure breds take it off. Then they start laying for the breeding season. You don't need to keep that many. A few new breeders each year. Retire the two or three year olds. Then when the new babies grow and start laying retire older hens. Ready source of eggs and meat.

How are you planning to source new pure breeds to reduce inbreeding depression? You're going to need a flock of each pure breed sufficient to avoid inbreeding depression instead of just one flock large enough to avoid inbreeding depression.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

What I want to know is how the chickens will be protected from the starving masses of people who will be scavaging in the country?

Weaponry is one solution; getting together with neighbors and disrupting roads, etc. is another.

 

[LindaB220]

How are you planning to source new pure breeds to reduce inbreeding depression? You're going to need a flock of each pure breed sufficient to avoid inbreeding depression instead of just one flock large enough to avoid inbreeding depression.

You can do a rotational breeding and cull heavy each year. Have 3 pens of each breed. Keep the top 2 of ea m/f and cull the rest. Or grow out for eggs and meat. Retire 2 yr olds. A breed like a New Hampshire is good for fast grow out. Really good size. Good Delawares are another. Fast growing, large. Not a hatchery bird. They have been mixed with leghorns to get the egg numbers up. That's why you go to a good breeder.
Or you can have a group of each breed and have an open group. Fifteen hens and 2 roosters of each breed. Separate and breed only the best of each hatch. Keep an eye on them.and mark them. Up to you. How you want to do it. One breed or two. Definitely not more. And don't let mutts get in your line or it will degenerate.

 

[LindaB220]

I want to know more about this beautiful Giant breed of chicken. What is a Legacy and where can it be found? Please, any information is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Hi randyreese,

Probably kind of hard to find, I'm sure. I googled American Games and they described them as majestic, large and coming in different colors. The picture looked a lot like the one on here. I suspect that Legacy was a brand name in a certain part of the country. I don't know. Wonder what the weight of it was?

 

[The Yakima Kid]

You can do a rotational breeding and cull heavy each year. Have 3 pens of each breed. Keep the top 2 of ea m/f and cull the rest. Or grow out for eggs and meat. Retire 2 yr olds. A breed like a New Hampshire is good for fast grow out. Really good size. Good Delawares are another. Fast growing, large. Not a hatchery bird. They have been mixed with leghorns to get the egg numbers up. That's why you go to a good breeder.
Or you can have a group of each breed and have an open group. Fifteen hens and 2 roosters of each breed. Separate and breed only the best of each hatch. Keep an eye on them.and mark them. Up to you. How you want to do it. One breed or two. Definitely not more. And don't let mutts get in your line or it will degenerate.

I'm likely to just go with Dominiques because foraging ability and adaptability both to hot desert summers and intermountain high desert winters is important in the sagebrush ocean.

 

[gjensen]

You do not want anything that requires a surplus of grain. The big eating big birds would suddenly become unpopular.

I will stick with my Catalanas.