Best Free Ranging Chickens.

[slatts]

I say Plymouth Rocks are the best breed on the range because of their natural camouflage and their foraging ability. What say you?

 

[Shellz]

I say Belgian Cuckoo Malines. I've raised over a dozen breeds & none can compare to the distance these guys travel. This year was the first time chickens crossed the road to forage. Also the first year I had zero losses from predation.

 

[slatts]

I'm not familiar with the Belgians but they have barring similar to the barred rocks. Good camo.

 

[slatts]

Any opinions, folks?

 

[DCchicken]

My Bielefelders are great foraging for food. Good thing because they eat a ton when they are growing out. My Bresse are also good a free ranging, but I fear that their white color says "Come eat me" to predators.

 

[Shellz]

Aw nuts - just lost 2 cockerels to our first mink attack. So much for my record. Going to get some nite guard solar units.
Bielefelders are nice birds too. The breeder I got my Malines from just got Bielefelders in the spring. I might try them next year.

 

[BGMatt]

Alert active breeds do best. Leghorns, Andalusians, Minocras, Ancona, Sumatra, Campine, Hamburg etc etc. Also any sort of game fowl.

 

[AletaG]

Don't forget Icelandic ... they were ignored, essentially and had to thrive anyway.

 

[NanaKat]

I have Wyandotte, Blue and White Cochins and Black Australorps that free-range from 7 am until dark. Color varieties for the Wyandotte are Columbian, Blue,Black, Birchen and Blue Columbian. Once let out of their pens, the birds strike off in different directions. One group heads north for the front yard, one group heads south for the pasture gates and around the parked livestock trailers, another group heads east past the barn to the round hay bales, a fourth group heads south of the barn to the tractors and the older hens, search up and down the gravel drive and material storage areas. The layers all return to their pens to lay in their coops. Eventually,I will open up the garden area for the birds to forage. I provide layer pellets in feeders in each pen in the early evening before locking up the coops.

 

[nicole63021]

My Legbar pullet is the best in my flock, along with one of my GL Brahmas (strange, I know), but the other girls will follow her to cover if she runs. Have hawks like crazy right now, and she has led the flock to the safe area(s) just ahead of 6 dives now. She also eats almost no feed now, though it is increasing slightly with less green in the yard and garden (she raided my kale, brussels sprouts and tomatoes like mad!). I have seen 3 different hawks in just the last week (they are CLEARLY different animals). The migration is under way, so it could get worse. My GL Brahma will peck and flog anyone that doesn't move for cover if even a airplane goes over, though the butterfly "freak out" from her was hilarious! Wish I had kept the SFH like I wanted, but DH didn't want them at the time, he does now! Will have to wait till we move and get more land to get more chickens though.