BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[ronott1]

I had a significant drop in production for about three days...down from 9-12 per day to only 5-6 from 12 active layers. Now....well, yesterday I collected 15 eggs. It seems some of my pullets have finally begun to lay! And one of my frizzled Easter Eggers gave me a really, really blue egg.

I'm back in business, baby!

That is one of the nice things about living at a lower latitude--you can get eggs closer to year round with more breeds. Here hens that are over a year old and are not winter layers will stop from mid October to January.

Pullets that come into lay before the low light levels will usually continue to lay through the first winter without light.

 

[varidgerunner]

Ga Noi chicks at 4 weeks. Check out the shape. This hen showed up with chicks and her sister started laying at six months. She has missed two days since late September. But remember, Gamefowl are not very productive. I think the Thais and the Ga Noi are a little more production oriented, those people needed to be able to make use of their fowl in every way possible. Some of the Ga Noi were even bred without spurs in the males, they were too valuable to loose.

 

[Ifish]

I have thoroughly enjoyed the discussions in this thread lately. Very interesting and educational. The oriental Game discussion was fantastic to read as I have read very little on the oriental breeds, and games in general.

Which in turn, got my wheels turning, and that's not always a good thing. So it's lead me to start thinking about starting a Feral Flock on our farm with some Old English Games. I think it'd be neat, but also a lot of money to lose, as the OEG are not cheap around here.

Is it possible to have a feral flock in South Central PA climate? I wouldn't mind tossing out some scratch grain for them during winter if that's what it would take. Maybe leghorns could make it, and be cheaper to purchase?

 

[ronott1]

I have thoroughly enjoyed the discussions in this thread lately. Very interesting and educational. The oriental Game discussion was fantastic to read as I have read very little on the oriental breeds, and games in general.

Which in turn, got my wheels turning, and that's not always a good thing. So it's lead me to start thinking about starting a Feral Flock on our farm with some Old English Games. I think it'd be neat, but also a lot of money to lose, as the OEG are not cheap around here.

Is it possible to have a feral flock in South Central PA climate? I wouldn't mind tossing out some scratch grain for them during winter if that's what it would take. Maybe leghorns could make it, and be cheaper to purchase?

Usually the feral flocks are in places with fairly good weather and not to terrible amounts of predators.

 

[Ifish]

Usually the feral flocks are in places with fairly good weather and not to terrible amounts of predators.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I control the predators I can around here, but the winter weather would be tough.

 

[hellbender]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I control the predators I can around here, but the winter weather would be tough.

The birds would need some kind of shelter for severely cold and windy periods. If you could control the predators and provide them with a run-in shelter that is high enough for them to roost well above most climbers like coon and throw down a goodly bit of scratch in the coldest/snowiest days, you might have a shot.

Of course, they would have to have a constantly running source of water or you would have to carry water to them at least once per day...twice is better.

And...I don't think the leghorns would have a chance. Not disrespecting the breed, just a reality check.

 

[Beekissed]

My sister has a feral flock in the mountains here in WV...severe winds and cold up where she lives. Those chickens found places to sleep here and there around the house, buildings, sheds, etc. for the past several winters now. I doubt she even gives them water, though they probably drink from the other livestock's water. No particular breed, just farm mutts. Healthiest birds I've ever seen...go off in the brush and bring back chicks, just live their own lives out there. She never gets any of their eggs, but she doesn't seem to care. She doesn't seem to care about much of anything in that scenario...

 

[varidgerunner]

Old English standard fowl most of which you can find being American Games will do fine in Pennsylvania. If they have some buildings or pine trees to get in they can reproduce enough to sustain harvest. I do something similar at a couple of remote barns. The biggest issue for me is that the hens will sometimes nest in places that they can't move their chicks out of. Predators will get some, but if they have some structure they can be pretty darn evasive. The ones that survive will pass those traits to chicks. I found that the black ones do the best. I think is that they look like crows, and the other colors look like a grouse or something that every raptor is programmed for. The stags are better eating than most information would have you believe. The low input needed makes up for the lack of fast growth. I like the orientals better here at my house, they are easier to catch, the bankiva type birds have no problems roosting sixty feet high and pitching out 100 yards when they fly down.

 

[speney]

I have thoroughly enjoyed the discussions in this thread lately.  Very interesting and educational.  The oriental Game discussion was fantastic to read as I have read very little on the oriental breeds, and games in general.

Which in turn, got my wheels turning, and that's not always a good thing. So it's lead me to start thinking about starting a Feral Flock on our farm with some Old English Games.  I think it'd be neat, but also a lot of money to lose, as the OEG are not cheap around here.

Is it possible to have a feral flock in South Central PA climate?  I wouldn't mind tossing out some scratch grain for them during winter if that's what it would take.  Maybe leghorns could make it, and be cheaper to purchase?

my aunt had a feral flock of bantams and a coop of RiR for laying the bantams ran wild she had a small coop for them in the bush but they never used it. She gave them a little scratch when there was alot of snow on the ground and would break the ice every once in a while on the small crick that ran through her property. They lasted five years but very few chicks ever made it they were quickly picked of by predators because the couldn't fly and no one ever tried to control the predators to make it easier on the feral flock.so it is definitely doable I would go with a fighter bird that can get into trees easily.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

I have thoroughly enjoyed the discussions in this thread lately. Very interesting and educational. The oriental Game discussion was fantastic to read as I have read very little on the oriental breeds, and games in general.

Which in turn, got my wheels turning, and that's not always a good thing. So it's lead me to start thinking about starting a Feral Flock on our farm with some Old English Games. I think it'd be neat, but also a lot of money to lose, as the OEG are not cheap around here.

Is it possible to have a feral flock in South Central PA climate? I wouldn't mind tossing out some scratch grain for them during winter if that's what it would take. Maybe leghorns could make it, and be cheaper to purchase?

Centrarchid did something like this with some of his flock, and started a thread and posted a huge amount of info on it. He left them to themselves, but I think also had a LGD and was a light sleeper to hear any ruckus. Check it out (look him up to see threads started - I think it's called something like "starting a family group on the porch"). Fascinating read...

Edit: It's called "constructing a single chicken family unit for porch". Actually, all his posts are interesting because (as he has said himself), he treats his chickens a bit like wildlife, and I think he's in a field of animal behavior (though I think it's fish), so his documentation of things (e.g., how a free-ranging flock remembers food sites, or behaves during a hawk attack) is detailed and fascinating...

- Ant Farm