Florida Bullfrog
Crowing
I asked this same question in this thread years ago:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/keeping-genetics-straight-in-free-range-flocks.1339561/
I since found an answer I gave in that thread that works for me. I’ll paste it here with updated info:
I saw this thread come up on my feed and I thought I can update it and talk about what’s working for me a couple of years later. I’ve found a system that works for me.
I have a large combined free range flock made up of several breeds of hens, five coops with runs, some large ground-based cages, and a large off-the-ground brooder.
The flock breaks down as follows as of June 2022:
I have three mature brood cocks as follows:
1. Florida Cracker brood cock 3 years old.
2. American game bantam brood cock 2 years old.
3. American game bantam brood cock 1 year old.
4. Liege to aseel brook cock approximately 14 months old
I have 1 cockerel of breeding age:
1. Cracker x American gamefowl stag.
The brood cocks tolerate young stags but not each other. Older stags are hit and miss. The brood cocks will tolerate an older stag until they don’t.
Here’s how I break things down:
The free range flock gets the stags and one brood cock. Currently the Cracker brood cock is free range.
The remaining brood cocks are in coops with hens my choosings.
I’ve found that free range is a good way to raise stags, pullets, and grown hens of all sorts. Free ranging separates the weak from the strong and developes the physiques of the survivors. It also offsets the cost of feed for keeping so many birds where the free rangers mostly feed themselves. The coops are just for keeping brood cocks from killing each other and for breeding pure specimens. The cooped birds have generally been raised free range and have proven themselves to be good survivors.
So free range is basically my proving grounds and overflow storage while my coops are where I do breeding. I let the free range hens sit and brood naturally but I cull if I mixes are happening I don’t want.
I collect hatching eggs only from the coops, but will collect free range if only one brood cock is out and I can match the brood cock to the right eggs. All of my different breeds lay unique eggs except for the AGBs and Crackers, therefore AGB hens are pulled off of free range when they’re of laying age if I plan on collecting free range hatching eggs. In the past I’ve allowed multiple Cracker stags to breed within the free range flock but now I’m switching over to only keeping the one Cracker brood cock so all Cracker eggs are being fertilized by him when he’s out or when penned to select hens.
So in other words, free range for pure hatching eggs can work but only if one kind of rooster is out and you can discern one kind of hen egg from another.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/keeping-genetics-straight-in-free-range-flocks.1339561/
I since found an answer I gave in that thread that works for me. I’ll paste it here with updated info:
I saw this thread come up on my feed and I thought I can update it and talk about what’s working for me a couple of years later. I’ve found a system that works for me.
I have a large combined free range flock made up of several breeds of hens, five coops with runs, some large ground-based cages, and a large off-the-ground brooder.
The flock breaks down as follows as of June 2022:
I have three mature brood cocks as follows:
1. Florida Cracker brood cock 3 years old.
2. American game bantam brood cock 2 years old.
3. American game bantam brood cock 1 year old.
4. Liege to aseel brook cock approximately 14 months old
I have 1 cockerel of breeding age:
1. Cracker x American gamefowl stag.
The brood cocks tolerate young stags but not each other. Older stags are hit and miss. The brood cocks will tolerate an older stag until they don’t.
Here’s how I break things down:
The free range flock gets the stags and one brood cock. Currently the Cracker brood cock is free range.
The remaining brood cocks are in coops with hens my choosings.
I’ve found that free range is a good way to raise stags, pullets, and grown hens of all sorts. Free ranging separates the weak from the strong and developes the physiques of the survivors. It also offsets the cost of feed for keeping so many birds where the free rangers mostly feed themselves. The coops are just for keeping brood cocks from killing each other and for breeding pure specimens. The cooped birds have generally been raised free range and have proven themselves to be good survivors.
So free range is basically my proving grounds and overflow storage while my coops are where I do breeding. I let the free range hens sit and brood naturally but I cull if I mixes are happening I don’t want.
I collect hatching eggs only from the coops, but will collect free range if only one brood cock is out and I can match the brood cock to the right eggs. All of my different breeds lay unique eggs except for the AGBs and Crackers, therefore AGB hens are pulled off of free range when they’re of laying age if I plan on collecting free range hatching eggs. In the past I’ve allowed multiple Cracker stags to breed within the free range flock but now I’m switching over to only keeping the one Cracker brood cock so all Cracker eggs are being fertilized by him when he’s out or when penned to select hens.
So in other words, free range for pure hatching eggs can work but only if one kind of rooster is out and you can discern one kind of hen egg from another.
