Breeding (mostly) self-sufficient chickens

[Blw18]

I am working on a similar project with the larger birds. Mine have langshan, Orpington, naked neck, Egyptian fayoumi, and Brahma in the line at the moment and I hopefully will be adding liege fighter pretty soon to add some gaminess to the strain. Being big and aggressive certainly helps with fending off would-be attacks...a predator wants an easy meal and doesn’t want to get injured because an injured predator is a dead predator. Two of my project hens were recently attacked by a red shouldered hawk and were able to defend themselves pretty well minus some missing feathers and cuts. Big breeds make it much harder for smaller predators (which happen to be my main problem) and small breeds typically can evade larger ones by being fast and flighty but mine always become hawk bait...hence breeding for larger size. Being light colored also seems to negatively affect younger chickens especially because hiding in the brush is much harder. As long as you’re breeding from your best stock, as far as production goes on both the rooster and hen’s lines, egg laying should be great.

 

[Boogiemaam]

I want to get into chicken breeding. I want birds that will be their own primary defense from predators, lay year round, raise chicks reliably, and forage well. I’m thinking that I’ll use some kind of Asils and Freedom Rangers, as well as perhaps Jersey Giants. I’m hoping that aggressiveness and sheer size will make them difficult targets for predators, but of course, (because of the nature of my goal) natural selection will be the primary decision maker for how these birds end up. Does anyone have input on this?

How will you find their eggs? Sounds like you have a lot of room.

 

[chao78]

I want to try crossing Cackle Black Breasted Red Jungle Fowl to Cackle Brown Leghorns and see if I get a bigger chicken than the Black Breasted Red Jungle Fowl that will be broody. I have a neighbor that has some Red Jungle Fowl that has been raised free range for over 20 years. They are going to let me have a pair if we can catch them. I plan on building 4 foot x 4 foot breeding cages to keep them in till I gentle them down some.

 

[chao78]

I also have some mixed games that a friend let me have that lives about 6 miles from me . They are free range. They are small like a Bantam. One of the hens has 10 chicks in a pen. Then there is a rooster and hen in a breeding pen.