Challenges of living in the woods with chickens

[Carontheroad]

I live in a forested swamp in the southeast and my chickens free-range outside 24/7. They co-habitate with foxes on my property and a variety of other predators pass through regularly. None of them present any danger to my chickens. At the very most I'll lose one or two a year, and those being the old or sickly. The predators here have no chance of catching healthy gamefowl or landraces, and even heavy production chickens survive just fine with some basic predator mitigation

As others have corrected noted, chickens are the descendants of junglefowl and they're far safer in the woods than any field

It's possible that in some environments a white chicken will do passably well, but I think in most places they're basically doomed. When I originally began I had chickens of all colors, however the white and lavender got picked off by hawks whereas camoflaged colors never did. Now out of compassion for my animals I'll never keep any chicken that isn't camoflaged

Why keep prey animals with the added curse of not even camouflaging like their ancestors did? Seems cruel to me. One guy on BYC had a fox get into his coop that had 99 white chickens and 1 black chicken. Guess who the only survivor was?

Very interesting. So do you really have no coop at all? How do you go about finding the eggs to collect. What chicken breeds do you have? I’m not sure what people mean by landraces.

 

[Carontheroad]

Speaking of camouflage…there are 8 chickens in this picture. Not that I knew that until I walked by three times.
View attachment 4148276

Took me awhile but I finally found them! Nothing like a picture to make the point.

 

[Carontheroad]

I have 13, one each of: Calico princess, black sex-link, cinnamon queen, California tan, blue laced gold Wyandotte, cream legbar, starlight green Egger, Easter egger, barred rock, ameraucana, red star, buff Orpington, and speckled Sussex. I don’t plan on letting them be forest chickens. I think they aren’t designed for that. They have what I hope is a very secure coop and I’ll just let them out near the house when I’m available to keep an eye on them. But down the road I want to look into game hens or mixes that include that who will be flightier and warier in the woods. I was telling my daughter-in-law today about the book I’m reading ( “Free Range Survial Chickens”) and she said to my son, “I told you forest chickens were a thing!”

I’m so glad I started this thread cos I had no idea forest chickens were a thing! Wow you have quite a mix in your flock.

 

[CabritaChicks]

Very interesting. So do you really have no coop at all? How do you go about finding the eggs to collect. What chicken breeds do you have? I’m not sure what people mean by landraces.

That’s exactly my thinking—I need nest boxes at just the right height. My back is in rough shape (though they’ll be fusing it in August), so I’m not about to go hunting for hidden eggs. As a friend once joked, I’m definitely a 'fair-weather chicken keeper'.

I let them free-range all day, sure, spoil them with wonderful exotic foods—but I’m not foraging for my breakfast. I want my eggs served up on a silver platter (after I clean out the shite in the coop, of course).

But my jungelfowl- who knows what she is actually become. Right now, I don't like her.

 

[CabritaChicks]

I should probably explain why I’m not a fan of my jungle/game fowl:

• She looks like a roadrunner—skinny, fast, and not the least bit personable.
• She might be a little slow upstairs—she’s always the last to come to food or catch on to what’s going on.
• She’s excellent at escaping predators… which unfortunately means I can’t catch her either for even health checks.
• Because of her small size, she gets picked on by the other hens pretty regularly.
• Who knows what her sub-breeds even are—she’s a real mystery mix.
• Compared to my RIR mixes (no idea- but definitely not pure RIR's!) and my Leghorn/Marans/Easter Egger girls, she’s just a complete pain in the butt- which is why we call her Gypsy Chick.

We’re installing an automatic chicken coop door soon in the new coop, and honestly, I’m fully expecting my jungle/game fowl to get locked out—she’s so scatterbrained and easily distracted, I doubt she’ll make it in on time. I do free-range my flock all day, which helps cut down on feed costs, but when I weigh that against the extra effort it takes to care for her, the tiny eggs she might lay, and the complete lack of joy she brings to the whole chicken-keeping experience, I really question if she’s worth the hassle. Just my 2 cents on balancing the idealistic chicken flock/family/life with the reality of some of the wild ones.

However, If I was to breed her a few generations with some of my other flock- now THAT might be something incredible.

Oh dear, for the record- I dont feed them tomatoes, those are chunks of mango, but they are frozen with passionfruit and dragonfruit (I grow them) and plantains, and when it begins to defrost, I added in watercress and brussel sprouts. And that is a piece of spaghetti squash that they ate earlier.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I should probably explain why I’m not a fan of my jungle/game fowl:

• She looks like a roadrunner—skinny, fast, and not the least bit personable.
• She might be a little slow upstairs—she’s always the last to come to food or catch on to what’s going on.
• She’s excellent at escaping predators… which unfortunately means I can’t catch her either for even health checks.
• Because of her small size, she gets picked on by the other hens pretty regularly.
• Who knows what her sub-breeds even are—she’s a real mystery mix.
• Compared to my RIR mixes (no idea- but definitely not pure RIR's!) and my Leghorn/Marans/Easter Egger girls, she’s just a complete pain in the butt- which is why we call her Gypsy Chick.

We’re installing an automatic chicken coop door soon in the new coop, and honestly, I’m fully expecting my jungle/game fowl to get locked out—she’s so scatterbrained and easily distracted, I doubt she’ll make it in on time. I do free-range my flock all day, which helps cut down on feed costs, but when I weigh that against the extra effort it takes to care for her, the tiny eggs she might lay, and the complete lack of joy she brings to the whole chicken-keeping experience, I really question if she’s worth the hassle. Just my 2 cents on balancing the idealistic chicken flock/family/life with the reality of some of the wild ones.

However, If I was to breed her a few generations with some of my other flock- now THAT might be something incredible.

View attachment 4150591
Oh dear, for the record- I dont feed them tomatoes, those are chunks of mango, but they are frozen with passionfruit and dragonfruit (I grow them) and plantains, and when it begins to defrost, I added in watercress and brussel sprouts. And that is a piece of spaghetti squash that they ate earlier.

Send her my way-she can sleep in my trees and maybe teach my idiots a thing or two Like, if you do get locked out of the coop do NOT sleep on the ground UNDER the tree.

 

[Appalachickens]

I’m so glad I started this thread cos I had no idea forest chickens were a thing! Wow you have quite a mix in your flock.

I wanted to be able to tell them all apart so I deliberately got all different breeds. But when I do forest chickens, it will hopefully result in one mixed breed.

 

[Appalachickens]

I should probably explain why I’m not a fan of my jungle/game fowl:

• She looks like a roadrunner—skinny, fast, and not the least bit personable.
• She might be a little slow upstairs—she’s always the last to come to food or catch on to what’s going on.
• She’s excellent at escaping predators… which unfortunately means I can’t catch her either for even health checks.
• Because of her small size, she gets picked on by the other hens pretty regularly.
• Who knows what her sub-breeds even are—she’s a real mystery mix.
• Compared to my RIR mixes (no idea- but definitely not pure RIR's!) and my Leghorn/Marans/Easter Egger girls, she’s just a complete pain in the butt- which is why we call her Gypsy Chick.

We’re installing an automatic chicken coop door soon in the new coop, and honestly, I’m fully expecting my jungle/game fowl to get locked out—she’s so scatterbrained and easily distracted, I doubt she’ll make it in on time. I do free-range my flock all day, which helps cut down on feed costs, but when I weigh that against the extra effort it takes to care for her, the tiny eggs she might lay, and the complete lack of joy she brings to the whole chicken-keeping experience, I really question if she’s worth the hassle. Just my 2 cents on balancing the idealistic chicken flock/family/life with the reality of some of the wild ones.

However, If I was to breed her a few generations with some of my other flock- now THAT might be something incredible.

View attachment 4150591
Oh dear, for the record- I dont feed them tomatoes, those are chunks of mango, but they are frozen with passionfruit and dragonfruit (I grow them) and plantains, and when it begins to defrost, I added in watercress and brussel sprouts. And that is a piece of spaghetti squash that they ate earlier.

I guess a jungle fowl/game mix isn't really designed to be cooped up or be a pet like the others? I'd be happy for that when I'm ready to let them loose in the woods.

 

[CabritaChicks]

I guess a jungle fowl/game mix isn't really designed to be cooped up or be a pet like the others? I'd be happy for that when I'm ready to let them loose in the woods.

I think they point to two different styles....

Just to be clear—my chickens are free-range during the day, and thriving in the forest. They follow me around like little woodland gremlins, living their best lives among the trees. They cant even see our home from their position. Honestly, they’re more emotionally well-adjusted than most tourists. But at night? They want that coop. It’s their fortress of solitude.

Last night around 7:30 PM, we rolled in and walked right into a feathery battlefield. The jungle mix had already retreated to the coop, but my RIR mixes were up top, holding the line like tiny, angry soldiers. Feathers everywhere. And the culprit? A Gull. Yup. One of those nasty, entitled ones that blew in with the sea sargassum like it owns the place. It launched a full aerial assault on the flock. These chickens are used to construction trucks, power tools, diggers—you name it. But apparently, seagulls? That’s where they draw the line. Absolute trauma.

As for the jungle fowl—let me tell you, they’ve got minds of their own. If raised half-wild, they lay eggs wherever the forest speaks to them. One egg here, one egg there… (that is how I obtained gypsy... she was one of 6 eggs- different mothers left in restaurant planters) it’s like they’re trying to create a scavenger hunt I never agreed to.

Which is why I need them to sleep in the coop and lay in a box. I can’t run a daily Easter egg search party. I don’t need a million chickens freelancing across my property...I need to collect those eggs. And don’t get me started on the junglefowl roosters. They are brutal. Beautiful? Yes. But also bloodthirsty. I’ve seen less aggression in bar fights.

But birds stuck in a coop or tiny run all day? Yeah… I don’t agree with that. I truly believe they need the freedom to roam, scratch, explore—be birds. Even if my husband likes to remind me, “This is not what we agreed to!” (Too late now, buddy. The chickens have spoken.)

Edit: We also leave them out sometimes (oops)... They make their way back to the coop without human interference. My baby pterodactyls like the coop, we wake after date night- to them still settled and happy.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

So do you really have no coop at all?

I've never had or used a coop at all. This is a subtropical environment (8b) so I don't really see one as necessary. Wild junglefowl live in this exact same climate type, just on the opposite side of the planet

How do you go about finding the eggs to collect?

In my experience chickens prefer to lay their eggs somewhere safe, quiet and comfortable, so all it takes is a nesting box placed anywhere that fits those criteria. I usually have mine pretty close to the house because humans deter many predators simply by existing

Only the most absolutely wild of junglefowl or landraces will prefer to lay their eggs off in the wilderness. So far I've only had literal Red Junglefowl and Egyptian Fayoumi lay their eggs off in the deep woods. Everything else prefers the nests I make

What chicken breeds do you have? I’m not sure what people mean by landraces.

Landraces are similar to breeds. A breed is artificially created by human selective breeding, whereas a landrace is a chicken that's returned to the wild (feral) and is shaped through natural selection. They usually have much larger genepools than breeds and often have a variety of appearances they can take

I have a lot of different breeds here. Production chickens, gamefowl, junglefowl, some pre-made landraces, and my extreme mutt chickens that are something like my own backyard landrace. In a general sense I try to keep my population balanced between tough, wild chickens and egg production chickens

Hwever, If I was to breed her a few generations with some of my other flock- now THAT might be something incredible.

Those are the absolutely best ones. They're immortal like their game half, and lay wonderful eggs like their production half