Chickens in the wild?

[ams4776]

My rooster was 'wild' before we go him. They let the chickens out to free range and some refused to go back to the coop. He survived a pa winter amd faired better against some dog attacks then his penned bros and sisters. First day we got him he left for 2 days (escaped the coop) came back and now only coop and run. Since the hens have joined hes been fine again. But point is he survived fine wild. Have a seperate coop maube for the extras and let then free range but you can still get eggs maybe meat. If someone around u is looking for chickens then u have extea. Good luck

 

[Player Hater]

Quote:
Key West??? I went last year and was in paradise. Chickens everywhere. They're mighty hard to catch, trust me I tried. Im sure you can imagine the stares I got as I was chasing a broody with chicks around the Ihop parking lot

definately a priceless moment.

actually i was talking about Oviedo

 

[andrew6d9]

Quote:
thanks giddymoon and the poster above. i wasn't looking for all of these rude comments. like you said almost every animal was wild once. some of you gave good comments that did not support me but i like you gave a respectful post but some people just don't know what rude is i guess. i would give the chickens some feed and water and a coop to sleep in but i would let them do what they want and see if they would use the coop. and these chickens would be the hens that i let my BO's raise up and then let out.

 

[centrarchid]

Andrew,

You are then talking about free-ranged chickens. Many discussions deal with that. And yes, lots of drama to keep it interesting.

 

[wood&feathers]

I vote no on releasing non-native species into the wild. Those hogs mentioned above are a major nuisance, disease risk and crop threat. But if the OP is asking about having "naturalized " chickens around, doing what birds are born to do, I'm all for it. Yes you will lose some to hawks or foxes in the daytime. But I am in awe of my best forager and survivor, Digger. She has escaped hawk strikes without a scratch twice - by keeping chicken "air raid shelters" all around our place and being deceptively fast. Not bad for a Marans.

Mine all get feed and sleep in the coop. But I sure wouldn't mind something gamier (been drooling over Cubalayas) roosting in the trees ON MY PROPERTY.

 

[greyhorsewoman]

I'd guess my 'barn' chickens are feral. I like them for bug control. There are trees and shelter they can use. Lots of bushes and tall grass to hide in. The population has been up and down over the last 10 years. We feed them everyday. At one point, I bet I had 50 wandering around. They lined up on the stalls or in the hayloft at night. Hatched their chicks wherever (sometimes the corner of a stall, sometimes hidden in the hay bales). The 'poop' was getting a bit much. We've had cochins, bantams, japs, EEs, barred rocks, sexlink, rhode island reds and crosses. The two left are from hens that hatched last year. (There were 3, but the fox got one yesterday.) This is the SECOND time in 10 years the population has been pretty much wiped out.

A few got hit on the road. A few fell between hay bales and were not seen again (until we got to them). Hawks have picked off a few now and again. The last two years, we've had regular fox activity. Over the winter, we lost some to weasel and raccoon. Of the 24 ducks we started the spring with LAST year, I have 3. Disappeared one here, one there. (We have a pond right by the barn.)

From my experience, in a RURAL setting, they won't last long. In more urban/suburban areas, they probably can hold out longer due to less predators, but then may become a nuisance.

 

[welasharon]

A lady down the dirt road from me had chickens some years back. Her grandkids kept letting them loose. They lived for a while around here hatching chicks and making their own way. They would hatch a lot but usually only one or two would survive. Now there is only one rooster left. The last two hens were killed by something a couple months ago. It was so sad. He has gradually gotten closer and closer to my chickens. Now he waits in the picket fence yard for me to come home each day to let the hens out for him to visit. He herds them around and hunts feed for them. When it's time for them to go back in the pen he heads back to the trees he has always roosted in and very early the next morning he comes back to spend the day waiting for their release. I sometimes think I would like to get him some girls of his own again but they just don't live very long and I can't see any reason to condemn them to such short, hard lives. I am hoping to get him more used to us so he will stay in the pen with mine but he trys to fly through the hardware cloth to get away. I will keep trying.

 

[ForgottenGlen]

I paid good money for a flock of EEs that I was told only had 6 roosters... ahem... I have 9 out of a total of 19 chickens... So now I have roosters running about that have food, water, roosts, but no coop and no run. They were slaughtering the hens. They are now killing all the bugs in my front yard, and getting along just fine, they even play with the dog when she is laying down and unsuspecting. I say go for it, if you have the property, they don't go too far.

 

[centrarchid]

Spectrum of meanings with potential value to this thread:

Wild - locally adapted population not derived from domesticated stocks (at least not recently)
Feral - population derived from domesticated stock and is not intentionally managed (may or may not be self-sustaining)
Domestic free-ranged - population is selectively breed and presently managed in some manner (often not self-sustaining without human influence)

 

[AinaWGSD]

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Almost every animal was wild once, but that doesn't mean that centuries of human interference hasn't made them completely unsuitable for life in the wild once they have been domesticated for a very long time as most breeds of chicken have. Yes, feral domestics can often "get by" ok even in non-native habitats, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea to intentionally create a feral population of domestic animals.

i would give the chickens some feed and water and a coop to sleep in but i would let them do what they want and see if they would use the coop. and these chickens would be the hens that i let my BO's raise up and then let out

This, IMO, is not at all the same as turning the "extras" loose into the wild. This is called free ranging. You are still providing food and shelter, therefore still caring for these chickens, but you are not providing much if anything in the way of predator protection. If they're "extras" that you don't particularly care about loosing to predators, then there's nothing wrong with that. Free range chickens lead shorter lives than those that are kept confined to predator proof runs, but those lives are enriched by their experiences, both good and bad, while they are free ranging. Turning them loose into the wild implies that you are planning to dump them in the woods and then ignore them, providing absolutely no care or shelter whatsoever and expecting them to find everything they need to survive on their own. While this might be doable in a warmer climate (not that I think it's ethical regardless of where you live), it's most likely just going to end in a bunch of dead birds. It's also usually illegal by most county animal control laws as it falls under the category of neglect.​