Deerhen Project

[E flowers]

I was thinking about building a large pen with a small food forest of mostly native plant species just for the deerhen project. I've done some plant research and I'll probably have to do a bit more but these would be the main plants.

Pawpaw, American Beautyberry, autum olive, blueberry, herbs, peas, beans, partridgeberry, pecan, oak, kale, raddish, carrot, garlic, clover, and seedless grapes.

 

[E flowers]

I've already got the oaks and I can easily source a good sized pecan sapling. The pawpaw will be a bit more difficult even though they're native here so I may go with a more commercially available variety. Autum olive may be difficult but Beautyberry is easy to source. I have some blueberries already but my grandmother's house has some large bushes I can source from.

I've got plenty of raddish and brassica seeds from deer season clearance at the feed store. The herbs, beans, peas, and grapes will also be easy to source. Partridgeberry however may be the most difficult for me to get my hands on.

I feel it would also be interesting to have one of the colleges do a study on the birds with the native plants.

 

[E flowers]

Aviary planning:
I've been thinking more about it and I might try building a mostly wood framed aviary in the future. I have welding experience so whatever metal needs dealt with I should be able to handle.

I'd like to have a relatively tall aviary roof for high perches, taller trees, and high nestboxes or nest tubes. (I'd be adding predator cones or slick metal sheating to poles).
Decent sized rooster pens for swapping and housing extra roos & chicks.
Lots of edible native and non-native plants.
option to let predators in at night to naturally cull weak links.
As decently priced as possible!

Here's some ideas I like:

 

[E flowers]

Would the comb and wattles grow a different size if the chick grows up during hot vs. cold weather? I think I may have read something about that in the past.
[Goes briefly down a rabbit-hole of research...]

Oh, I think I found it, or at least one source of it.
The book Genetics of the Fowl, by H.B. Hutt, published in 1949
It's available online through a link here:
https://digital.library.cornell.edu/catalog/chla2837819

Going by the page numbers on the actual book pages, page 83 and 84 talk about things that influence comb development. Researchers in the 1930s found that cockerels raised indoors with little exposure to light would have extra-large combs compared with ones that had plenty of access to outdoors and natural sunlight while they were growing. Someone in the early 1940s decided that temperature had an even bigger effect than the amount of sunlight, with higher temperatures causing chickens to grow larger combs than cooler temperatures.

I can't tell if anyone followed up on that in later years or not.

Actually that sorta makes sense. Sampson was born in the heat of spring or summer if I remember correctly. Marshmallow was in February. And Bruce was in August.

 

[E flowers]

Got to talking with FloridaBullfrog on here about what Gamefowl breeds have the eyeshine he's talked about in his book Freerange Survival Chickens (which is really good btw). He said the oriental game breeds show it the strongest and especially if you cross 2 different oriental breeds.

The birds in the picture below are Asil, Thai, Malay, & Shamo. So now I've gotta consider which of these breeds I can easily get a hold of where I am.

One other breed I've considered is the Cubalaya which after researching is the result of breeding a sumatra to a malay. Sumatra's are an English/North American cross derived from Indonesian gamefowl.

@Florida Bullfrog
Would the sumatra or cubalaya still have enough oriental game blood to have the eyeshine? Or are they too far removed from their original oriental genes?

 

[NagemTX]

Got to talking with FloridaBullfrog on here about what Gamefowl breeds have the eyeshine he's talked about in his book Freerange Survival Chickens (which is really good btw). He said the oriental game breeds show it the strongest and especially if you cross 2 different oriental breeds.

The birds in the picture below are Asil, Thai, Malay, & Shamo. So now I've gotta consider which of these breeds I can easily get a hold of where I am.

One other breed I've considered is the Cubalaya which after researching is the result of breeding a sumatra to a malay. Sumatra's are an English/North American cross derived from Indonesian gamefowl.

@Florida Bullfrog
Would the sumatra or cubalaya still have enough oriental game blood to have the eyeshine? Or are they too far removed from their original oriental genes?

Sumatra are not a cross but have been used in crosses of many gamefowl. Check this site out for better info than the wiki. The wiki has decent info as well. Still its not a cross but used in many crosses.

Ill quote from the page livestock conservation.

"

SUMATRA CHICKEN​

The Sumatra chicken is distinctive and beautiful, with long flowing curves, abundant tail feathering, and a rich green sheen. Originally from the Isles of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo in Indonesia, the birds existed in the wild and were possibly the basis for many existing breeds.

Historically, the island residents captured the males at the beginning of breeding season and used them for fighting, releasing them after the season was over. So the Sumatra chicken was first promoted as a fighting bird – something for which the breed was not truly well-suited. But Sumatra chickens were favored to produce fighting offspring – crossing well with Hyderabad, Rampur Boalia Black, or Sinhalese Game.

Sumatra Cockerel
The Sumatra chicken was first imported into the United States in April 1847 by J.A.C. Butters of Roxybury, MA. There were subsequent importations by others in 1850-52. The breed went to Germany in 1882 where it was, at first, called “Black Yokohama”. Nelson A. Wood, of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C., began with the breed in 1885 and is given much credit for refining the Sumatra chicken to enhance its flowing feathers and increasing its productivity.

Sumatra chickens are noted for their very pheasant-like behaviors, moving in a stately manner, and preferring to explore around bushes and other areas that offer good cover. It is also rumored that Sumatra chickens sometimes flew between the islands of Sumatra and Java.

The Sumatra chicken was recognized by the American Poultry Association Standard of Perfection and although it is small in size, the black variety was admitted as a standard breed in 1883. Today the breed also comes in Blue and in Dun varieties.

Sumatra chickens tend to reproduce very seasonally, the males vying for territory and breeding rights a few months of the year and living together in relative harmony outside of breeding season. The seasonal aspect of the Sumatra chicken is still very much a part of the breed today, and one can expect fertility and broodiness to arrive late in the spring.

In the wild, Sumatra chickens were found in a few color varieties, including black breasted red, although black was predominant. It is the Black Sumatra that was embraced by the poultry fancy with its long, flowing, low tail, beetle green sheen, gypsy-colored face (purple to black), black shanks with yellow soles, and its multiple spurs – often having three on each leg. Sumatras have small, sometimes almost non-existent wattles, and small earlobes. They have a small, vibrant red pea comb, and black skin and bones.The males average around 5 lbs, and the hens 4 lbs., but their feathering makes them look larger.

The breed appears “royal” in nature, belying its feral heritage. In type, size, and flowing plumage, the Sumatra is similar to the Yokohama and Cubalaya breeds.

Sumatra hens lay about 100 small, white, or lightly tinted eggs per year. (Ornamental birds are not generally known for their egg or meat production.) They can also get broody, although they are generally non-setters, and can be excellent mothers. They are good winter layers. Both adults and chicks are very hardy and easy to raise.

Sumatra chickens are active and alert and are especially good at launching themselves vertically to escape dangers. Roosters are jumpy and can be flighty. The breed excels at being an ornamental breed but is not the best choice for a backyard flock as they are hard to raise, do not like to be handled, and are prone to flight. "

 

[E flowers]

Got lucky an came across a post on reddit about a lesser known chicken breed called the Darag from the Philippines.
Apparently their meat is low in fat content and is one of the best tasting chicken meats you can get.
Luckily I have an uncle who is living in Malaysia so if I'm lucky maybe he could somehow send me some hatching eggs if I decide to mix that breed into my Deerhen project or even just start my own US flock of Darag's.