Developing My Own Breed Of Large Gamefowl For Free Range Survival (Junglefowl x Liege)

[Florida Bullfrog]

I forgot to add that Azog has gained 1lb, 5 oz. since I wormed him on or around Oct. 20. That’s almost an ounce a day.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

So its decision time. I recently rotated Indo off of free range to give Hei Hei some time out, but I want to rotate Hei Hei to a smaller fly pen with a single hen I want to pair him to. Indo will go back out to free range.

I have to decide if I want to pen Azog with some hens so he’ll go through the more rapid maturation or if I want to keep him on free range so he continues to forage and dodge hawks. He still doesn’t have any semblance of spurs so his maturation is a ways off. But I see his comb is starting to rise slightly. I don’t want him to run afoul of Indo at an unknown time.

Thoughts?

 

[Appalachian homestead]

So its decision time. I recently rotated Indo off of free range to give Hei Hei some time out, but I want to rotate Hei Hei to a smaller fly pen with a single hen I want to pair him to. Indo will go back out to free range.

I have to decide if I want to pen Azog with some hens so he’ll go through the more rapid maturation or if I want to keep him on free range so he continues to forage and dodge hawks. He still doesn’t have any semblance of spurs so his maturation is a ways off. But I see his comb is starting to rise slightly. I don’t want him to run afoul of Indo at an unknown time.

Thoughts?

Depends how valuable he is to you. If you plan on using him as a brood cock I'd pen him. Or pen Indo and let him breed hens on free range.

 

[Appalachian homestead]

Has the rest of your flock changed/improved noticably since worming?

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Has the rest of your flock changed/improved noticably since worming?

Several that didn’t have breast meat now have breast tissue. I especially noticed this on some cooped Fayoumi chicks. Even though they had access to an always full feeder then had nothing on their breasts until I wormed them.

 

[Appalachian homestead]

Update: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Bad first. I am out of pure Liege hens. I only ever had 3. One died of sickness last year. One got caught by the bobcat early summer (she was the best one). And finally my smoke colored Liege just up and died a couple of weeks ago. I found her dead under her roost. My brother has plenty of pure Liege and I have local contacts who have Liege, so I can get more if I want. But for now I can’t make more 3/4 or half-Liege. Also, only two of the 3/4 Liege made it: Azog and his brother that I sent off farm. The rest succumbed to the hazards of free ranging.

The good:

Azog is thriving.

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Compared to a grown RIR hen for scale.

He’s amazing. He is good natured to me like his father Indo is. But he’s even more of an aggressive scavenger. He does something the other chickens don’t do; he rips and tears meat like a hawk and swallows it in bite sized chunks. My other chickens just peck straight on meat and get a small bill’s worth. Azog deliberately turns his head sideways and rips off the meat. His bite is strong. Stronger than any chicken I’ve seen. He’ll hold on to food while I hold the food in my hand and I can pick him up like a bulldog holding a rope. In fact I’ll try it right now.

Are you sure a buzzard or hawk didn't crossbreed with your hens! Just kidding. He sounds fierce! I am imagining what he will be like as a mature cock . He could do serious damage in a fight!

 

[Appalachian homestead]

Did you just get the fayoumis? They are another breed I have seriously considered for tough free rangers

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Depends how valuable he is to you. If you plan on using him as a brood cock I'd pen him. Or pen Indo and let him breed hens on free range.

Yes I want to use Azog as a brood cock. I’d rather have Indo out free range because he’s more mature and inching towards that level of maturity where he may flog a hawk. Azog may benefit growth-wise from having access to constant food in a coop.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Did you just get the fayoumis? They are another breed I have seriously considered for tough free rangers

I hatched them several weeks ago. They came from a friend who has them running with some pea-combed Hatch-type American gamefowl. These are either pure Fayoumi or Fayoumi-American crosses. The Fayoumi traits dominate so its not yet clear which these are. 2 stags 3 pullets originally. I turned the stags out and one disappeared. The stags do look more like crosses but the pullets are hard to discern I think I have a few pics moreso of the stags:

A lot of gamefowl guys on social media will sell Fayoumi as “Joe Redmond greys.”

 

[Appalachian homestead]

I hatched them several weeks ago. They came from a friend who has them running with some pea-combed Hatch-type American gamefowl. These are either pure Fayoumi or Fayoumi-American crosses. The Fayoumi traits dominate so its not yet clear which these are. 2 stags 3 pullets originally. I turned the stags out and one disappeared. The stags do look more like crosses but the pullets are hard to discern I think I have a few pics moreso of the stags:
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A lot of gamefowl guys on social media will sell Fayoumi as “Joe Redmond greys.”

They look nice. What are your plans for them?