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

[Bigtom Turkey]

You get all the pens put back together?

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

You get all the pens put back together?

I got Sherman’s back up as soon as the hurricane passed. But my AGB coop is still without a roof. I have a tarp tied over it.

Never again will I buy cheap tarps for my coops. Normally I have to replace tarps every 2-3 months as thunderstorms and the sun dry rots them. A couple of months ago I bought some heavy duty, more expensive tarps, and they survived the hurricane mostly intact. I see where the extra money goes now on a thicker tarp.

 

[Karoo permaculture]

Finally, I made it, I am here. 982 posts and 99 pages of pure joyful reading.
I love your projects, it sparked something in me with my own plans of a sustainable flock and im now on the hunt for some game fowl to introduce some fire.

 

[Karoo permaculture]

I found this part in Herbert Atkinson's book about Old English Gamefowl rather interesting and quite different from what I have done thus far. I might just give this a go and see what the results are.

 

[Faraz1]

I found this part in Herbert Atkinson's book about Old English Gamefowl rather interesting and quite different from what I have done thus far. I might just give this a go and see what the results are.
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This is real old knowledge and a shame it has been lost over the years with commercial feeds flooding the market.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

Any updates bullfrog? Do your hens lay yearound?

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

When we had our first cool snap this week, Azog got stumbly and died in the cool of the night. Typical of the birds that have the “free range sickness.” Recall that several months ago he developed a severe limp that I was concerned was Marek’s. Then it went away.

This evening I was moving an AGB pullet (under a year old) to a pen and noticed one eye didn’t look right.

There is a high likelihood now that my “free range sickness” is Marek’s.

I will now shift all breeding priorities to breeding towards resistance. I will only breed birds that have never had the “free range sickness.” It will be a long road, but one I think will be worth it. I am convinced that Marek’s can be beat through natural selection.

 

[Appalachian homestead]

Sorry to hear that! Sounds like big set back. Do you still have the fayoumis? I'm curious if they'll live up to the hype of being Marek's resistant

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

Marek's seems to be quite common. Most of the chickens raiser I know, have had experience with it.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Sorry to hear that! Sounds like big set back. Do you still have the fayoumis? I'm curious if they'll live up to the hype of being Marek's resistant

I actually don’t think its a big setback. I think I’ve had it in the flock for 2 years now, and kept diagnosing it as something else. I never observed eye symptoms or tumors when I checked inside dead birds. But the final results of the free range sickness whenever it set it were consistent with late stage Marek’s.

The good news is I have several birds now that have made it to 2 years old with no symptoms. So I am going to start by breeding those and see what happens. When I can get large batches of chicks that make it to adulthood without symptoms, I’ll know I’m going in the right direction.

Marek’s hasn’t wiped out wild birds. There must be genetic paths towards immunity.