Establishing Feral Chicken flock

[Clearwater Chicken]

A friend of mine came up with the idea of having a flock of feral chickens. which breeds would be the most likely to go feral and how would you get them to do that. Could they survive on their own? what would be the ideal place to establish one? any thoughts, suggestions, commments?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Totally different climate but look at Hawaii if you want to see how successful true feral fowl can be.

In WA (depending on how rural you are/aren't), I think the more likely scenario is you'd fatten up a lot of predators in the short term. If enough survive to reproduce, then in a worst case scenario you'd have my current problem with rabbits (I'm overrun with formerly domesticated rabbits).

 

[rosemarythyme]

I have to ask - why?

 

[Uff Da]

Growing up, our chickens were basically feral. Roosted in trees, scavenged all year, raised their own chicks, etc. This was in rural Montana, where it gets as cold as -50 and lots of predators. They generally had a lifespan of just 2-3 years. The breeds were whatever was around locally in the spring--mostly barnyard mixes, I suppose.

I developed a definite preference for chickens that can take care of themselves, but I don't recommend keeping outright feral animals. They lead rough, short lives, and often die suffering. Something as easy as cooping them up at night goes a long way toward improving their lifespans and lowering the likelihood of them suffering.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Interesting question on a philosophical level. To me a feral flock would be one that feeds and waters itself and does not get any help from humans for predator or weather protection. They would reproduce on their own. They do not have to be in the middle of a wilderness to be feral. I don't know if you are thinking along these lines or have something else in mind.

To me the biggest challenges would be predators and to a lesser extent food and water. They should be able to handle weather just about anywhere.

I agree that games would be a really good choice. Some bantams might work out pretty well. Stay away from the decorative breeds with fancy headdresses or other handicaps. I'd go for camouflaged colors, reds for sure, maybe black. Avoid white, buff, and other bright colors and patterns. And I'd want hens that often went broody.

Where is the best place? Where are there feral flocks now? Several years back a forum member of great experience and common sense talked about a flock that went feral in the Michigan peninsula one winter. They survived the Michigan winter. He felt they probably ate snow and foraged in farmer's fields. They can do better than many people expect. He mentioned that the next year they caught that feral flock and ate them, did not leave them for years.

But the feral flocks I'm aware of are warmer places. Hawaii has been mentioned. Their predators are pretty limited to mongoose, dogs, and flying predators. Rats could be a danger to eggs. Mike Rowe did a "dirty Jobs" episode on catching feral chickens in Miami. I'd think the best places would be where warmer winters would make food easy. It would probably be easier in cities or towns with parks, some woodlands, and a stream with overgrown banks to give them foraging and hiding places. While they have predators they tend to be suppressed.

How would I establish a feral flock if I found a suitable place? I'd find chickens raised by a free ranging broody hen that raised them without humans feeding them. I grew up on a farm like that, such chickens exist. Then I'd just turn them loose, quit taking care of them. Either they make it or they don't. I'd think predators would be the reason they don't.

Some food for thought. Many pioneers that settled our country had flocks of semi-feral chickens. They'd provide predator protection and not a lot else. There have to have been many times when those pioneers were no longer around to protect those flocks. Maybe they died or just moved on without taking all their chickens. This may not have happened all that often but it had to have happened. I'm not aware of feral flocks of chickens roaming our wildlands like wild turkey or pheasants. Those flocks did not make it, my guess is because of predators.

 

[Ridgerunner]

maybe illegal but i would like to when i have more land to keep chickens on in the future, let some of it go wild and have a mostly feral flock on MY OWN PROPERTY, when i am older and have more land available

What you are talking about now is different than what I thought your original post was about. That's why I tried to describe what I thought of as feral. The same word can have different meaning for different people.

I think (still not sure) what you are talking about isn't that different than the way small farmers kept chickens for thousands of years. The chickens fed themselves in good weather and for a large part in bad weather, but the farmers helped them out in bad weather. They free ranged during the day but were often locked up at night which is providing some predator protection. Some may have slept in trees or barns. The hens may have laid in a hen house, a hayloft, or somewhere else. And they typically went broody and raised chicks.

Predators are still the huge issue. They might trap or hunt predators and even keep a dog. Often they could manage to keep the worst of predators at bay. Sometimes no matter what they do they get wiped out. It is a risk.

To a large extent it is about a lifestyle. It is a lot different than living in an urban or suburban setting. I don't know what your background is. It sounds like you are still pretty young and mainly dreaming. Have your dreams, they are great. It's a great time to be philosophical, to think and plan. Sometimes people are able to live their dreams, but sometimes reality can hurt.

 

[Chick-Addict]

What in the world is this person’s reason for purposefully releasing domesticated animals outside in the hopes that they survive? And if some do survive and lay eggs and hatch chicks it would become a feral colony so technically not your ’friend’s flock’. They would not ‘belong’ to this ‘person’ (and I use this term loosely because I can’t refer to him/her/it in a more fitting way lest my post be deleted. Bottom line is there’s absolutely no intelligent (or even remotely intelligent) reason to do this. And anyone here who plays into this trolling post and provides suggestions is just as much a fool as the one who came up with this dumb idea.

I’m, I’m sorry but people have kept “feral” or self sufficient chickens for GENERATIONS! Only now in the time of PETA do we have those that think a chicken should be protected from EVERYTHING. They are LIVESTOCK to the majority and therefore the less you have to spend and put into them the better. I get that chickens have become a fad for suburban yuppies and therefore get treated more like the family dog than a food/financial source. But there ARE those of us that live on farms and homesteads that do not look at them that way. Stop being so judgmental and try to see it from the prospective of those of us that don’t raise “show chicken” are rely on the eggs and meat.

 

[rod5591]

I doubt barnyard chickens would survive long in the wild. They are pretty much domesticated and dependent on humans for protection. A rooster might try to protect his flock but he would get eaten pretty quickly. The hens would quickly follow. They are too heavy and can barely fly. Raccoons, coyotes, bobcats and hawks would get them. Feral cats would also. IMHO

 

[Don 27]

ha probably, would you just release them when they are adults and offer feed until they can forage on their own?

I have a semi feral flock of chickens.. The only set back are our harsh Ohio winters.. But during the winter all they get for food is scratch grain mostly consists of corn wheat and oats. And I limit it as well. for summer they don't need anything from me. And for cold protection they roost in an open barn up in the rafters it keeps the heavy snow off their back and owls are less of a problem. .. Predators have killed some of my birds but if you get the right breed of chicken they seem to do well. The protection from the barn may not be entirely necessary but they were trying to migrate across the street to my neighbors barn so I had to give them something to sleep in.

 

[Beaglegal]

Pretty much! They're not terribly bright either. They come up and sit on our porch on summer nights, hubby doesn't have the heart to kill them so he picks them up and puts them back on the grass.

Maybe they want you to offer them lemonade