Establishing Feral Chicken flock

[sdm111]

Games fly darn near like a bird. Centra has videos of his flying 100 or so yards

 

[Clearwater Chicken]

u did not get full answer to initial question

yeah but i can still thank you... right? so how would you set one up with game chickens?

 

[centrarchid]

For your interests, Craig's List would be a start.

 

[Clearwater Chicken]

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

 

[centrarchid]

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

i would expose them to predators to give them idea of what is coming. There is a culture aspect as well. They have to learn proper response.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[Don 27]

i would expose them to predators to give them idea of what is coming. There is a culture aspect as well. They have to learn proper response.

If you mix a new flock of birds with an experienced flock would the new birds learn proper responses from the already experienced birds?

 

[Beaglegal]

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).

There are several places that feral chicken populations that are a big problem. If there are enough natural predators to keep the population down it would probably be okay, but chickens breed like rabbits.

 

[rosemarythyme]

There are several places that feral chicken populations that are a big problem. If there are enough natural predators to keep the population down it would probably be okay, but chickens breed like rabbits.

Yeah figured... our current feral animals are rabbits and bullfrogs, of all the random things.