Farming and Homesteading Heritage Poultry

[Arielle]

I am wondering how those that fee range keep their males and females separated . . . . . . ?

 

[buffalogal]

I don't, that's the point of free ranging them. Left to their own devices, the birds see to their own affairs. The cocks gather hens and pullets, the cockerels form alliances, the whole group sub divides off into mini flocks headed by a dominant male, usually a cock, but sometimes an aggressive cockerel. (aggressive to other male birds, not humans or the females) If you're observant and have the time to watch, there are any number of mini dramas that play out over the course of the day. When I want purebred hatching eggs, I pick and choose what goes into the breeding pen and the rest of the flock goes on about their business. Even if i only raised one breed i would utilize breeding pens to segregate my best birds to select hatching eggs from.

 

[Arielle]

I don't, that's the point of free ranging them. Left to their own devices, the birds see to their own affairs. The cocks gather hens and pullets, the cockerels form alliances, the whole group sub divides off into mini flocks headed by a dominant male, usually a cock, but sometimes an aggressive cockerel. (aggressive to other male birds, not humans or the females) If you're observant and have the time to watch, there are any number of mini dramas that play out over the course of the day. When I want purebred hatching eggs, I pick and choose what goes into the breeding pen and the rest of the flock goes on about their business. Even if i only raised one breed i would utilize breeding pens to segregate my best birds to select hatching eggs from.

DOes that mean you run more than one breed together to freee range??

How do you mange the young stock during the raising months, say up to 5-6months old??

 

[Fentress]

I don't, that's the point of free ranging them. Left to their own devices, the birds see to their own affairs. The cocks gather hens and pullets, the cockerels form alliances, the whole group sub divides off into mini flocks headed by a dominant male, usually a cock, but sometimes an aggressive cockerel. (aggressive to other male birds, not humans or the females) If you're observant and have the time to watch, there are any number of mini dramas that play out over the course of the day. When I want purebred hatching eggs, I pick and choose what goes into the breeding pen and the rest of the flock goes on about their business. Even if i only raised one breed i would utilize breeding pens to segregate my best birds to select hatching eggs from.

I plan to start breeding next year under similar circumstances. Separating the breeders from the flock should not be a problem. The problems that I forsee is reintroducing cocks back to the flock or cockerels from the grow out pasture (which I plan to have) and just the overall problem of keeping the required number of males on the property. Ideally, you should have at least 4 breeding males in order to maintain 2 separate lines, but I'm not sure I will be able to do that, without resorting to keeping some males in pens or letting them have their own separate flocks, neither of which I want to do.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Something you could do...

If you free range the flock except for breeding times, keep your hens in pens and in the evening, when your flock has come in to roost, collect the males you wish to use with each pen of females and toss him into their pens for the night. In the morning, after he has had a couple of hours with them, let him out. If you do this every other or third day, your hens will be well covered without the problems of reintroducing him to the free range flock at all.

 

[Fentress]

Something you could do...

If you free range the flock except for breeding times, keep your hens in pens and in the evening, when your flock has come in to roost, collect the males you wish to use with each pen of females and toss him into their pens for the night. In the morning, after he has had a couple of hours with them, let him out. If you do this every other or third day, your hens will be well covered without the problems of reintroducing him to the free range flock at all.

That's a good idea. My work schedule is somewhat flexible, so that could work as an option. I have also, thought about having a breeding pen inside the main coop by a pop door, shape the electronet fencing so that they have a separate pasture from the rest of the flock. At least the cocks would wake up in the same coop together, but still separated, so it might not work. I like your idea better, a little more work though. Lots of trail and error ahead for me, I can see that. Thank you so much for your suggestion.

 

[capayvalleychick]

Something you could do...

If you free range the flock except for breeding times, keep your hens in pens and in the evening, when your flock has come in to roost, collect the males you wish to use with each pen of females and toss him into their pens for the night. In the morning, after he has had a couple of hours with them, let him out. If you do this every other or third day, your hens will be well covered without the problems of reintroducing him to the free range flock at all.

That does sound like a good idea and something I wish I had known sooner. I have the same issue now, with multiple males having been used for breeding. Now, I can't put them back together. I actually had my best up & coming cockerel killed earlier this year, when I tried reintroducing a pen mate. They had been raised together and never fought.

I have pasture and a mobile coop, plenty of pens; breeding pens, growout pen for keeper males, cull pens for males & females, separate coops for males & females of each breed. Even all that is not enough now. I have the breeder males that were together and have been separated, so can't go back together. I have to use the growout & cull pens for the multitude of youngsters that I hatched out. Right now, I have the breeder males in the breeder pens. I'd like them to have more to life than living in a pen the rest of their life. I suppose that I could rotate them out to the mobile coop.

 

[Fentress]

That does sound like a good idea and something I wish I had known sooner. I have the same issue now, with multiple males having been used for breeding. Now, I can't put them back together. I actually had my best up & coming cockerel killed earlier this year, when I tried reintroducing a pen mate. They had been raised together and never fought.

I have pasture and a mobile coop, plenty of pens; breeding pens, growout pen for keeper males, cull pens for males & females, separate coops for males & females of each breed. Even all that is not enough now. I have the breeder males that were together and have been separated, so can't go back together. I have to use the growout & cull pens for the multitude of youngsters that I hatched out. Right now, I have the breeder males in the breeder pens. I'd like them to have more to life than living in a pen the rest of their life. I suppose that I could rotate them out to the mobile coop.

There you go! Breeders are not free rangers, unless you have the property and the facilities to have a separate breeding compound that provides stock for your main flock. Do you reintroduce at night? I have heard that if a cock wakes up with a new cock on the same roost, that they are less likely to have a conflict. I always handle my chickes at night, because it is the only way I can do it, but I'm skeptical of the waking up on the roost technique.

 

[capayvalleychick]

There you go! Breeders are not free rangers, unless you have the property and the facilities to have a separate breeding compound that provides stock for your main flock. Do you reintroduce at night? I have heard that if a cock wakes up with a new cock on the same roost, that they are less likely to have a conflict. I always handle my chickes at night, because it is the only way I can do it, but I'm skeptical of the waking up on the roost technique.

I always reintroduce at night. That's what I did with these two. When I came out to check on them in the morning, my #1 cockerel had injuries which turned out to be fatal. I have tried this before and it worked out ok. This time it did not, so I'm leary to try it again.

I have 15 acres of pasture and I still couldn't put more than one group out there, if the males could see each other. Maybe if I could use poultry netting for fence and clip wings. I have multi-species grazing the pastures and the bull & steers have a tendency to "play" with the electric netting. The electric rope they leave alone, but the chickens go under it.
I can have a male with a group up by the house, since it is shielded from the pasture by foliage, but that's where I grow out the youngest chicks.

 

[Fentress]

I always reintroduce at night. That's what I did with these two. When I came out to check on them in the morning, my #1 cockerel had injuries which turned out to be fatal. I have tried this before and it worked out ok. This time it did not, so I'm leary to try it again.

I have 15 acres of pasture and I still couldn't put more than one group out there, if the males could see each other. Maybe if I could use poultry netting for fence and clip wings. I have multi-species grazing the pastures and the bull & steers have a tendency to "play" with the electric netting. The electric rope they leave alone, but the chickens go under it.
I can have a male with a group up by the house, since it is shielded from the pasture by foliage, but that's where I grow out the youngest chicks.

This is bad news, but important to know. I use electronet exclusively. I'm hoping that separated cocks will stay separated if they have their own hens. I hatch with broodies, in the flock. That has been working good. I like the chicks growing up with the flock and learning about hawks and other things. Next year I would like to separate the cockerels to assist with evaluation and to restrict their range somehwhat and try to fatten them up. Do you think 16-24 month old cockerels will stay inside 42 inch electronet if they see/hear the pullets 3-400 hundred feet away?