Free range breed advice

[fluffycrow]

He doesn’t have any issues that I’ve noticed. He was my only rooster but when I got a Leghorn he became the subordinate. He is smaller because he is mixed with bantam or jungle fowl or something. They share the flock during the day and sleep in separate coops with separate flocks at night so they have worked out a strategy and he mates with the hens when the dominant rooster is occupied. I’ve noticed his little mohawk stands up when he gets flustered so maybe that helps him communicate.

I’ve posted this photo before but here he is settling a dispute before I got the other roo. It was over the second he got next to the hens. He’s very good at what he does.
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The promising stuff continues! Awesome little guy.

I’ll have to get used to the no neck feathers thing, but them having less feathers on their body would make them excellent for the summer temps here

 

[fluffycrow]

No idea how true this is but I have read that while pullets don't tend to go broody, it's more likely once they're a few years old.

Personally I'm always quite sceptical of claims about breeds "not going broody". Sex-linked layers like Hylines have supposedly been intentionally bred to almost never go broody, and yet they still often do in my experience

Yeah, I’ve read that as well, and I’m equally sceptical. Would be a very interesting behaviour if it were true. I wonder if this delayed brooding leads to more success when raising the chicks.

We had quite a few of RSLs here, and none ever went broody. Over half of them got to the 4 and 5 year mark before they passed. Most they ever did was some behavioural clucking, that never led to anything else.
So I do think that some breeds are less prone to brooding. It could very well be that your keeping conditions are far more inviting for a broody. It could be very line dependent.

Spoiler: Flighty

"Flighty" as in she can take off vertically like a helicopter One second she's by my feet, the next she's landing on my head to tug at my collar or climb down my jacket in search of food.

She hatched in an incubator, not under a broody, and spent the first 24 hours with me because I won't put single chicks in a brooder. That might be why she's so tame, or she might just be the exception to the rule.
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Oh she’s gorgeous! Yup, I’m pretty much sold ! Maybe not this year’s addition, due to the brooding thing, but they are exactly what I’m looking for otherwise.
About time we got back some of the flight skills that were lost with the addition of the Brahma and Aseel genes!

 

[fluffycrow]

Mine has gone broody once the majority of her adult years. She's made a very good job of it too.

She's survived till now, and is the oldest hen in the flock (now in her 9th year).

She's a UK standard. She benefits from her head feathers being trimmed where they obscure her vision once a year, after her moult (when the new feathers have grown in)

I've read that rumplessness is a disadvantage in breeding; fertility rates are statistically significantly lower for rumpless varieties. So if you want a broody, probably best avoided.

That’s encouraging to hear. As previously stated, I much prefer the look of the UK Araucana.
Do you think they would do OK over here? I worry a lot about the summer temps. I give no extra help to the birds during the summer, and I would prefer that to stay the same.

Yeah, I’ve read that too. Supposedly the European varieties are quite inbred.
There’s also the lethal gene, which kills a good percentage of the embryos

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

The promising stuff continues! Awesome little guy.

I’ll have to get used to the no neck feathers thing, but them having less feathers on their body would make them excellent for the summer temps here

I have loved Turkens for ages. Their temperament is great and I quite like their naked necks—they’re very soft in one is inclined to pet them

 

[Skyeknight]

There’s also the lethal gene, which kills a good percentage of the embryos

The tufted lethal gene is quite easy to work around or breed out. Simply only let either tufted males or tufted females breed in your flock, this way there will never be homozygous embryo's that will die. Probably easiest to remove tufted males instead of tufted females. Also since 50% of offspring will not be tufted you could simply keep those and remove any tufted ones from the population. That way Araucana's will still get new genes into your flock without the lethal gene being a problem.

 

[fluffycrow]

I have loved Turkens for ages. Their temperament is great

That’s good to hear; I hope they can still stand their ground though

I quite like their naked necks—they’re very soft in one is inclined to pet them

Yeah, I’m not there yet. But if I can’t find any reasons as to why they wouldn’t be good additions, we might get there at some point

 

[Perris]

Do you think they would do OK over here? I worry a lot about the summer temps. I give no extra help to the birds during the summer, and I would prefer that to stay the same.

It doesn't get much hotter than 30 C here and she does fine; I've no idea what another 10 degrees might do though. This is the best I've been able to find on them as regards their natural environment
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281454484_ETHNO-ORNITHOLOGY_AND_HISTORY_OF_THE_MAPUCHE_FOWL

(Mapuche is the term used for them in South America; they were introduced to the western world in 1914 as 'Araucana', after a particular region within which they were found, and that name stuck among us for the breed. The locals still call them Mapuche fowl.)

 

[fluffycrow]

The tufted lethal gene is quite easy to work around or breed out. Simply only let either tufted males or tufted females breed in your flock, this way there will never be homozygous embryo's that will die. Probably easiest to remove tufted males instead of tufted females. Also since 50% of offspring will not be tufted you could simply keep those and remove any tufted ones from the population. That way Araucana's will still get new genes into your flock without the lethal gene being a problem.

Thanks for that. It does go against my “not interfering” rule.
I wouldn’t be completely opposed to removing any pure Araucana males from the gene pool and only keeping the females, but that’s as far as I’m willing to go.

Perris is probably right, as per usual (thanks for keeping me in check, Perris!). The lethal gene is one thing, but the rumpless thing is another. It’s a dominant gene, and it will get passed on a lot. If they manage to mix in the first place, that is. At the very least, I should give it a second thought before committing to any rumpless variety

 

[fluffycrow]

It doesn't get much hotter than 30 C here and she does fine; I've no idea what another 10 degrees might do though. This is the best I've been able to find on them as regards their natural environment
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281454484_ETHNO-ORNITHOLOGY_AND_HISTORY_OF_THE_MAPUCHE_FOWL

(Mapuche is the term used for them in South America; they were introduced to the western world in 1914 as 'Araucana', after a particular region within which they were found, and that name stuck among us for the breed. The locals still call them Mapuche fowl.)

Thanks. Very interesting read. So they definitely seem like they can handle a lot. The original chickens certainly did.
Now it’s a matter of whether or not the slightly inbred versions we have today can do the same.
Seems like I need to rethink of the Araucana, whatever the strain, as a breed choice for right now.

How do you feel about the naked neck of the Turken ?

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

That’s good to hear; I hope they can still stand their ground though

I’m pretty sure one of my hens died defending the rest of the flock from a raccoon. That’s what I mean about their temperament—they’re quite savvy and adaptable but they don’t take any nonsense either. I haven’t had any in a full-time free range situation besides this rooster but he taunted the new guy for weeks before they were out together and even though the Leghorn is twice his size he held his own. The first night I found the Leghorn beat up sleeping on the floor of the coop. Im not sure how they settled it but the Turken never lost a feather lol