Free range breed advice

[Iluveggers]

Another vote for turkens! Mine are not flighty toward me, making treatment easier when needed. They lay enough but not like crazy, love to forage and find stuff in all weather, and I actually find their looks charming now that I am used to them.

 

[fluffycrow]

Another thing about the bare skin is that if you have enough cover to support having a more or less feral flock they are more likely to spend their days in deep shade than out where they can get sun burnt. So there is that.

Indeed. All the birds are very good at staying out of the worst sun rays. During the middle of the day it’s almost like we have no chickens here .
Only the top rooster is somewhat exposed, because he has a million different jobs bless him.

It’s very possible that chickens don’t run into any issues with sun burns because they are much better at regulating these things than us

 

[fluffycrow]

Another vote for turkens! Mine are not flighty toward me, making treatment easier when needed. They lay enough but not like crazy, love to forage and find stuff in all weather, and I actually find their looks charming now that I am used to them.

Very encouraging, thank you! Have any of yours gone broody?

 

[Iluveggers]

Very encouraging, thank you! Have any of yours gone broody?

My oldest (going on 3) has never gone broody. My newest additions haven’t been laying in the summer yet, so we will see what happens once it warms up a bit!

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Ugh now I want more Turkens. Breeding season can’t come soon enough!

 

[fluffycrow]

My oldest (going on 3) has never gone broody. My newest additions haven’t been laying in the summer yet, so we will see what happens once it warms up a bit!

Ah, hope you get some this year (if broodies is what you’re after) then!

Well I don’t have to make a decision until much later at the end of spring, so I do have time to think it through, and possibly wait until one of yours goes broody

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I had to take a picture of my rooster’s sweet hairdo for you cause he’s just so cool

 

[PeaShack]

Phoenix chickens meet what you are looking for. They free-range well, avoid predators fantastically, and the hens go broody.

Edit: Phoenix Roos are serious eye-candy too! This is my cool dude, Victor. He gets along with other Roos and is a gentleman with the ladies.

 

[fluffycrow]

I had to take a picture of my rooster’s sweet hairdo for you cause he’s just so coolView attachment 4298050

He looks very prehistoric ! Still getting used to the look, I must say

 

[fluffycrow]

Phoenix chickens meet what you are looking for. They free-range well, avoid predators fantastically, and the hens go broody.

Edit: Phoenix Roos are serious eye-candy too! This is my cool dude, Victor. He gets along with other Roos and is a gentleman with the ladies.

View attachment 4298056

I haven’t had any luck finding the LFs here. Only the bantams seem to be available, and I’m not sure how well those would mesh with the rest. I considered adding them a few years ago, but since I couldn’t find LFs back then as well, I dropped that idea.

Do you think they would thrive in an LF group? Some of the girls here can be intense, and both boys have Brahma and oriental gamefowl/aseel blood, so they are quite large