Free range chickens question

[centrarchid]

And why now strips?

My setup is not unlike yours although I have dogs providing protection. I suspect you will have to "re-bird" frequently to compensate for losses unless you switch over to games and have some additional livestock about.

The strips enable directing foraging efforts to areas I can monitor / protect. Birds will spend bulk of time in short grass areas but get much of their animal eats from the deep vegetation areas right next to it. Additionally, when eggs are laid in field, they will usually in right long those strips making hunts easier.

 

[lovingmyhens]

Yo

Yeah there laying they slowed down tho and I throw them good an they get table scratch I haven't seen no eggs without shells from the nest I find. But does that mean there unhealthy? I feel bad lol but alright they really don't come to the yard much they always go back to the coop and they look like real happy chickens haha but thanks for the info is there anything else I should know??

You've got a gorgeous place!

 

[Mattsiewrt94]

Lol yeah I have no neighbors or anything like that so they have all the world to go to lol here's more

These were all the chickens I had but last winter a stray cat was keeping warm in one of our barns and wiped out the whole flock I only have 4 now. And my the roosters were fighting haha I got the barred rock as a chick and he turned out to be a rooster. Then my red rooster got bumble foot messed up his leg he couldn't be the head rooster no more so he sticks to himself and comes to me like a dog haha

 

[centrarchid]

Get yourself a couple of gamehens. You are setup sweet for those.

 

[magdalene74]

ok, forgive my ignorance, but what are "game hens" and do they lay good eggs? lol. Cause my setup is going to look a bit like that as well, with plenty of open pasture and some wooded and weeded areas as well, though im leaning more towards the chicken tractor idea, if i can find a design for the number of chickens i was planning to keep, or maybe just make two tractors... gotta look into that more...we have a large family and go through a lot of eggs, so i was thinking, to keep from straining the chickens too much, 20 might be a good number, though maybe not all at once. Im reading other threads that hens only lay well for a year?? I thought it was much longer than that... so looks like we might be "re chickening" quite often as well if that is so...Not necessarily a bad thing i suppose, since we eat far more than 20 chickens a year now.. though im thinking for the majority of our needs we will continue looking to the grocery store heh. Not meaning to thread hijack of course...

 

[centrarchid]

ok, forgive my ignorance, but what are "game hens" and do they lay good eggs? lol.  Cause my setup is going to look a bit like that as well, with plenty of open pasture and some wooded and weeded areas as well, though im leaning more towards the chicken tractor idea, if i can find a design for the number of chickens i was planning to keep, or maybe just make two tractors... gotta look into that more...we have a large family and go through a lot of eggs, so i was thinking, to keep from straining the chickens too much, 20 might be a good number, though maybe not all at once.  Im reading other threads that hens only lay well for a year?? I thought it was much longer than that... so looks like we might be "re chickening" quite often as well if that is so...Not necessarily a bad thing i suppose, since we eat far more than 20 chickens a year now.. though im thinking for the majority of our needs we will continue looking to the grocery store heh.  Not meaning to thread hijack of course...

Gamehens = female fighting chickens. Egg production not all that high owing to propensity to go broody. Egg quality good. I would make an F1 hybrid between gamehens and something like American Dominique or even Leghorn to bring egg production up. Gamehens survive and forage very well in a free-range setting and the cross will maintain much of that ability but will also have better egg producing characteristics. The hens do produce best in first year but in free-range setting where profit is not the only concern you can let them go longer. With most heritage breeds production usually goes multiple years although it does decline with age.

What are considering with respect to predator management?

How many acres do you have and what do they look like?

 

[magdalene74]

six acres with probably 4.5 of that open flat pasture and the edges wooded and overgrown. Very lush greenery, a small pond, house is towards the back of the property with probably 300 feet to a seldom used road, a chicken farm (yeah, really lol) to one side and neighbors very far to the other with woods in between including probably another 6 acres of woods to the rear of us. Pasture would be shared with horses, a cow or two, and domestic animals. Im a little concerned about our cats, which is one reason we are considering chicken tractors, the mother cat has been known to bring down young birds (she brought one, still kicking, into the house to teach her babies to hunt... i rescued her lol)

 

[magdalene74]

as to predators, barbed wire and electric fence around the perimeter of the property, a secure coop, and as i said, possibly chicken tractors... of course we also have a twelve gauge, a couple 22's and 9mm should they become necessary, but hopefully prevention will be adequate, also planning to have a couple of roosters, and down the line maybe a livestock guard dog or two.. i dont think our shih tzu will be much use in that capacity heh.

 

[centrarchid]

I have all of the above. Fence keeps other peoples dogs out and my dogs keeps varmints out. Traps catch critters that can find refuge from dogs. Firearms last resort used only when day job does not conflict.

Consider electrified poultry netting.

 

[centrarchid]

six acres with probably 4.5 of that open flat pasture and the edges wooded and overgrown.  Very lush greenery, a small pond, house is towards the back of the property with probably 300 feet to a seldom used road, a chicken farm (yeah, really lol) to one side and neighbors very far to the other with woods in between including probably another 6 acres of woods to the rear of us.  Pasture would be shared with horses, a cow or two, and domestic animals.  Im a little concerned about our cats, which is one reason we are considering chicken tractors, the mother cat has been known to bring down young birds (she brought one, still kicking, into the house to teach her babies to hunt... i rescued her lol)

You should be able to keep 20 hens on that easily assuming forages hold up. Keep birds away from edge of property.

Hopefully biosecurity issues will not pop up with neighbor producing poultry commercially.