Free range chickens

[Tundra Grey]

You are talking about gamefowl and the red jungle fowl here, the real deal. In addition, Mediterranean breeds for such a cold climate might be risky, especially since you want to free range them

You are talking about gamefowl and the red jungle fowl here, the real deal. In addition, Mediterranean breeds for such a cold climate might be risky, especially since you want to free range them

Game fowl live places colder than here, jungle fowl would be for hybrids and kept put up. I also have coop chicken. Not sue if it will work, it is an experiment.

 

[fluffycrow]

If you mean that game fowl are kept by keepers in colder climates then yes, but they are kept sheltered. Not necessarily saying game fowl are not good candidates for free ranging, nor am I saying your experiment won't work, but there is a heightened risk factor with your plan

 

[Tundra Grey]

If you mean that game fowl are kept by keepers in colder climates then yes, but they are kept sheltered. Not necessarily saying game fowl are not good candidates for free ranging, nor am I saying your experiment won't work, but there is a heightened risk factor with your plan

I understand that. I have a plan to keep breeding stock at home. Basically what I would like to do is in the Spring, release a group of hens with a rooster on my 5 acres. I also have several friends with acreage who would allow me to put flocks on their property. I would be hoping for them to reproduce with minimal care until fall. I would then try to trap the hens to bring home to shelter for the winter and grow out the extra rosters for food. We are planning on adding 20 Buff Orphingtons to the coop as well. I am getting my gamefowl ideas from Florida Bulldog on YouTube. I do realize jungle fowl may not do well up here but they should add a little wild to the other brreds. I would like to end up with a bird that is 1\4 RJF 1\4 Chantecler and 1\2 American Gamefowl.

 

[fluffycrow]

Since you're inspired by him, maybe he can help you! @Florida Bullfrog take it from here, you know about gamefowl in free range way more than me!

 

[Tundra Grey]

Since you're inspired by him, maybe he can help you! @Florida Bullfrog take it from here, you know about gamefowl in free range way more than me!

Thank you for replying to my first post! It good to meet you.

 

[fluffycrow]

But if this is your plan, then I'd say it has a lot of potential, so keep working on it! Of course, @Florida Bullfrog can help you way more, but I'd love to hear the progress of this project

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I’ll reply in more detail later this evening. Off the top of my head, I’d strongly consider the Icelandic landrace and experiment with crossing the Icelandics to the bankivoid gamefowl you’re considering. You can then see what does better for you there, the pure Icelandics or the Icelandic x gamefowl crosses.

I’m sure the gamefowl combined with a LGD will deal with the predators fine. What I don’t know about is the climate. American gamefowl have historically been kept free range in New England and the Midwest, where winters can be quite cold. But that’s balanced by hot summers. I have spoken to someone in Alaska who couldn’t keep RJF hybrids alive there not because of the winter but because of the cool summer.

 

[Tundra Grey]

But if this is your plan, then I'd say it has a lot of potential, so keep working on it! Of course, @Florida Bullfrog can help you way more, but I'd love to hear the progress of this project

Thank you, yes I would like to have a chat with him at some point.

 

[Tundra Grey]

I’ll reply in more detail later this evening. Off the top of my head, I’d strongly consider the Icelandic landrace and experiment with crossing the Icelandics to the bankivoid gamefowl you’re considering. You can then see what does better for you there, the pure Icelandics or the Icelandic x gamefowl crosses.

I’m sure the gamefowl combined with a LGD will deal with the predators fine. What I don’t know about is the climate. American gamefowl have historically been kept free range in New England and the Midwest, where winters can be quite cold. But that’s balanced by hot summers. I have spoken to someone in Alaska who couldn’t keep RJF hybrids alive there not because of the winter but because of the cool summer.

Hey,
Thank you for responding. I have been looking at the Icelandic a little too. I really appreciate your videos on YouTube. It is definitely the best info out there for what I am trying to do.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

You really have to vet hatchery RJF. Many that hatcheries offer are just gamefowl. Cackle has two lines. One line is just wild colored gamefowl, the other is red junglefowl x brown leghorn hybrids. Some members here have had them.

Beware the fickleness of legitimate RJF. They’re very disease prone, especially if they’re either high percentage RJF or if they’re hybrids being line bred to bring out the RJF traits. I do not know the percentages of my hybrids, but I’ve found the more I tease out and exaggerate RJF traits to make them more in line with wild RJF the more prone they are to disease when free ranging. There was a point where I had several that superficially looked and moved like pure RJF and they couldn’t survive on free range worth a flip whenever they got rained on and cooled off.