FREE-RANGE KEEPING OF AMERICAN DOMINIQUES

[Bullitt]

It is the same reason honeybees are dying off. It is a result of people using herbicides and pesticides and planting large areas with one crop, such as corn, wheat, etc.

There are too many people on Earth, and that is the root cause of the problem. There were about 1.6 billion people on Earth in 1900. There are about 7 billion people on Earth today, and it will be 8 billion in 2025. And it will continue to increase for the foreseeable future. We will reach a point where not enough food can be produced for all the people on Earth, then things will get very interesting. It won't be pretty.

 

[centrarchid]

LAST ROUND OF CULLING FOR 2013

I just went and picked through the last fourteen birds not picked for keeping though winter. Five (3 pullets, and 2 cockerels) were selected for keeping. The balance representing three trios that grew well and reasonably meet the SOP for American Dominiques are going to my brother in Indiana so he can found his own flock. Birds he gets will retain their wingbands so he knows how they are related so he can arrange pairing in a manner that limits inbreeding if he so chooses. He will be keeping them under more conservative conditions with overgrazed pasture and covered run connected to coop when not free-ranging. He also has multiple acres of garden crops he sells were refuse can be directed to chickens to supplement feeding. He also has access to the formulations our grandfathers used to make prior to their adoption of commercial feeds.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

I laugh myself silly when I hear people suggest "conservation" and "reducing consumption" to allegedly fight global warming. With the Chinese building a new dirty coal plant (as opposed to modern cleaner coal plants) for power every three days and a continuously growing population, conservation is a joke.

If everyone on the planet cut their consumption by half, we would still be using more resources than in 1960, where the population was 3 billion.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

It is the same reason honeybees are dying off. It is a result of people using herbicides and pesticides and planting large areas with one crop, such as corn, wheat, etc.

There are too many people on Earth, and that is the root cause of the problem. There were about 1.6 billion people on Earth in 1900. There are about 7 billion people on Earth today, and it will be 8 billion in 2025. And it will continue to increase for the foreseeable future. We will reach a point where not enough food can be produced for all the people on Earth, then things will get very interesting. It won't be pretty.

We will run out of water before we run out of food. It will definitely NOT be pretty, and pro-natalist policies (policies that encourage births) such as opening borders, subsidies for child bearing, etc., only bring disaster even closer.

 

[centrarchid]

I would like to keep this thread focused on the management efforts directly related to the birds and the resources they have access to free-range.

 

[Mrs. K]

believe me we have PLENTY of cheat grass

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

What are the half barrels? Are they a purchased shelter? Or are they improvised from something you had left over from another project?

I have seen rooster shelters for sale but they were A-frames.

I had to catch one of my Dominiques the other day and ended up having to use a long-handled net. She moved sideways faster than I think I have ever seen a chicken move to get away from me when I had her cornered.

 

[smit0868]

Can I keep letting my chickens free range in the winter? Will they get sick?

 

[centrarchid]

Can I keep letting my chickens free range in the winter? Will they get sick?

You question is too open ended. Where are you located? How cold and windy does it get? Where do you expect birds to seek cover when the weather gets bad?

 

[centrarchid]

What are the half barrels? Are they a purchased shelter? Or are they improvised from something you had left over from another project?

I have seen rooster shelters for sale but they were A-frames.

I had to catch one of my Dominiques the other day and ended up having to use a long-handled net. She moved sideways faster than I think I have ever seen a chicken move to get away from me when I had her cornered.

The "half-barrels" are plastic culverts acquired from a neighbor. As shown they are well suited for ground roosting birds but not for sustained keeping during day since birds would be too restricted.

I had to catch a couple American Dominique during the day yesterday. They are faster than I like move wearing coveralls but they are much slower than games. Virtually all my birds have been tamed enough that I can them to walk into pens. Makes their and my days much easier.