Key West aka Gypsy Chickens Thread :)

[theotherjessica]

i got some chickens last year from one of my dad's co-workers. i think they very closely resemble the key west chickens. i live in central florida, so it is a possibility, i figure. they sure reproduce like crazy. up to around 50, currently, on my 4 acres. and they ALL roost in one tree. it makes me laugh so much when i walk by "the chicken tree" and all 50 or so of them growl and cackle at me at once.

what do you guys think, though? do i have key west chickens?

 

[Old Rando]

Unless you know they came from Key West or their ancestors did I would not call them Key West Chickens. They look like any group of free breeding mongrel chickens look. The behavior you mention is natural chicken behavior. It is not exclusive to the chickens of Key West.

 

[cat9581]

Does anyone have and key west chickens/eggs for sale or adoption? My husband has wanted some for the last couple of years. We were going to try bringing home a few when we were in the Keys earlier this year but we were completely out of room in our car! I'd love to surprise him with a late Christmas/early bday present!

 

[Don 27]

Vary cool !

 

[flgardengirl]

Well here it is 2020. I started this thread many years ago and still have Key West Chickens lol.
Thought I'd share the story of one of my crazy broody hens who lost her eggs and how I gave her some baby heritage turkeys that I ordered from Ideal Poultry this spring.
Here's the story how she got these baby turkeys lol.
We had the brooder all set up weeks ahead of time for the turkey poults. The post office was supposed to hold the poults so I could pick them up. Well they didnt and sent them out on the truck! I had to go meet the postal carrier on route to get them It was very hot that day and they got jumbled around and were in bad shape when I got them. One ended up dying. I got them home and the heat light decided to go out which was crazy because it was brand new! Went to tractor supply and feed stores and no lights..all sold out. All out of heat brooders as well. Our heating pad was MIA so couldnt make a heatpad broody mama thingy.
Last resort, I remembered this hen who was still trying to sit on eggs even though hers got ruined by rain. Would she accept these poults? Key West hens are the fiercest most protective moms out there. If I could just get her to accept them, I knew she would take good care of them.
I moved her and a few eggs in a box into the brooder. Then slipped baby poults under her. They didnt stay under her long. They ran right out and I held my breath, afraid she might attack them. Thankfully she loved them andcstarted clucking and murmuring those little mommy hens noises to her! It was a match!

She has 12 of them!!!
We also finally located a heat lamp but they were hers now and she wasnt letting anybody take them away lol. Typical Key West momma.

This was all back in May 2020. Her baby turkeys are teenagers now and 3 times her size! As you can imagine, its pretty comical such a tiny momma hen with big monster turkey babies...more photos to come

 

[Bethany1985]

Who else has these lovely birds? Please post pictures and information about your birds or the Key West Chickens in general.
I find the Key West Chickens history to be fascinating and romantic

There isn't a ton of in depth information out there but I found some general information on the internet.

It is believed that they have been roaming around KW for around 150-175 years or more (depending on the source). Thier ancestors were game birds derived from Cuban, Spanish, and Puerto Rican lines. They were originally brought by pirates, settlers, and later immigrants (Mostly Cuban during the revolution) who brought thier beloved chickens over by ship for either food, or cockfighting entertainment. I read somewhere that the gamebirds used for cockfighting were worth quite a bit of money in those days and highly prized. Eventually, as cockfighting lost favor, the birds went by the wayside or some just escaped and continued to flourish on bugs like roaches, ants, and scorpions, lizards, and handouts hanging around the restaurants (Yes even at the KFC!) in thier tropical paradise of Margaritaville. The females are good protective mothers and the males are excellent protectors (aware and alerting to the slightest percieved threat) as I have already observed here.
I found one article that suggests that the cubalaya chicken may have some heritage in Key West game chicken lines via the Cubans in the 1800s buying breeds of Filipino fowl in Spain and introducing them to the European chickens resulting in excellent fighting cocks. You can read that article here
http://www.explorekeywesthistory.com/Viva Weekly/Those Clucking Neighbors/Clucking Neighbors 2.html

Reference for Bird Flu sparking fear in KW citizens in regards to chickens
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12304172/

Somewhere around 2004 some of the KW locals became concerned that there were too many chickens running around loose. Crowing, pooping on and scratching up the lawns, visiting the shops, etc. The idea of the bird flu also fueled some peoples concerns about 'feral' chickens. An official chicken trapper was hired and many chickens were trapped, rounded up, and sent to exile on a farm on the "mainland" and there was suspicion from some folks that the Key West Chickens were being killed in secret. Now they are only sent to farms to be adopted out or to people directly who will not harm them.
http://www.ourkeywest.net/about-key-west/the-gypsy-chickens-of-key-west.htm

Today the Key West Chicken population in the wilds of KW is only a couple thousand or so. Mostly only the "nuisiance" chickens are trapped and taken to the Key West Wildlife Center and then distributed to farms to be adopted. Some of these will ship chickens or eggs to people who want to adopt them. I got mine from Sally in Eustris, FL that puts all her money recieved from chicken adoptions and donations into feeding and providing for the birds while looking for a home for them. Her contact information is posted here at the end of this article. I got a certificate of authenticity signed by the mayor with my adoptions.
http://www.suite101.com/content/key-west-gypsy-chickens-a100879

There are some folks (The Key West Chicken Club) who would like to have the Key West Chickens approved by the APA in several years. They have a rough draft on colors etc that they are working on. You can see that at the following link.
http://thegypsyproject.netfirms.com/kwccroughstandard.htm

These babies have sure come a long way!! They come in an array of colors and can have peacomb or straight combs.

My Key West Chickens:
I have five that I picked up that were up for adoption. I got one roo and 4 hens. I have some of thier eggs in the incubator. They are small birds, not as small as bantams but smaller than the regular large fowl. They seem very self sufficient and very wary of predators, which I guess, have helped them and thier ancestors survive so long wild on Key West. They were pretty wild at first and we had a fun time trying to catch them lol. I feed them a few treats every day and the hens who are especially skittish will now approach me and eat from my hand. I can't touch them yet or they run lol. The roo will allow me to pick him up. I think he is younger than the hens though.

Rooster, Captain Morgan

Hens (these 3 are more similar looking) There is one that has more of a wheaten coloring than the other two.

Another hen- she is different looking: darker with nice lacing all over her front and back.

Well here it is 2020. I started this thread many years ago and still have Key West Chickens lol.
Thought I'd share the story of one of my crazy broody hens who lost her eggs and how I gave her some baby heritage turkeys that I ordered from Ideal Poultry this spring.
Here's the story how she got these baby turkeys lol.
We had the brooder all set up weeks ahead of time for the turkey poults. The post office was supposed to hold the poults so I could pick them up. Well they didnt and sent them out on the truck! I had to go meet the postal carrier on route to get them It was very hot that day and they got jumbled around and were in bad shape when I got them. One ended up dying. I got them home and the heat light decided to go out which was crazy because it was brand new! Went to tractor supply and feed stores and no lights..all sold out. All out of heat brooders as well. Our heating pad was MIA so couldnt make a heatpad broody mama thingy.
Last resort, I remembered this hen who was still trying to sit on eggs even though hers got ruined by rain. Would she accept these poults? Key West hens are the fiercest most protective moms out there. If I could just get her to accept them, I knew she would take good care of them.
I moved her and a few eggs in a box into the brooder. Then slipped baby poults under her. They didnt stay under her long. They ran right out and I held my breath, afraid she might attack them. Thankfully she loved them andcstarted clucking and murmuring those little mommy hens noises to her! It was a match!
View attachment 2272960

She has 12 of them!!!
We also finally located a heat lamp but they were hers now and she wasnt letting anybody take them away lol. Typical Key West momma.
View attachment 2272962

This was all back in May 2020. Her baby turkeys are teenagers now and 3 times her size! As you can imagine, its pretty comical such a tiny momma hen with big monster turkey babies...more photos to come

Do you still have Key West chickens? If so, do you sell hatching eggs? I’d love to try to hatch some.