Landrace/adaptive breeding discussion

[LaurenRitz]

Two of the RangerX refused to go in their coop last night. Four were up near the ladder, plus the rooster, but rooster and two hens decided to go back to the coop.

I had accidentally left the coop door closed at roosting time, so they saw the other birds go up to the rafters for what I believe is the first time.

I have to say, seeing one of my big roosters come down from the rafters might be rather frightening. I would definitely want to be watching the first time, just to make sure nothing went wrong.

 

[LaurenRitz]

One of the RangerX is back on the ladder, two rungs up. 16 birds roosting open air now, if she sticks.

Sorry about the constant updates, I'm just excited about this step.

 

[LaurenRitz]

The hen on the ladder won't let anyone pass her without pecking at them. One of the other BAx girls got pushed off, landed on the bar above the door, and rather than jumping to the 2x4 a few feet away decided to try to fly about 10 feet to another board.

She almost made it.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Saw 3 of my birds fly today--not just a controlled glide, but about 150 feet into a stiff headwind. Only 4 feet up. They maintained altitude the entire distance and landed easily.

I'm not sure what set them off.

 

[LaurenRitz]

What I want for this population keeps changing. Initially I turned down several breeds that might have worked just because they were white. I wanted all my birds to be dark or mottled, under the impression that white birds would be predator magnets.

The mottled birds all died, one way or another.

The project quickly got sidetracked into rooster behavior, since my first rooster hated my guts. I felt like I was a prisoner, held captive by a stupid bird.

So respect for me and the girls was a priority. Lots of culling later, my boys are so well behaved I have a hard time culling them.

They are currently foraging about 2/3 of their food. I feed them mid afternoon and the bowls usually have some food left when I close up the coops. We'll see how they do this winter.

The rafter roosting is primarily for me. First, if for some reason I can't take care of them they won't be trapped. 2nd, I don't need to go out and care for them at dawn if there's ice on the ground, or go out after dark if I forgot to close up a coop.

In the last 3 years I've had only 1 consistent broody, so broodiness and predator instincts come next.

I honestly thought I had those with my first batch of birds, but hatchery birds. Meh.

 

[NatJ]

In the last 3 years I've had only 1 consistent broody, so broodiness and predator instincts come next.

I honestly thought I had those with my first batch of birds, but hatchery birds. Meh.

I've lost track of which kinds of birds you tried, but I have had several broodies among bantams that I got from Ideal Poultry. They were Old English Game Bantams and Cornish Bantams, I think multiple colors of each. Both of those kinds seemed pretty aware of what was happening around them, and both could do some flying (Old English Game more than Cornish, but even the Cornish bantams could fly better than many standard-sized chicken breeds.)

Ideal often has sales on "assorted" colors of either of those breeds, not in the middle of spring when everyone wants chicks but earlier and later.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I am getting impatient with my roosting/coop situation.

First, if for some reason I can't take care of them they won't be trapped. 2nd, I don't need to go out and care for them at dawn if there's ice on the ground, or go out after dark if I forgot to close up a coop.

This is where I want to get to. So tonight I locked them out of the coop. Two of the game hens went into the tree with the rooster. Everyone else is sleeping in a lean-to I made to keep their food dry. Except two Buckeyes and a game hen who just weren’t in good spots or settled so I opened the coop for them. I plan on doing this once a week for a couple weeks then increasing it two a couple days a week, etc. Maybe it’s not nice to do it this time of year but I have been leaving their coop windows wide open so the only difference is really the extra wind or rain.

 

[Appalachickens]

I’m finally in the initial part of my own landrace project, which will truly start next spring. These will be entirely separate from my 12 coop chickens, and will live in the woods a little way up the logging road behind our house. My son came over today and we framed a little shelter in the woods. He carried my miter saw out so he could work close to the shelter.

I will put up siding and some hardware cloth, and a roof over the next few weeks. My plan is to put them in it for a couple of weeks when I get them, to get them used to the area, and then start letting them out and leaving the doors open so they can come and go as they please. Here’s what I’ve got so far: