Landrace/adaptive breeding discussion

[LaurenRitz]

Still less than half the size of her siblings at 11 weeks, but she is growing. Father is Biel x JG, mother is JG. I sincerely hope it's not dwarfism, as this JG line is now mixed in with most of my birds. Eliminating the male JG line (sex linked dwarfism) would be the simplest, but that usually doesn't show up until birds are 10-12 weeks old. Thyrogenous dwarfism is a recessive gene, and while carriers live normal lives chicks with two copies of the gene tend to die very young. If she dies young, I need to make some hard decisions about the project.

 

[Wild Iris]

I'm in the piedmont of the southeastern US (zone 7b or 8a) and we are in the process of restoring our woodland to a traditional native ecosystem--something like a combination of oak/pine savannas with wooded river valleys. I would like very much to introduce and manage a flock of feral chickens; we currently have quail and wild turkey on the land.

Does anyone have first-hand knowledge about the long-term impact of feral chickens? Do they tend to eat certain plants to extinction? Do they fill a niche that was once occupied by something like a prairie chicken? Do they become invasive and throw everything out of balance? Etc. Obviously this would vary significantly from place to place, but I'm interested in hearing what any of you have observed on your own land.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I'm in the piedmont of the southeastern US (zone 7b or 8a) and we are in the process of restoring our woodland to a traditional native ecosystem--something like a combination of oak/pine savannas with wooded river valleys. I would like very much to introduce and manage a flock of feral chickens; we currently have quail and wild turkey on the land.

Does anyone have first-hand knowledge about the long-term impact of feral chickens? Do they tend to eat certain plants to extinction? Do they fill a niche that was once occupied by something like a prairie chicken? Do they become invasive and throw everything out of balance? Etc. Obviously this would vary significantly from place to place, but I'm interested in hearing what any of you have observed on your own land.

I do not.

The only flocks I am aware of in that Zone are human supported (intentionally or otherwise) in part. There's a famous flock in GA, another in Bastrop, TX, a third in CA. They are "wild" in that no one owns them and they range freely, but they are not "feral" in the fashion of totally self supporting like the flocks in the FL Keys or a similar flock in Hawaii. Of the three linked flocks, the GA flock is largest by at least an order of magnitude.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I seem to be watching something interesting. I have two coops at opposite ends of the yard, each with a young cockerel. The two are brothers.

I had planned for two coops, each with two roosters and ten hens. But as the pullets in coop 2 mature they seem to be spending most of their time foraging with coop 1. At least 1 bird has shifted coops and is now roosting in coop 1.

Not sure how far this might go, but a coop that is perfectly adequate for 12 birds might be a problem for 20.

We'll see. I am fine with the girls choosing their own rooster, but it seems to be leaving the other boy out in the cold.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

We'll see. I am fine with the girls choosing their own rooster, but it seems to be leaving the other boy out in the cold.

Natural selection. It's good that your hens want only the best

 

[LaurenRitz]

I forgot to close one of the coops tonight and woke up about midnight to one of the young cockerels screaming.

I went out and whatever got in took out the "dwarf" chick. Only one was still in the coop, the others scattered and hiding. I spent the next hour rounding them up.

I've heard a lot about how they're essentially night-blind, that they go into a sort of coma in the dark and won't move no matter what happens around them.

I have never found this to be the case. Tonight several of the birds headed straight for the coop when I moved nearby. Others stayed hidden--I passed one in the dark going out there and didn't see her--and I was able to slowly sneak up on them. Very slowly.

Aside from a tendency to go back to sleep once the threat is gone, they seemed just as alert and aware as during the day

Does anyone else find that with their birds? Or do you find the assertion that "they go into a coma" more accurate?

 

[Perris]

I had planned for two coops, each with two roosters and ten hens. But as the pullets in coop 2 mature they seem to be spending most of their time foraging with coop 1. At least 1 bird has shifted coops and is now roosting in coop 1.

Not sure how far this might go, but a coop that is perfectly adequate for 12 birds might be a problem for 20.

fwiw, I have been assured by our Animal and Plant Health agency Inspector that if the birds have options and can choose where to roost, as yours (and mine) do, it does not matter (from an official bird welfare perspective) how many choose to pile in together of an evening. I have four coops, and the number and identity of their occupants is very flexible.

On the resulting lonely roo (it can happen to hens too) issue, there is always a good reason why a bird is unpopular. If it's a behavioural issue, they either learn to behave better, or they're just unsociable types and don't want company, in my experience.

 

[LaurenRitz]

H

fwiw, I have been assured by our Animal and Plant Health agency Inspector that if the birds have options and can choose where to roost, as yours (and mine) do, it does not matter (from an official bird welfare perspective) how many choose to pile in together of an evening. I have four coops, and the number and identity of their occupants is very flexible.

On the resulting lonely roo (it can happen to hens too) issue, there is always a good reason why a bird is unpopular. If it's a behavioural issue, they either learn to behave better, or they're just unsociable types and don't want company, in my experience.

He asks permission for mating and in every way seems very polite, but he's only 26 weeks old and pretty clumsy about it. I think a big part of it is inexperience. Another piece is that the other cockerel has the compost pile in his "territory."

 

[U_Stormcrow]

H
He asks permission for mating and in every way seems very polite, but he's only 26 weeks old and pretty clumsy about it. I think a big part of it is inexperience. Another piece is that the other cockerel has the compost pile in his "territory."

Those are both good reasons.

 

[Molpet]

I forgot to close one of the coops tonight and woke up about midnight to one of the young cockerels screaming.

I went out and whatever got in took out the "dwarf" chick. Only one was still in the coop, the others scattered and hiding. I spent the next hour rounding them up.

I've heard a lot about how they're essentially night-blind, that they go into a sort of coma in the dark and won't move no matter what happens around them.

I have never found this to be the case. Tonight several of the birds headed straight for the coop when I moved nearby. Others stayed hidden--I passed one in the dark going out there and didn't see her--and I was able to slowly sneak up on them. Very slowly.

Aside from a tendency to go back to sleep once the threat is gone, they seemed just as alert and aware as during the day

Does anyone else find that with their birds? Or do you find the assertion that "they go into a coma" more accurate?

Some of Mine are flighty and if I go in that coop after dark they literally bounce off the walls trying to get away. Another 3 coops have calmer birds, but if I grab one the rest bounce off the walls.
The time I left a coop open and a predator got one, everyone seemed ok when I went out at sunrise. I thought nothing had happened since they were walking around.... until I seen too many feathers in the coop corner. I found the gut eaten body under a tree... caught a opossum. He went by a lame hen sleeping in a crate by the door and got a pullet that just started laying.