Landrace/adaptive breeding discussion

[LaurenRitz]

I heard the birds screaming and went out. Couldn't find any feathers but the birds were scattered and spooked.

I have no idea where most were hiding, but they were all back by sundown. I had to rescue some of the chicks from their hiding place, and they did NOT want to come out.

I gave a friend some hatching eggs. She wants to shift toward providing most of her family's meat, so she was interested in the Ranger mixes.

Last hatch of the year goes into lockdown today. These are father ((JG x RIR) x RIR) with mothers Marans, Rangers or Buckeyes. Another group of 4 is BYM x blue egg layer.

The BYM roo was a gift to my sister from a friend who had extra roos, and I have to say I was surprised by how tiny he was when I picked him up. I'm used to my own birds, and there's a huge difference.

 

[jurassicfish]

American Game are quite possibly a perfect survival bird already. I started out with 13 American Game and I've not lost a single one to disease or predation to this day. They're a genuinely impressive breed as is, and are fully willing to attack a fox to protect their young

From what I understand the RIR is a cross between an Oriental Game of some kind and a Brown Leghorn. My first year with chickens I did lose half of my reds to predators, but the games and reds notably produced both predator immune and productive offspring. RIR mixed with any game, feral or wild breed/LR truly make fantastic chickens

If the original combo of RIR is half game, half leghorn, then I think perhaps all they need is the ratio of game blood to be raised. Asil and RIR would be an infusion of toughness for a more rugged lifestyle.
A fox can catch pure Reds, but can't catch American Game. However the fox also can't catch RIR/Game mixes

For the last two years I've merely been recreating the wheel (ie junglefowl) like a fool, only to rediscover why humans domesticated junglefowl in the first place

I am trying to find some American game roosters to Cross with some brown leghorns. I am having real difficulty finding American Game. I can find Old English Game Fowl and jungle fowl online as chicks for next spring. Any suggestions? I am in Central Florida. Thanks.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I am trying to find some American game roosters to Cross with some green leghorns. I am having real difficulty finding American Game. I can find Old English Game Fowl and jungle fowl online as chicks for next spring. Any suggestions? I am in Central Florida. Thanks.

Many standard sized “Old English” sold by hatcheries are actually American games.

Many people raise gamefowl in Florida. Can you PM me a city you’re close to?

 

[jurassicfish]

Hi there,
This is a topic I have a lot of interest in, so I'll share my experience. In 2013, I started a free range flock that involved a thai aseel rooster, and hens of these breeds: Thai Aseel, Old English Game Bantam, Egyptian Fayoumi, Silver Phoenix, and an assortment of laying breeds whose genetics do not seems to have made the cut. Most birds were from breeders, except the Fayoumi and layers, which came from a hatchery.
Since then I have added very little new blood, relying on natural selection to play a large part in the success of the flock. Multiple broods were hatched by the hens each year. The traits that have persisted most are those of Phoenix (good mothering, predator- resistant coloring), Thai Aseel (upright posture, excellent predator awareness), and Egyptian Fayoumi (general wariness and wiliness). The Old English Game Bantam DNA has also contributed to overall appearance.
The birds are mid-sized with pea combs or small single combs and athletic builds. They are variably silver partridge, lemon partridge and wheaten. The roosters are gentle, good flock protectors, and tend toward the upright aseel build. The hens are broody, flighty, and quick, and tend toward a build more similar to an Old English Game. They lay a reasonable number of eggs in season, but once everyone goes broody, laying drops off.
The birds are also remarkably healthy. Since starting this breeding program I have had few/no issues with disease or internal parasites (I did spray Elector PSP for lice this year, but my two hatchery orpingtons were affected much more than the mixed breed chickens). I have not needed to worm in years- I suspect the birds are eating something that is a natural wormer when they forage. The birds that are taken by predators tend to be very old, very young, or low ranking cockerels. Healthy adults tend to be too fast for most predators and have a good flight ability. Those that survive to adulthood are long lived. My oldest bird of this lineage has survived near 10 years on free range (phoenix, old english, and, surprise! Antwerp bearded belgian! She's in the last photo).

My free range system involves letting the birds out of secure coops in the morning, and locking them up at night. During the hours of daylight they are free to do as they wish. If there is a predator around and I see it, I of course do go out to help drive it away. If the birds decide it's not safe and go into the pen, I will help by latching the door. Some days they are confined to the pen, such as when there is a storm or if I have company who does not prefer chickens sharing their space. So they're not fully on their own, but the chicks are hatched and raised with the flock and free range as soon as their mother decides it's time to leave the nest.

This year I'm changing it up by adding liege fighters. So far, I'm in love with their gentle, confident personalities, but other than large size, I'm not sure what they'll contribute that the flock doesn't already have.

Check out FloridaBullforg's thread if you haven't already, lots of incredible information here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-survival-junglefowl-x-liege.1424023/page-121


Sorry for the novel, here are some pictures:



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Do you ever sell chicks or eggs? Thanks.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Hatch went ok. Not stellar. None of the blue eggs hatched. Other than that, all hatched of those who reached lockdown. The first to hatch was playing soccer with the other eggs and I was worried that some might not hatch because if it, but that worry was apparently baseless.

I sincerely hope that some of my birds go broody next year. Addictive as it is, incubating is for the birds!

I was surprised that the Buckeye chicks all came out yellow while the Rangers were black. The red cockerel was in the other coop, but maybe they were sharing.

The Marans mixes have feathered legs like their mother.

One of the Ranger chicks is solid black, no color anywhere. I'm starting to see a drift in that direction with the chicks.

All of the adults in coop 2 are now sleeping on the roof. They seem to prefer that to contesting roost space with a bunch of teenage delinquents.

At least one of the 12 week old boys is already on the dinner route. He's fighting with my feet and flaring his hackles at me. Although his coloring is great, behavior has to come first. His 8 week old "twin" is quickly headed the same way.

I suspect some of the Bielefelder genes snuck in when I wasn't paying attention.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Many standard sized “Old English” sold by hatcheries are actually American games.

Many people raise gamefowl in Florida. Can you PM me a city you’re close to?

Nice to know this. Planning on ordering some once I'm able to get set up for separating the Stags when they come to age.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I've got a couple different survival chicken projects.
One is a Landrace Breed project, I call them Chameleons, project title is The Black to White Experiment.
So far they're excellent Free Rangers, & have great meat quality. They just need more improvements with size, & increased predator savy-ness.(Excuse my spelling)

The other is Mini American Gamefowls from scratch. Goal is purebred, hardy small fowls, with heavy weight, & lots of muscle. So far the first ones are very survival bird worthy.

 

[LaurenRitz]

How much of a chicken's flight ability is based on wing length/mass/muscle, and how much on experience? My birds fly at most two feet off the ground, regardless of breed, and seldom try to get up into trees. Not even as chicks. Their "flight" down is more of a controlled plummet.

Their muscles should be able to support flight, and at least as chicks they're not too heavy. As adults, technically their bone mass and muscle structure should support limited flight.

Do they not do it because they've never seen it done?

 

[MysteryChicken]

How much of a chicken's flight ability is based on wing length/mass/muscle, and how much on experience? My birds fly at most two feet off the ground, regardless of breed, and seldom try to get up into trees. Not even as chicks. Their "flight" down is more of a controlled plummet.

Their muscles should be able to support flight, and at least as chicks they're not too heavy. As adults, technically their bone mass and muscle structure should support limited flight.

Do they not do it because they've never seen it done?

A 3½lb hen can fly up onto a roof top, so probably max 5lb rooster maybe able to fly the same height.

Thinking it's Weight X Wing Length = Great to Low Flying ability.
Breast muscles must be full as well.

 

[LaurenRitz]

A 3½lb hen can fly up onto a roof top, so probably max 5lb rooster maybe able to fly the same height.

Thinking it's Weight X Wing Length = Great to Low Flying ability.
Breast muscles must be full as well.

I was looking at my roosters, and they have those massive pectorals, just made for flying. But even as chicks, they never fly.