Landrace/adaptive breeding discussion

[Molpet]

Momma #1 has appeared with a brood of 6. So both #1 and #2, the two mommas that kicked their biddies away at 4 and 5 weeks respectively, have each made a second brood this season.

I have not seen #6 or #7 in a few days. Because their group was combined, I would figure that if a predator got one of the mothers, the other one is still probably out there. It's not unsual to go a few days without seeing a particular momma while they're delving deep into the blueberries. Still, this concerns me a bit for these two. Later today I may go for a hen hunt out in the blueberries. There's about 12 acres of blueberries they could be in.

are there berries? Here the racoons are more interested in the mulberries right now than the chickens.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

are there berries? Here the racoons are more interested in the mulberries right now than the chickens.

Some of the late-bearing bushes have a lot of fresh berries. The bulk of the crop was ripe a month ago. The rains knocked to the ground what we didn’t harvest and that’s what the chickens are picking up. Black bear, deer, and turkeys are coming in and getting what they can.

 

[Wild Iris]

Interesting thread with a lot of good info. I acquired some Icelandics last year and have been very pleased with them so far.

How well do they handle the heat?

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Momma #1 has appeared with a brood of 6. So both #1 and #2, the two mommas that kicked their biddies away at 4 and 5 weeks respectively, have each made a second brood this season.

I have not seen #6 or #7 in a few days. Because their group was combined, I would figure that if a predator got one of the mothers, the other one is still probably out there. It's not unsual to go a few days without seeing a particular momma while they're delving deep into the blueberries. Still, this concerns me a bit for these two. Later today I may go for a hen hunt out in the blueberries. There's about 12 acres of blueberries they could be in.

I briefly saw 6&7 with their broods. Seems like they’re staying deep in the blueberry fields, perhaps the most sequestered of all the groups. There are plenty of larger trees out in the blueberries they could be roosting in. The fields are surrounded by electric wire and discourages mammal predators.

 

[Appalachian homestead]

How well do they handle the heat?

I've not noticed any signs of heat stress yet. The climate here is fairly mild. I am in the mountains of southwestern Virginia, elevation is 2800. We haven't hit triple digits this year, and they spend the warmest part of the day in the woods and forage the open field early morning and late afternoon/evening.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I let another of the young cockerels out this week. He's doing pretty good and he's adopted the 2nd coop, which is exactly what I wanted.

I went in to shut up the coop last night and the chick whose Mom has been leaving at night was cuddled up under the rooster. I think he's going to make a great Dad.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Two day old chicks are out in the brooder where the adults can see them. They'll stay there for probably 2 to 4 weeks, then they'll free range with everybody else.

This will be the first time there was a cockerel in the area flock when I put chicks out, so we'll see how that goes.

These chicks are Jersey Giant/Rhode Island Red/Black Australorp and there may be some Bielefelder in there. One of the moms may have been a Biel cross.

No white spots, but only one of the last batch had a white spot and all ended up barred--in a sense. The one with the white spot is fully barred. The other three have barring only underneath.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

6 and 7 are tree roosting with their biddies tonight.

A group of terrorfowl are also tree roosting, which is good but unusual for my lines with high percentages of oriental gamefowl.

 

[LaurenRitz]

View attachment 3887549

A group of terrorfowl are also tree roosting, which is good but unusual for my lines with high percentages of oriental gamefowl.

Learned behavior, do you think?

Did you ever have to encourage tree roosting, or did they figure it out for themselves?

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Learned behavior, do you think?

Did you ever have to encourage tree roosting, or did they figure it out for themselves?

Totally themselves. But most of my bankivoid gamefowl tree roost, while nearly all of my oriental x Liege mixes do not in spite of seeing bankivoids do it. This is the first time that I’ve seen high-percentage oriental gamefowl tree roost on my farm.