Landrace/adaptive breeding discussion

[LaurenRitz]

Mom has 10 or 11--hard to tell, as fast as they move. She has them off the nest but hasn't taken them out foraging yet.

They have a pretty good sized shelter and the chicks have their own food.

15 (same caveat) in the brooder, plus the one "accidental" hatch.

 

[Appalachickens]

I got the chicks about an hour ago. Took the first one out to the broody, she started talking to it, hissed and swiped at me, and settled down, burbling happily. I got 5 under her, no problems, but when I took #6 out there she was frantically trying to corral her babies, who were running all over. I'll leave her for a while and see if she settles down. They're more active than other 3 day old chicks I've worked with.

I have them in a broody box out in the coop.

I can identify the Golden Kraienkoppe because they're yellow. All else is a mystery. Should be Black Breasted Red Kraienkoppe, mixed American Game and Range Sussex (Dorking-Sussex mix). I gave her all the black.
View attachment 4147064

Only one is hanging out under the heater. View attachment 4147063

I'm sure you said earlier but we're on page 56 of this thread, so... what hatchery did you get these guys from?

 

[LaurenRitz]

Sandhillpreservation. They maintain lots of rare and endangered breeds.

 

[Appalachickens]

Sandhillpreservation. They maintain lots of rare and endangered breeds.

Thanks - I've been looking at their site and they do indeed have some every cool birds.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Read their information carefully. If you say "No sub" you could easily find your order shipped at multiple times as the birds become available. Not all the birds lay at the same rate and if they go broody there won't be any eggs for a while. That kind of thing.

 

[Appalachickens]

Read their information carefully. If you say "No sub" you could easily find your order shipped at multiple times as the birds become available. Not all the birds lay at the same rate and if they go broody there won't be any eggs for a while. That kind of thing.

Good to know. Thank goodness I have some time to think this through.

 

[Wild Iris]

Any of you with hawks, talk to me about how you and your flock handle them.

I am in the middle of woods, and really thought hawks preferred more open spaces; I figured I would have more trouble with raccoons and snakes. This past week I have lost four young ones (two chicks and two half-grown) to a hawk that is hunting very, very, very close to my house. For the moment, I'm back to keeping all chickens within the fence, but I wonder how to approach this long-term. The half-grown cockerel killed today was so big the hawk had trouble flying and had to drop it. I'm starting to fear my cat is next on his hit list.

Do you just have a flock large enough to feed all the hawks and other predators?
Do the remaining chickens finally wise up?
Is there some breed that is hawk-proof?
Some enemy-animal that hawks detest?

I don't see how I'm going to hang protective netting throughout my forest.

 

[Perris]

Any of you with hawks, talk to me about how you and your flock handle them.

We have goshawk, red-tailed kites, buzzards and kestrels; possibly others but those 4 I've seen.

Do you just have a flock large enough to feed all the hawks and other predators?
Do the remaining chickens finally wise up?
Is there some breed that is hawk-proof?
Some enemy-animal that hawks detest?

Numbers matter, but not because they're food. There is an element of safety in numbers. The more on lookout, the better the warning system.

When the 'predator detected' kind of alarm call goes out, my free ranging flock forms a tight group, typically 4 or so mature roos at the edges and 10+ hens in the middle.

This presents any predator with a significantly greater risk than, say, 3 hens with or without a cockerel. Hawks do not want to risk injury from a fight with a roo - their lives depend on being in full health, with perfect vision for example, so getting a meal takes second place to preserving their faculties. So confident adult roos are enemies that hawks avoid. There are easier meals out there, and the hawk moves on to find them instead. I have found that multiple roos are an excellent defence against terrestrial predators too, though we don't have to worry about anything bigger than dogs and foxes here.

On hearing the alarm broodies and chicks (with or without a roo escort), who are usually apart from the adult flock, typically scatter in all directions to separate cover, and usually they are close to cover so disappear before the hawk arrives. Cover for a chicken means hedges, bushes and shrubs, not trees; ground level, relatively dense, and ill-lit. An isolated hen may dash for cover and/or drop flat and keep completely still.

If the attack was not detected in advance, and a commotion is caused by the strike, everybody runs full pelt, the hens for cover, the roos (or broody, if it's one of her chicks screaming) to the source of the noise, where they go into attack. I once had to rescue a kestrel from a broody.

So yes, your chickens will learn how to deal with your predators through experience. It is hard at first, but those with good instincts survive and teach the young (especially if you hatch with broodies) and chicks learn very quickly, so it only needs a couple of years for success. I have not definitely lost a bird to a predator since 2020 (a few have disappeared in those 5 years, but with no pile of feathers anywhere, and no flock trauma from witnessing such a thing, I deduce they were just lost in the case of chicks, and went off somewhere quiet to die of natural causes in the case of adults).

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Any of you with hawks, talk to me about how you and your flock handle them.

I am in the middle of woods, and really thought hawks preferred more open spaces; I figured I would have more trouble with raccoons and snakes. This past week I have lost four young ones (two chicks and two half-grown) to a hawk that is hunting very, very, very close to my house. For the moment, I'm back to keeping all chickens within the fence, but I wonder how to approach this long-term. The half-grown cockerel killed today was so big the hawk had trouble flying and had to drop it. I'm starting to fear my cat is next on his hit list.

Do you just have a flock large enough to feed all the hawks and other predators?
Do the remaining chickens finally wise up?
Is there some breed that is hawk-proof?
Some enemy-animal that hawks detest?

I don't see how I'm going to hang protective netting throughout my forest.

Perris covered your questions well, but I’ll add that in terms of “enemy-animals”, crows loathe hawks and will gang up to drive a hawk away. Mockingbirds, when in their belligerent stages (which seem to be always) join in.

At a minimum, even when crows don’t effectively deter a hawk, their racket creates a great early warning system.

If you can figure a way to set out feed or scratch for the crows that your chickens won’t get first, you might be able to attack ATTRACT enough for them to become allies.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Perris covered your questions well, but I’ll add that in terms of “enemy-animals”, crows loathe hawks and will gang up to drive a hawk away. Mockingbirds, when in their belligerent stages (which seem to be always) join in.

At a minimum, even when crows don’t effectively deter a hawk, their racket creates a great early warning system.

If you can figure a way to set out feed or scratch for the crows that your chickens won’t get first, you might be able to attack enough for them to become allies.

Or if you’re lazy like me, you can get a chicken tractor and plant it near the crows