Landrace/adaptive breeding discussion

[Wild Iris]

You have 400 acres! That's a good chunk of land!

It is family land, so we don't own it all ourselves. But many of the other owners (uncles/cousins) live out of state and aren't especially interested in what goes on here. I wouldn't build a house on land I didn't own, but no one cares if the chickens forage on it.

The land isn't good for much, really--too rocky to farm, too hilly to develop, too low for a view--so that's why it's still relatively untouched. My husband is working hard to restore it to the mixed woodland & pine-oak savanna it once was. There are quite a number of very good native remnants, with surprisingly few invasives. We are very blessed to have this place, but it isn't to everyone's taste.

 

[Backroadlogic]

I have about 20 chickens of my mix roaming my property freerange 24x7. I have probably 5 roosters right now and because they have been raised together and have always known each other they already have the pecking order figured out so i don't really deal with many fights despite all having a good amount of American game and saipan jungle fowl in them.
They roam in 3 groups. I have a group if 3 young roosters that roam together with around 9 hens and pullets. My oldest rooster and father/grandfather/etc to everyone stays out in the goat pen with 2 hens, 3 pullets, and 1 little cockeral. He was the leader of all the chickens in one large group until early this year when he was dethroned by his son. Last group is a larger rooster with 2 very docile hens that gravitate towards my house.

I only have 15 acres. They utilize just a couple acres

 

[Wild Iris]

I need some help brainstorming. I really want to have two roosters (and preferably two flocks but I will settle for a backup rooster) since I lost my rooster and my flock hasn’t started hatching chicks yet…I have plenty of room for two flocks (theoretically—this is the question) and 14 hens. I can get more hens if need be but my question is how big is a rooster’s territory? Any firsthand experience appreciated. Will they inevitably fight or with enough space/resources and hens will they stake out their own territories and leave each other alone?

I have similar questions. I hope you get some good answers!

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I have similar questions. I hope you get some good answers!

I am going to ask on Shad’s thread as well but I know some of the folks that follow that thread follow this one as well. I also need to do a little more reading on it but I suspect the answer is: wait and let the new rooster raise his own subordinate/replacement. I am just not patient and I don’t like being without a rooster so I feel like a backup would be smart.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I think two or three roosters per flock is fine. You have a backup if the primary dies, the primary roo keeps the young boys in check, you have "babysitters" for the broody mamas and more eyes looking for predators.

I have a small coop which currently holds the cockerel flock and two hens (the 2 will be shifted to rafter roosting in the spring) while I evaluate behavior. Right now all the boys are amazingly well behaved.

They range about 2 acres if you count the garden, and show no interest in going farther afield. I only have about 4 acres. As I develop their food forest I suspect they'll stay primarily in the same area but have more ability to feed themselves.

It is possible that they'll move farther out as the food system develops, or even split the flock, but from everything I've read they seldom travel more than 300 yards from their roosting spot/water source, and that fits my own experience.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I am just not patient and I don’t like being without a rooster so I feel like a backup would be smart.

I agree with you. I never want to have fewer than two at a time, now that I have a more mature flock. For exactly the reason your past week demonstrated. It may take a while for the girls to accept the beta, but it's going to go much smoother if they already know him.

 

[Perris]

my question is how big is a rooster’s territory? Any firsthand experience appreciated.

In my experience that depends on how much food they are supplied. The less supplied, the further they will go to find what they need.

Will they inevitably fight or with enough space/resources and hens will they stake out their own territories and leave each other alone?

Mine do not stake out separate territories, or even coops. There are 4 coops and there is no consistency in who roosts with whom. There are currently 6 mature roos and 5 cockerels, so most coops have multiple males in them any given night. They chase each other about periodically but proper fights are vanishingly rare. The hens are promiscuous too.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Reminder to self. Comment here during lunch.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

There are currently 6 mature roos and 5 cockerels, so most coops have multiple males in them any given night.

You have a multigenerational flock though, right? So these roosters are all related or at least raised with one another?

 

[Perris]

You have a multigenerational flock though, right? So these roosters are all related or at least raised with one another?

yes.