Landrace/adaptive breeding discussion

[BlindLemonChicken]

This might be an unanswerable question but what is a normal/average rate of loss when starting an adaptive flock? Ive lost three total since May—one was a very young pullet I lost to a stray cat and two to a bobcat recently. So the bobcat has become an issue obviously but a tricky one. I do have a big trap but I’m not sure trapping bobcats is a simple thing so I am trying to deter it with the dog and some other things right now but I suspect it will be an uphill battle. It’s not like I can catch all the chickens and lock them up haha so that’s not happening. Just wondering what everyone else’s experiences were starting out

 

[LaurenRitz]

Snakes get very young chicks. Possums will take out whatever they can catch, which is usually ground-roosting birds. I have seen bobcats, heard coyotes, and seen hawks.

I heard the neighbor's dogs going insane the other day in their kennel and looked over to see a really big cat taunting them. It was nearly their own size.

I still have 1 bird from my first group, 3 from the second batch (all recognized breeds) and a bunch of mutts.

If my own experience is representative, I'd expect to lose at least 50% until the birds figure out how to avoid predators, how to forage, and how to successfully raise chicks.

How is the new boy doing in keeping his girls safe?

 

[LaurenRitz]

This might be an unanswerable question but what is a normal/average rate of loss when starting an adaptive flock? Ive lost three total since May—one was a very young pullet I lost to a stray cat and two to a bobcat recently. So the bobcat has become an issue obviously but a tricky one. I do have a big trap but I’m not sure trapping bobcats is a simple thing so I am trying to deter it with the dog and some other things right now but I suspect it will be an uphill battle. It’s not like I can catch all the chickens and lock them up haha so that’s not happening. Just wondering what everyone else’s experiences were starting out

Had a weird thought. You know how animals are sometimes scared away by predator urine? Maybe find out what kind is repulsive to bobcats and put that in and around their tree.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Do they ever wander far enough from the others that you could try sneaking them something without any other birds noticing? It might be interesting to see how they act when there aren't any other birds coming to chase them off.

They don't seem to be going hungry, although I'm not sure. They are the best foragers, as I said. They look and act healthy.

I never see them far from the other birds, although there's one spot they can get into that the other birds can't so I toss some treats in there.

 

[Molpet]

This might be an unanswerable question but what is a normal/average rate of loss when starting an adaptive flock? Ive lost three total since May—one was a very young pullet I lost to a stray cat and two to a bobcat recently. So the bobcat has become an issue obviously but a tricky one. I do have a big trap but I’m not sure trapping bobcats is a simple thing so I am trying to deter it with the dog and some other things right now but I suspect it will be an uphill battle. It’s not like I can catch all the chickens and lock them up haha so that’s not happening. Just wondering what everyone else’s experiences were starting out

First 5 years, one or two a year from hawks. When covid started, the neighbors started putting out corn so they could watch the wildlife. Memorial day they left for the cabin in the north woods and the hungry hoard ran out of food. The hoard found the poultry buffet.
I quit counting this year at a total of 150 raccoons and about the same in opossums... got a opossum this morning.

2 years ago the foxes found the poultry buffet. I'm used to one hen missing every so often, but it's heartbreaking to be in the house for an hour and come out to bodies all over the place. 3 different foxes and a couple coyotes. This fall when the fox seen me it dropped the pullet who ran to me and died in my arms.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Maybe find out what kind is repulsive to bobcats and put that in and around their tree.

So a quick internet search on bobcat trapping for furs told me not to pee where I expect to catch a bobcat. So I’m hoping my husband’s beer drinking comes in handy I know it works for city raccoons. My yellow hatch found a new tree to roost in tonight. Not sure where my other tree chicken is. New boy is doing well—haven’t seen him against a hawk yet but he tends to keep most of the girls near cover.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

When covid started, the neighbors started putting out corn so they could watch the wildlife.

We have a couple corn barrels for deer on our property that are always well stocked by our friend who deer hunts here. He also has trail cams up there and saw a coyote a few days ago. I imagine his hunting actually helps deter things. The raccoons have made themselves scarce since I started trapping and getting rid of them on top of the mountain. I know the bobcat is dragging the chickens across the road and off our property so I won’t be able to find where it buries things and disrupt that like I planned

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Side note: I figured out how to integrate my new guy when the time comes so we’ll see how it goes. I just need these boys to stay alive and keep enough hens alive long enough to start raising chicks this spring then I won’t feel so uptight about numbers. I’m not sure 20 birds is enough to get to that point if the bobcat decides to come around every couple weeks

 

[Wild Iris]

Question. I have two, the Kraienkoppe girls, who are the smallest of my flock and also the best foragers.

I noticed early on that other birds would follow them around and take away anything they found. These two would abandon it and move on.

Now that they're adults (just over 6 months) and both laying, I notice another behavior that seems related.

Often they will be the first to run to the food, run to get treats, but they don't actually get anything because they hold back until the other birds get there. At which point the other birds drive them away.

Is this because of the flock dynamic and they're not going to eat before those higher in the pecking order? Is it because they don't trust their instincts and want someone else to try it first just in case it's not edible? Waiting for a rooster to tell them it's ok?

Something else?

I have quite a number of young ones who do this. They are first to get there, but they don't eat-- & within five seconds, another bird arrives to drive them away. For 20 birds (only 6 over a year old), I have two "permanent" feeding stations with pans under a shelter so they don't collect rainwater; then another 3-4 sheltered places on the ground where I put some food once a day. I try to choose hidden places where the one eating can't be seen by others. Usually they all chase each other around, checking out what another one is eating to see whether it's any better than the food they just tasted. When it seem too rough my liking, I sprinkle a tiny bit of feed in several obvious places so that there is always an unoccupied feed-pile for someone to run to. Once everyone has discovered that all the feed tastes the same, they quit fighting and everyone has a chance to eat.

 

[Wild Iris]

This might be an unanswerable question but what is a normal/average rate of loss when starting an adaptive flock? Ive lost three total since May—one was a very young pullet I lost to a stray cat and two to a bobcat recently. So the bobcat has become an issue obviously but a tricky one. I do have a big trap but I’m not sure trapping bobcats is a simple thing so I am trying to deter it with the dog and some other things right now but I suspect it will be an uphill battle. It’s not like I can catch all the chickens and lock them up haha so that’s not happening. Just wondering what everyone else’s experiences were starting out

Mine have been full free-range since the late spring, so not yet a year. I started with 9 that were at least a year old, and lost 4 of them to disease/illness. Predators got 8 chicks out of 22 hatched this year. (And I acquired an adult male, which brings me up to the 20 that I mentioned in another post.) Summary: 12 out of 32 total, so that's slightly more than 1/3 which have been lost in less than a year.

Successful predation was by hawk and snake; but since I got the gamecock, the hawk has been foiled. So far no 4-legged predators: I expect that's because of our german shepherd who is out most of the day and half the night, & marks his territory every chance he gets. The chickens stay well within his territory. (Currently 8 of them choose to roost in a secure coop and the other dozen roost in a tree.)