Managing a fully free range flock, tips please!

[cacknballs]

how big is the tractor?

as far as which ones you should keep... unless i am mistaken, you are the boss around there. God gave you dominion over the animals he provides you for food. keep the birds you like, get rid of (eat) the birds you don't want. and don't ever feel bad about it. it's as He intended.

to manage where the eggs are laid... build some comfy nesting boxes and the birds will start using them.

to prevent too many chicks... take the eggs out right away and eat them, refrigerate them, give them away, or chunk them. any free ranger that makes it out of the shell that is not secured at night likely won't last long. easy enough...

to keep them safe and healthy... build a secure coop that is well ventilated, can be locked up at night, and can't be tunneled into. make sure the birds have access to quality food and clean water, have protection from winter winds, have a shaded area to get out of summer sun, and can get out of the rain. lock them up at night, let them out first thing in the morning. eat anyone who turns into a bully.


and post me up some pictures of your spread down there in SA. I'd really like to see what it's like there. please and thank you.

 

[chameleon]

Hey, sorry for the delay, it's been madness over here. Here's some pics of the boys:
1st cockerel

2nd cockerel (he's a bit camera shy, he's the patchwork one.)

Their colours have come as a big surprise, so I'm really curious to see how they grow out. I think I mentioned before, their dad is a GLW and here's a pic of the mom so you can see why all that black and white is surprising.

The mom is on the right and that's the 1st cockerel next to her. Seeing them side by side, he looks exactly like a white version of his mom. I just don't know where the white with blue legs comes from. Mom has very pale legs.

 

[centrarchid]

Naked-neck game / Madagascar Game in background of those birds. Game nature is overriding issue impacting difficulty keeping only one rooster with the group of hens.

Natural hen to rooster ratio is 1 to 2 hens per rooster.


Variables important for keeping birds truly free-range yet to be discussed.

 

[cacknballs]

Hey, sorry for the delay, it's been madness over here. Here's some pics of the boys:
1st cockerel
View attachment 553147
View attachment 553148

2nd cockerel (he's a bit camera shy, he's the patchwork one.)View attachment 553150
View attachment 553149

Their colours have come as a big surprise, so I'm really curious to see how they grow out. I think I mentioned before, their dad is a GLW and here's a pic of the mom so you can see why all that black and white is surprising.
View attachment 553151
The mom is on the right and that's the 1st cockerel next to her. Seeing them side by side, he looks exactly like a white version of his mom. I just don't know where the white with blue legs comes from. Mom has very pale legs.

very nice!!!

i pretend to hear what we would call your "accent" over here when i read your posts.

thank you for sharing the pictures.

would you mind at some point posting up more of general scenery around your town/countryside (or perhaps a link where you've already done so)? i love seeing different parts of the world through regular people's eyes rather than just through travel mags or programs.

thanks.

 

[chameleon]

Naked-neck game / Madagascar Game in background of those birds. Game nature is overriding issue impacting difficulty keeping only one rooster with the group of hens.

Natural hen to rooster ratio is 1 to 2 hens per rooster.


Variables important for keeping birds truly free-range yet to be discussed.

Thanks, any information will be greatly appreciated. I'm not sure what breed the mother is exactly, as I rescued her. She's got the naked neck obviously, but I think she's quite a mix. She has 5 toes, lays white eggs, and has almost white legs, which are not purebred naked neck features as far as I know. She's also bantam sized, which isn't available where I live, so she must almost certainly have been bred from a standard size naked neck and crossed with some other kinds of bantams along the way. I don't know much about breeds and genetics though so I might be way off.

 

[chameleon]

very nice!!!

i pretend to hear what we would call your "accent" over here when i read your posts.

thank you for sharing the pictures.

would you mind at some point posting up more of general scenery around your town/countryside (or perhaps a link where you've already done so)? i love seeing different parts of the world through regular people's eyes rather than just through travel mags or programs.

thanks.

Thanks! It's nice having such an international comunity here on BYC I don't think I have any photos of my town, but here's a couple more of the countryside around here:

We live near the coast so it's quite green, but just behind the mountain you can see in the 2nd and 3rd photos is desert.

 

[Gab1]

Hi, I'm looking for some advice on managing a fully free range flock.

I rescued a broody hen that was abandoned by my neighbour. I built her a tractor and let her hatch and raise her chicks in the safety of the tractor until they were 4 weeks old. Before that she had been free and wild for at least 3 years with just 1 rooster for company, and kept losing all her chicks to predators within a day or two of hatching. Her rooster was killed by the neighbour's dog just before she went broody. Anyway, because she was wild for so long, she really hates being confined, and by the time the chicks were 4 weeks old they were all getting very restless, so I secured a section of my yard for them and let them free range during the day, just locking them in the tractor at night. They are very good fliers and I cant keep them in the yard though, so they range outside the yard too.

The chicks are now almost 7 weeks old and last night she took them up into the tree she used to sleep in before she went broody. They really are infinitely happier free range so I don't have the heart to confine them. My tractor is big enough for three chickens to live quite comfortably, as my original plan was to keep two of her daughters to keep her company and sell the rest. With them fully free range I'm rethinking my whole plan.

I have the mother hen and 9 chicks. I am 99% certain I have 4 cockerels and 5 pullets. The hen is an NN bantam and the father is our landlord's GLW, standard size. He doesn't range with them, he has his own flock in a completey seperate area of the property. But after her roo died the hen went over to that side a few times probably looking for company. Sorry for the long history, but the background might be important to the final management plan.

My questions:

Which ones should I keep?
As I mentioned, I wanted to keep 2 of her daughters for company. But because they're free ranging full time now space is no longer an issue and there's the issue of safety in numbers to be considered. So for now I think I should keep the mother, all 5 pullets and one of the cockerels. Other options could be to keep all of them, a smaller number, or pullets only. Any recommendations?

How do I keep track of the eggs?
Is there a way to ecourage them to lay in a specific area or am I doomed to a daily treasure hunt?

The mother is an incorrigible broody and her daughters will probably be the same, so I want to be able to manage the eggs so that I don't end up with endless numbers of chicks to take care of. And I need the eggs to eat. She lays huge eggs for her size, they're the same as medium store bought eggs, and as the father of her chicks was a standard GLW, her daughters eggs will be even bigger, so they are more than good enough for eating. Selling all the cockerels could solve the issue of too many chicks, but I would like to have the option to increase the flock or replace lost birds when necessary. The hen was alone for so long that she does not integrate with other birds at all unless she's raised them herself.

How do I keep them relatively safe and healthy?
Both parents have survived virtually wild with little to no help from people so they are pretty tough, disease resistant and weather hardy in our climate. The mother survived for a very long time on her own so knows how to find shelter in bad weather and from predators and I'm sure she'll teach all of that to her babies. I want to keep them close though so that I can keep an eye on them and intervene/help when necessary. The mom has learned that I am here to help her and that my yard is a safe zone, so she is not wondering too far for now. Will keeping a steady supply of fresh food and water be sufficient to keep her around?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated, on the questions I've asked and anything else I haven't thought of.

I keep 22 heritage breed hens (NO BOY). I don't clip wings but I provide regular feeding morning lunchtime and night and plenty of fresh water. The best way of keeping them with you, is a routine feeding schedule, which they can totally rely on. They'll still supplement free range.
My suggestion would be to keep the girls only - the boys will just start to fight and you don't want to breed family members. Some of my girls are 11 and 12 and still lay. They've never had the pleasure or pain of a rooster and are immensely happy with their pecking order squabbles but generally stay as a very close flock.
I do think they need a couple of comfy raised off the ground nesting boxes somewhere that they have quiet and clear line of sight. They will choose somewhere clean quiet and safe for their egg laying and I find if I make sure I leave an egg in this spot, they will all line up to lay in this area. They like to lay in the same place. You do need to clear the eggs, but by leaving one in the nest you encourage them to stay with this spot. Hope this helps. You'll end up besotted with your girls.

 

[cacknballs]

Thanks! It's nice having such an international comunity here on BYC I don't think I have any photos of my town, but here's a couple more of the countryside around here:
View attachment 554590 View attachment 554596 View attachment 554597 View attachment 554598 View attachment 554602
We live near the coast so it's quite green, but just behind the mountain you can see in the 2nd and 3rd photos is desert.

looks beautiful there. i hope i see down under someday.

 

[chameleon]

Hi, I haven't been on here in ages. I thought I'd post a small update.

It turns out only two of those chicks were cockerels and I lost one to a caracal, unfortunately it was the one I liked the most. The other turned into a very good little rooster, minds his own business and takes good care of his ladies. He also gets along fine with my large New Hampshire rooster.
As for finding their eggs, they all started laying in the same spot near their roost so it wasn't an issue. One hen recently decided she prefered laying eggs in the corner of our living room though and was so insistent that I eventually just put a box there for her. At least I don't have to go far to find eggs

 

[cacknballs]

glad you're back.

..One hen recently decided she prefered laying eggs in the corner of our living room though and was so insistent that I eventually just put a box there for her. At least I don't have to go far to find eggs

i'd like to see pictures of that.

I lost one to a caracal, unfortunately it was the one I liked the most.

sorry you lost your favorite cock. a good cock is hard to find, or so i'm told.