New house came with a huge unmanaged flock. Help!

[FormidableFlock]

 

[FormidableFlock]

Poor picture but trying to show more than individuals and shows part of the pasture they roam. Front of property is all orchard and that is where they are roosting right now.

 

[ShanandGem]

That's a big undertaking!
All I can tell you is I spent a month collecting a flock of eight chickens (with rooster) from the woods where they had been left to die. I brought them home, quarantined them from my other chickens and left them to their business.
They are hands down my best layers. All healthy, brought in no disease, hardy and tough and go out even when there is snow on the ground.
Keep the ones you like. They will make themselves apparent the more time you spend outside. I bet the neighbors will help you catch them if you indicate you are reducing the population and trying to be a responsible chicken keeper. Even you only catch 3 or 4 at a time you can make decisions 'on the fly' about who stays and who goes.
These birds are survivors and I'm sure they will thrive under some proper care. I bet you will start to see eggs. With a feral population like that you will have a range of ages. I find it impossible that no one is laying an egg, ever.
The pea fowl are another story. I hear that are LOUD. Good luck with that.

 

[centrarchid]

As i thought. At least some American Game influence. On male side if a pure game to be kept, then only one. Hen side you can keep more without issues. Some appear to have somerhing else crossed in with extended black.

Those birds are in no way poor health. Past nutrition was good

A wealth of information in pics most would not think to ask about or volunteer

 

[FormidableFlock]

We've already started to cull the unhealthy chickens and these are those that may be kept as they are coming home for feeding. They are also starting to look much better within the last 2 months since they are being fed twice a day and I'm putting drops in their water (not sure what the drops are, got them from a neighbor who also has free range and raises organically). You should have seen some of them when we arrived. Some of them were missing a ton of feathers (not normal molting) and there were roosters whose spurs were so long they were having difficulty walking. One had a bad beak and another looked like its wing had been injured and never healed properly. We still have about 30 that refuse to leave the orchard section during feeding and will just watch when I throw feed out there but won't come down to inspect until I'm at least 35 feet back. They never come towards the back of the property towards the coop.

 

[donrae]

I don't think those birds look bad at all.

I would not hesitate to eat those roosters. What is the source of your concern for that?

the coop is nice sized, what a good start! You'll need a run to go with it, to confine the birds to where you want them. I'm sure your neighbors will appreciate that.

You do need to manage the number of roosters. Pick your 2-3 favorites, if that many. Cull the rest. Butcher them for yourself, advertise them to give away, advertise as dog food, kill them and compost the carcasses, etc. There are several options for managing those guys.

then, take a look at the hens you have. Once confined, they may start laying where you get the eggs. Or, they may not be of an age to lay right now, and you'll have to wait for spring. Honestly, at this time of the year, I'd rather feed a hen over the winter and have her hit production in a few months, than cull her and bother with brooding chicks who won't lay for 6 months.

Overall, I'm along Mrs K's line of thinking. Lots of folks come on here wanting a free range, sustainable flock---well, here it is. The proof is in the birds. They've survived, reproduced, and will likely be productive with some time, management and improved nutrition. They should be hardy stock.

If you have more females than you want to keep, you should easily be able to sell them to recoup some costs for building the run.

 

[FormidableFlock]

When we came the previous owners had the chicken coop full of bags of dried tortillas and food bank bread that was mildewed. The outside of the coop had 4 huge boxes of Oreo cookies (just the cookie part, these didn't come with the filling) just laying out open. Not talking like a "family size" box but large boxes that an entire shipment would come in. Boxes had been in the elements long enough that they were starting to deteriorate. This is why I worry to eat them and I know they have never been wormed, inspected, or treated for any diseases over the years. If I feed them well for a few more months and give them diatomaceous earth mixed with their feed, do you suppose they would be safe to eat as long as they looked healthy at slaughter?

Glad to know they now look healthy.

 

[lazy gardener]

When you process them, that will be your deciding time about eating them. I bet you will see some mighty fine meat. As you process, you can also be on the look out for internal and external parasites. do a good inspection of inside small intenstine. I agree that those birds look good, and would not hesitate to capture and try to "reclaim" the hens. Keep the best 1 - 2 roos, and move forward from there. I ? how many generations of birds there are. It's possible that it's only 1 - 2.

 

[ShanandGem]

I think you have the makings of a gorgeous flock there.

 

[DwayneNLiz]

When we came the previous owners had the chicken coop full of bags of dried tortillas and food bank bread that was mildewed. The outside of the coop had 4 huge boxes of Oreo cookies (just the cookie part, these didn't come with the filling) just laying out open. Not talking like a "family size" box but large boxes that an entire shipment would come in. Boxes had been in the elements long enough that they were starting to deteriorate. This is why I worry to eat them and I know they have never been wormed, inspected, or treated for any diseases over the years. If I feed them well for a few more months and give them diatomaceous earth mixed with their feed, do you suppose they would be safe to eat as long as they looked healthy at slaughter?

Glad to know they now look healthy.

Feed them well for a couple months and butcher the ones in the pics look really good



I think that YOU are a great deciding factor in Their future

Good luck