Old farmer vrs Country gal

[No Coop No Problem]

Farmer Joe is still quite caring and hands-on compared to genuine free-range farming. I was reading this article yesterday and evidently quite a lot of farmers have feral gamefowl running around that they barely feed that still produce a good amount of eggs. Evidently this is a standard practice in poor countries like Mexico and Indonesia. It's just not talked about because subsistence farmers don't write books or blogs on the internet

The very existence of "breeds" like Ayam Kampung is the exact opposite of the doting coop-user which seems to be the standard now in America

 

[Ridgerunner]

Farmer Joe is still quite caring and hands-on compared to genuine free-range farming. I was reading this article yesterday and evidently quite a lot of farmers have feral gamefowl running around that they barely feed that still produce a good amount of eggs. Evidently this is a standard practice in poor countries like Mexico and Indonesia. It's just not talked about because subsistence farmers don't write books or blogs on the internet

Not just in poor countries and poor states like Alabama. (if you read that article, it is in Alabama). Before they were domesticated, chickens took care of themselves. After they were domesticated most still mostly took care of themselves. Like other livestock they mostly foraged and fed themselves, being fed only in winter. People did offer some predator protection. How much more cost effective can you get if your animals mostly take care of themselves. It frees you up to do other things, though I'll admit in colder or cooler climates a lot of a farmer's work was in storing food for their livestock to get through winter.

Dad kept a flock or one rooster and 25 to 30 hens, all free ranging. They had a lot of Dominique and New Hampshire in them but also had Game blood. He's save pullets every year so we got eggs year around. In the good laying months he'd sell or trade surplus eggs at a country store. We also ate chickens, especially cockerels but some old hens also. Some hens slept in trees but most were in his henhouse so those had predator protection. Growing up I remember only two predator attacks, a fox and a dog. Both were shot.

We were in the hills and ridges of East Tennessee so we saw some snow, but not a lot. The chickens would get a little corn to tide them through the snow. Other than that they fed themselves. Granted, Dad was also feeding hay to cattle and horses so the chickens could pick through that. We raised a barn full of hay and planted two acres with field corn, mostly for the hogs, horses, and milk cow. Even in our fairly mild climate we spent some effort to grow feed for the livestock. Some of the pullets laid throughout winter.

Granted I'm old and my experiences were a long time ago but that article was written a little over 3 years ago. In Alabama. It's not just poor countries. It is a very effective business model if you have the land, temperament, and patience to set it up.