Old ways corn raised chickens

[Acre4Me]

You could buy chicks from someone who raises a healthy flock on just corn and pasture. If their flock and chicks are healthy then your should be too.

BYC has a “where am I where are you” forum under social. You can find your state thread and post there. BYC also has an area for swapping or selling chickens.

And don’t forget other social media... there are groups for all kinds of things and you may luck out finding others that do this same type of chicken raising.

 

[AudieWarren]

I am making a point. Have you been acquiring your birds from someone that raises all their birds free-range? Or from a commercial hatchery?

Tractor supply and at the local livestock auction.

 

[centrarchid]

Tractor supply and at the local livestock auction.

Former have not been selected for free-range performance. Latter is unknown. They can function OK, but assertions of old about performance when going is tough likely will not apply.

 

[AudieWarren]

They might not have been bred for free range performance and I'm by no means fluent in chicken genetics, but I am speaking from my own experiences. My flock thrives while free ranging.

 

[Shadrach]

Which are the breeds that can thrive best when the feed is just cheap corn and pasture?

I free range. I also feed them layers pellets.
@Centrachid is right imo, game birds will probably do better than the dual purpose breeds that are common today.
The Bantams here do better free ranging than the Marans. Some of the Mediterranean breeds may fare even better, Minorcans for example.
A lot will depend on how you define thrive; many will survive.

 

[Mitsos Lamprogiorgos]

I have barred rocks, orpington(buff, black, and blue), brown leghorns, rir, black austalorp, GL Wyandotte, and EE. All of them are very active foragers. When free ranging all day, they barely eat a large coffee (the Folgers jumbo can) can of feed. There are about 35 of them that are free ranging. The other are my extra roosters that are getting butchered today.

Is your feed the cheap corn coming from the old ways managing systems?

 

[AudieWarren]

Is your feed the cheap corn coming from the old ways managing systems?

is not but it's not expensive either. I buy cheap cracked corn to throw to them. Like I said earlier though, they really don't eat a lot of feed. They prefer grass and bugs.

 

[MROO]

Which are the breeds that can thrive best when the feed is just cheap corn and pasture?

Check out this article. It has some good input on breeds that do well on forage.
www.hobbyfarms.com/6-foraging-chicken-breeds-for-the-thrifty-farmer-3/

 

[MROO]

They prefer grass and bugs.

Depending on where you are, remember that there may not be as many free-range foods available in winter. They'll need a complete feed, then.

 

[AudieWarren]

Depending on where you are, remember that there may not be as many free-range foods available in winter. They'll need a complete feed, then.

Oh yeah. I can only speak from my experiences and location. I live in south Georgia....where bugs come but don't want to leave. Lol where hurricanes don't phase us, but one inch of snow and everyone freaks out.