Self Sufficient Breeds

[SilverPhoenix]

One of the best breeds for free-foraging (albeit quite rare) is the Manx Rumpie. They're a rumpless Iranian breed, very good layers, and quite hardy. You might want to look into them! My two Manx Rumpie mixes are excellent layers and the man I got them from was telling me about how hardy they were bred to be. The only thing (other than the fact that they're hard to find) is that fertility is not good on them so they are difficult to breed. Anyway, just thought I'd bring them up. They're awesome birds and worth looking in to.

 

[RBOutdoors]

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I agree. right now I have some but they are all in tractors. This is why this plan needs to be more thought out.

 

[jndorsey]

Egyptian Fayoumis are good foragers, but they are not very social little birds. They are small and timid, and a hen (can't speak to the roosters) will scream like a banshee if she thinks you might be thinking of touching her in the next month or so. I have a *very* small flock (three birds - a Fayoumi, a RIR, and a large white bird, no idea her breed). I think I buy a bag of feed maybe every other month? Corn even less frequently than that - and we have squirrels stealing feed too! Depending on the number of birds you get, you'd not be buying 'sacks and sacks' of feed. But like everyone else, I'd question whether you really ought to be considering chickens if you don't want much involvement. They are social, curious, and fun to watch, so long as they're happy!

 

[RBOutdoors]

It is not that I don't want to be involved, I just want a heavy forager.

 

[Break an Egg]

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Gamefowl fit your criteria, but they are known for going broody so they are going yo hide nests and you aren't going to get any eggs since they will be free ranging.

 

[fancbrd4me02]

I have gamefowl in my yard. They hide thier eggs really well. The first sign there is of a nest where I might find eggs is when a hen appears with chicks. My tamed games lay sometimes, but not reliably like my more conventional hens. Games are great broodies, but not that big a bird, if you are looking for a table bird. They still get eaten by predators sooner or later, even though they fly and have great survival skills. So, even if you want to free range during the day, I strongly suggest a sturdy henhouse/bedtime pen. That will cut down on some of the predation loss.

 

[lavacaw]

I am also in central Texas...grew up here. My grandmother had "barnyard chickens" that were given corn in the evenings to get them into the coop so they could be closed for the night. Otherwise they free ranged...all day, every day. Coons are not usually a problem in the daytime. Hawks and eagles are. I have never seen coyotes bothering my chickens but bobcats are a problem if there is one in the area. Food scraps went to the hogs- not the chickens. Leftover bread, meat and gravy went to the dogs. Seems like there was always one broody on a nest, but only one at a time. This kept a supply of chickens for Sunday dinners a couple of times a month. I think we forget that the founding fathers didn't have TSC and Purina and they always had eggs and chickens.

 

[Rafter 7 Paint Horses]

What will be their feed source?
We have free ranged a lot of chickens over the years, and we didn't supplement them with feed (for them). They cleaned up all the grain the horses, sheep, goats, cows and pigs spilled on the ground. They also scratched through the manure to get the undigested grains from these animals. They foraged for bugs and stuff, too.
Now the quantity of my chickens far exceeds the amount of wasted feed from the other animals, so anything that free ranges still has to have chicken feed available to them.

As far as being housed with the pigs, they will be your main predator to worry about. I've had only one hog that didn't kill chickens. I just lost a 6 month old Barred Rock roo to one of the hogs the other day. He didn't even see it coming. The hog just calmly walked by him and grabbed him. He was gone in a instant! I was standing 2 feet away and it happened so fast I couldn't even stop it. This rooster had lived around the hogs, and free ranged for several months. I also lost a grown Black Australorp roo to them. (There are a lot more losses, but these I know of in the last 2 weeks.) I've seen them wipe out an entire clutch of game chicks in an instant, when the hen took them into the hog pen to scratch for spilled feed.
I can't stop my free rangers from going into the hog pen, so I expect losses to them. I wouldn't purposely keep them together.

I know a lot of people thought "in the old days" farmers didn't feed their chickens. They did...just the way I described above, every day of the year. When the weather was bad enough to lock them into the coops, they fed them grains. They had a lot of losses to predators too.

I hope I have helped you from my experiences. I'm not saying it can't be done, I just can't do it here.

Jean

 

[Chic Chick]

The fowl that you are looking for that needs no extra food from you, but can be butchered for meat is prairie chickens, partridges, pheasant and grouse, wild ducks and geese etc. I'm sure you can buy a hunting licence cheap and not worry about the cost of buying your chickens, and spending any money on feed for them.
Regardless of if you are raising "livestock" chickens for meat/ eggs or if they are your "pets" they still need to be fed and cared for! Meat birds will be more tender and plumper faster if they don't have to scavenge for their food.

Unpenned chickens can and do wander onto roads and get killed there too. You might also have laws about livestock being loose especially if they get on a road and cause accidents.... are you prepared for lawsuits? As the animal owner you would be liable!
It's not just the wild predators that will kill them, but it could be your own pet dog, cat, pig, goat, or your neighbours animals that gets them. They drown in creeks and water barrels or stock tanks -
The best is to keep them in a predator proof pen with lots of fresh water and with food available all day long. Then you will have happy healthy chickens that will lay lots of eggs and you will find the eggs easily in the nests you provide for them.
*Just my opinion.....

 

[pdsavage]

I gave my nieces 3 game fowl 2 hens one roo,they did good free ranging even with an owl hanging out in the barn...Her only proublem was her own dog a lab mix...they had like 3 cluthches before her dog finally killed em all...
I would say if you can keep them out of the hog pen go for it and if you could get a LGD that would be even better one raised with chickens is what you want....
I have free ranged mine but I have 2 LGDs.