Successful 100% forage diet experiment (long post)

[cooingdove]

wow awesome, I literally love that post!! I did this the summer before last for 3 months. after which the bugs got scarce and it got cold and I resumed feeding and watering. they literally LOVED IT!!! I wish I could try again this summer but my dad insist that I keep 'em behind electro-net or else the chickens eat all the tomatoes and corn out of the garden.

 

[ChickForLife]

wow awesome, I literally love that post!! I did this the summer before last for 3 months. after which the bugs got scarce and it got cold and I resumed feeding and watering. they literally LOVED IT!!! I wish I could try again this summer but my dad insist that I keep 'em behind electro-net or else the chickens eat all the tomatoes and corn out of the garden.

Thank you! So you feed them in the winter an in the summer don't? That is a good idea. I am sorry you can't do it again. Can you put a fence around the garden?

 

[AccidentalFarm]

Alright, do you think they would be fine in any ecosystem? I don't know if I would be able to put the brooder outside at a young age age due to our cold climate. I may have to do it a little different like put sod in the brooder, even when they are inside, on the bottom as their bedding.
If I am interpreting what you are saying correctly, then I don't need an electric fence. My property is small so I may have to put a fence of some sort of barrier to contain them.

I'm sorry, I can't really say how they would do in other ecosystems. I think, as many have mentioned, that longer/harsher winters probably make this more difficult, if even possible at all.
I did put the chicks outside earlier than is recommended, but it was already summer and really hot out. I would not have put them outside as un-feathered chicks during the winter.

I would suggest that if you want to try this, wait until the weather is more moderate and make sure that there will be plenty of food sources available. Gradually wean them to more forage and less feed. Pay close attention to them and check for any signs that they are having difficulty and if so, be prepared to make adjustments to their routine right away.

 

[cooingdove]

Thank you! So you feed them in the winter an in the summer don't? That is a good idea. I am sorry you can't do it again. Can you put a fence around the garden?

I wish! now we feed them year round, but less in the summer. also are gardens are in little paches throughout the acrerage so it would be difficult and expensive.

one of the places the chickens can graze, see while the grass is good they won't bother the garden.
EDIT: sorry did I kinda hijack the thread?

 

[Newyorkrita]

I wish! now we feed them year round, but less in the summer. also are gardens are in little paches throughout the acrerage so it would be difficult and expensive.View attachment 2478428
one of the places the chickens can graze, see while the grass is good they won't bother the garden.
EDIT: sorry did I kinda hijack the thread?

It's beautiful there.

 

[ChickForLife]

I wish! now we feed them year round, but less in the summer. also are gardens are in little paches throughout the acrerage so it would be difficult and expensive.View attachment 2478428
one of the places the chickens can graze, see while the grass is good they won't bother the garden.
EDIT: sorry did I kinda hijack the thread?

Amazing!

 

[WindyRoost]

View attachment 2472681View attachment 2472682
Of other interest, those are lovely birds!

 

[ChickForLife]

View attachment 2472681View attachment 2472682
Of other interest, those are lovely birds!

Yes they are!

 

[Stephanie8806]

I think this is interesting! I’ve always thought that our chickens could be adapted to live without commercial feed if need be(economic collapse or an apocalypse ) and it’s cool to see it working for someone.

I know that in the warmer months, my chickens barely eat their feed, but we have zero ground water around us so I’d still have to supply that. We’re in zone 5b, so it gets pretty cold, but in summer we still have a few weeks of triple digit temps out here. They even do a great job in the winter with foraging.... except the last few days, we got a big snow dump... but generally even in moderate snow, the area around the bases of large pine trees or in the smaller denser pines has a lot of duff that they can scratch in. Food plots are a good idea(we sow grass seed in some of their more open free ranging area right before a snowfall), but it’s simply not accessible under 2+ feet of snow. And regardless what people say about snow not being an adequate source of hydration, my chickens opt to ignore any water source I provide to eat snow. And they get on just fine.

Our girls have a coop and run. Their coop is well built, but uninsulated and “off grid” so no light or heat. Their run is around 400sqft, and is opened up nearly every day for free ranging. The only exceptions are in these snowiest days of winter where they have little to no interest in flopping around in snow that’s two feet deep. It’s important to us to keept these birds protected and capitalize on their homing instinct because we rely on their eggs. We have 20 dense mountainous acres in north central Washington State, and I don’t much fancy an egg hunt every day.

I agree that chickens that are raised to be more “wild” have better protective instincts, but I don’t think it’s as simple as that. I have commercial birds, a mix of breeds, and we lost 3 this year... one during the summer, and two in one day this winter to a hawk. During free ranging, my girls do great and keep themselves pretty darn safe... but even instincts aren’t an assurance because nature just does it’s thing. Some predators will pattern an area, but most are vagrants... seizing an opportunity if it presents itself. Our hawk attacks happened during the peak of migration, and we live in a major migratory path. There were also some weather circumstances that made it a perfect storm of criteria for an attack but I don’t need to get into it. But apart from that, we have owls, snakes, skunks, weasels, cougars, bears, bobcats, and an occasional deep winter coyote and have only lost the one. I think a lot of predation comes down to luck, frankly.

Another factor to consider is that adding a non native “wild” animal to your environment will likely push out some native breeds. We have turkeys, grouse, quail and chukar out here, and having 100% wild raised chickens could diminish or evict some of those natural birds. It’s all very case dependent, but we are hunters and like having those species around

I’m super happy this works for you, and I’m glad to see that you’re trying something new! Animals are incredibly resilient if we let them be.

 

[AccidentalFarm]

View attachment 2472681View attachment 2472682
Of other interest, those are lovely birds!

Thank you