Successful 100% forage diet experiment (long post)

[Artichoke Lover]

When I was letting my chickens free range this fall I found that they ate maybe a 1/4 of the food that they did while in the run. And I think they would have eaten less than that if I turned them out earlier in the day. Sadly I have a pack of wild dogs that have found my chickens and it it isn’t safe to let them free range all day anymore.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

Sadly I have a pack of wild dogs that have found my chickens and it it isn’t safe to let them free range all day anymore.

A .22 will fix your problem real quick

 

[glib]

In regard to the extreme orangeness of the yolks produced by the wild flock, my guess it is due to the content of the intestines of the insects the flock eats. Call them fermented vegetables, or poop, those veggies are much more digestible than the raw variety, plus carotenoids are fat soluble.

I have also observed chickens many times cleaning up under the rabbit cages, so they do have a taste for the stuff. Insects are just a much more complete meal, meat and veggies and the fats needed to absorb carotenoids in a single package.

 

[AccidentalFarm]

This is so cool! I loved reading this! Thank you for sharing this! If I could I may try this in the future, It was very interesting to me who much healthier and smarter they were! This is truly an amazing read full of lots of detail! Bookmarking as a shared bookmark now, great job with your birds!

Thanks! I hope that as time goes by we'll get more people trying it out and sharing what works and doesn't so that we can all learn from each other!

 

[ILChickenTV]

It wasn't the cold-hardiness I was commenting on really, but the ability to forage and find liquid water when winter comes. I wonder what your leghorn was able to find in your area during winter.

The cold mountain birds logic applies there too, don't you think? I do think they eat snow when they have to, even though they don't like it. She did get some cooked corn from our family (we had an abundance of camp leftovers, pans and pans of sweetcorn), and some of the other neighbor left out oatmeal or something, but we have no idea where she was at before she got to us.
In a closer to wild environment, I think they would still be alright. I still see plenty of cardinals and juncos here even when it's bellow freezing. It may be tougher, but I think at least some chickens are tougher than we give them credit for.

On a side note, I bet after a number of chicken generations down the line then AccidentalFarmer will have birds that are really well adapted to the biome, making them a great choice for new chickcen owners in their area, if they're willing to sell. I'd love to see more people do this in other environments for that reason.

 

[AccidentalFarm]

I'm way to busy, broke, and lazy to fuss over my flock.

I feel ya!

 

[Tre3hugger]

This is a really awesome post. What you're doing has somehow become a radical idea, but was probably the norm a certain number of years ago. Thanks for the detailed account. It got me and seemingly a lot of others at least thinking about a more natural approach. That's pretty cool.

 

[AccidentalFarm]

So the decision has been made to cull some of the roosters. Someone asked earlier in the thread how many I have. I thought 8, but it turns out that it's 9. I don't mind having roosters. They've never bothered me, but these guys...my goodness...they are loud. They insist on hanging out at the house pre-dawn and start crowing before 5 a.m. It's driving me nuts. They also crow all day long, but it doesn't really bother me after daylight. I've never had roosters that crow in the dark before.

So, this will be the first time I've culled birds. I'm not happy about it, but it is what it is. I plan to keep 2 or 3 roosters and see if the crowing lessens any.
I think it'll probably be done this weekend unless something comes up.

 

[ChickForLife]

SO they need to have a plethora of different kinds of plants or will anything in with "wild" do? I love this story and have always thought about doing it! I probably will do it because of your success story! Do you think it would be sustainable if I didn't have the electric poultry netting, just a coop in the woods?

 

[Tre3hugger]

So the decision has been made to cull some of the roosters. Someone asked earlier in the thread how many I have. I thought 8, but it turns out that it's 9. I don't mind having roosters. They've never bothered me, but these guys...my goodness...they are loud. They insist on hanging out at the house pre-dawn and start crowing before 5 a.m. It's driving me nuts. They also crow all day long, but it doesn't really bother me after daylight. I've never had roosters that crow in the dark before.

So, this will be the first time I've culled birds. I'm not happy about it, but it is what it is. I plan to keep 2 or 3 roosters and see if the crowing lessens any.
I think it'll probably be done this weekend unless something comes up.

Lots of really helpful posts in the meat bird section for effective culling and stuff. Got to do what's best for the flock. Crowing under the window before dawn...sounds like a one way ticket to freezer camp!