Survival Gamefowl

[TypicalChicken]

I've been doing a lot of reading on Gamefowl on here and have fallen in love with them and I wanna do what a lot of other people are doing with gamefowl on here, that is that I want to free range them 24/7 let them sleep and trees and just let them do whatever they want. Now I know it's possible because people have done it and have had great success. It seems like that as long as I stay on top of traping and killing predators like racoons they should be fine. And after reading a whole lot over on the American Gamefowl thread I believe this is very possible

@roosterhavoc have any advice?

 

[Mrs. K]

I think it depends on your climate, ecosystem and luck. Predators can be tough.

 

[roosterhavoc]

I've been doing a lot of reading on Gamefowl on here and have fallen in love with them and I wanna do what a lot of other people are doing with gamefowl on here, that is that I want to free range them 24/7 let them sleep and trees and just let them do whatever they want. Now I know it's possible because people have done it and have had great success. It seems like that as long as I stay on top of traping and killing predators like racoons they should be fine. And after reading a whole lot over on the American Gamefowl thread I believe this is very possible

@roosterhavoc have any advice?

A lot depends on the area you live in like Mrs K said. Allowing *real* gamefowl (be careful what you believe with others allowing their birds to totally free range) will result in a lot of frustration once birds mature. This really depends on how much land they’ll be on though. If it’s a few acres you’ll have issues with multiple males. If the space is much bigger then it can work. If you only plan on having 1 rooster it’ll be totally fine until a year or so later when you invariably will end up with young males from the game hens hatching their own eggs. You’ll end up with problems from the males challenging each other. Predators are a different story altogether. Again with no information where you live and what kind of animals you have it’s hard to say. As I’m sure you have read raccoons, possums, fox, coyotes, mink, weasels, bobcats, skunks, hawks and owls can all be a problem. Fox and owls being the biggest issues with birds for me actually sleeping in the trees at night. Hawks are the biggest problem with younger birds during the day.
Many times it can take a few years before you lose a single bird but once the predators find them it never ends. While gamefowl are more hardy and predator aware make no mistake you’ll lose every single one in short order if you aren’t on top of trapping the predators and paying close attention at all times.
Raccoons, skunks and possums aren’t difficult to catch. Canines can be easy or can be hard which kinda depends on the individual animal. I don’t have bobcats where I live but I do have great horned owls as I’m sure most do and they can be an absolute nightmare believe me. So….if you’re willing to lose a few here and there and get woken up in the middle of the night from birds squawking as they’re getting attacked by take your pick of predators then give it a shot. If not build some pens, set up an electric fence and keep them contained once mature (roughly 6 months old).
With all that being said birds allowed to totally free range or even just free range til maturity they will generally be far healthier the pen kept birds.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hi, welcome to the forum! Glad you joined!

I have no idea what country you are in, what predators you might have, or what climate you are dealing with. All of these could be important.

I grew up on a farm in the hills and ridges of East Tennessee. Dad had a flock that free ranged and fed itself year around, though on days with snow on the ground we'd toss some shelled corn (maize) on the ground for them. Most slept in a henhouse that was locked at night but a few slept in trees.

They were basically game chickens. I would not be surprised if they were descendants (in part) from the chickens the pioneers brought to the area in the 1700's, but Dad brought in some other dual purpose chickens to improve the stock. I remember New Hampshire and Dominique but these quickly interbred with the games. And they were raised with the games from 3 weeks of age. Just left to free range.

Every year broody hens would hatch and raise chicks with the flock. A snake might get a chick occasionally but it was really rare. Most hens raised every chick they hatched.

We were in the country, pastureland and woodlands all around. From the time I can remember until I grew up and left, we had two predator attacks. One time a dog was killing the chickens. Dad was at work but Mom's brother was visiting. My uncle shot the dog. He was raised in the country also. In the other attack a fox was ambushing a chicken every morning shortly after sunrise. I saw him one morning when I was going down to feed and water the hogs when Dad was milking the cow. Dad ambushed him the nest morning. Both of these were during the daytime.

Those were the only two major predator attacks I remember from growing up with free ranging chickens where some slept in trees. It is possible we lost a random chicken to a hawk, owl, fox, dog, raccoon, or something else but I don't remember it happening.

There are a lot of comments on this forum about free ranging chickens, many of them from people that have no experience themselves. You may go years in between predator attacks. You may be wiped out about as soon as you try it. You just don't get guarantees when you deal with animals and their behaviors.

Good luck!

 

[TypicalChicken]

Thanks so much for the info everyone