What breed do you have that is your best free ranger?

[TOP KNOT]

My Speckled Sussex are by far my best foragers! They go all day while my Barnevelders lay around in the shade! They blend in well with the landscape, are to big to get off the ground and so friendly & docile. I think they are beautiful!

Yes! I agree I have 4 hens and 2 roosters of the speckled sussex! They all look a bit different from each other.

 

[TOP KNOT]

With mine, the lighter breeds like Leghorns (all colors) Fayoumi, Sumatra, Hamburgs tend to range farther and spend more time looking for their own food, the Red Stars are probably the best of the brown egg layers I have. The heavier breeds like Wyandottes, NHR, Marans etc are more likely to wait for me to come with dinner. Interesting on the Speckled Sussex, I've had hatchery ones (still have two older ones now) and they tended to be pretty lazy birds, would not have put them on my list of good foragers. I have gotten some from a different hatchery and hatched some from shipped eggs this year, so will be interested to see if ones from different sources act differently. Also hatched out some SFH, do agree they look like they are going to be good foragers, they tend to be brave chicks and are doing a lot of wandering when let out.

With those light breeds, do they cross the fence? I can't have them going to the neighbors. There is a 6' stockade fence between us and they have dogs, I would have for them to get over there and not be able to get back. I like the hamburgs...so pretty. I know they will like lots of room to roam!

 

[TOP KNOT]

X 3 on the Leghorns, I have 5 white ones they range the farthest of all the rest of the flock.. RIR, RSL, BR, SFAV, EE, Cochin. Not to mention getting basically 5 egg 6 days of the week from them.

You have salmon faverolle? How do you like them? Do they fit in the flock well? OH and how do they lay??

 

[TOP KNOT]

I let out my flock to forage as often as possible (have almost 3 acres of nothing but pasture with patches of bushes) and they all seem to forage well. I've got Dominique, Welsummer, Russian Orloff, Lakenvelder, Dark Cornish and Egyptian Fayoumi.
The Fayoumi, Lakenvelder and Welsummers can subsidize their entire diet (i.e. they're not a financial burden) on foraging though, unlike the rest - who I do need to throw a bit of food to every evening. The Dark Cornish are fairly good foragers too but they just love to eat so much that they will still beg for hand outs on a regular basis.

I like the welsummer! I have some dominiques,and I have heard that lakenvelder are unfriendly is that true?

 

[Tara80]

Quote:
From my experience, my fayoumis DO go over to the neighbor's yards and roam quite a ways away; but on the other hand they are so quick and observant that they never get caught by predators (or, at least mine do not). If something spooks them, they come back home in a flash (and they can fly short distances pretty easily). The Lakenvelders can be flighty, the one girl I have now is very flighty. She runs around my feet begging for food but that's as far as her interaction with me goes. Once she gets treats, then she's gone to forage and she's probably the only one that doesn't come when I call them. But my mom's lakenvelder was one of her most friendly and personable chickens (she lost it recently to a predator).

 

[Kelsie2290]

With those light breeds, do they cross the fence? I can't have them going to the neighbors. There is a 6' stockade fence between us and they have dogs, I would have for them to get over there and not be able to get back. I like the hamburgs...so pretty. I know they will like lots of room to roam!

. Occasionally a chicken will fly over, but we have a lot of room for them to roam inside the fence, and we do have a couple of strands of electric on the fence, most do seem to respect the electric, I think they get hit once or twice by the low wire when young and just avoid touching the whole fence. (It is mostly chain link or 2x4 non-climb). It seems to work on the same general principal as the electric poultry netting which most birds don't seem to want to fly over once they get hit either, and it is a lot lower. The Hamburgs are nice, they are actually not as flighty or spooky as I thought they would be from what is written about them (have had some from McMurray and Sand Hill, different colors), I actually don't remember one of them going over the fence. They are pretty good layers, but the eggs are on the small/medium side if you are looking for sale eggs.

 

[TOP KNOT]

Quote: My dominique girls are that way! They will sit right next to me and preen their feathers..but don't touch me!! I have 2 partridge rocks, one of them is so nice and friendly...the other one is a nasty bully!! Each individual is so different!

 

[TOP KNOT]

If you want chickens that are great layers and are also great at free-ranging, then you want Leghorns. A good White Leghorn will lay about 300 egg a year, while eating less food than most other breeds. They also lay large eggs.

I like the Brown Leghorn because its coloring allows it to hide better from predators. The Brown Leghorn won't lay as well as the White Leghorn, but nearly as well. Leghorns can also fly into trees to get away from ground predators.

Leghorns lay white eggs, and for some crazy reason some people think white eggs can't come from free-range chickens. So that could be a problem if you plan to sell eggs.

Is this a leghorn in your avatar? He is beautiful! I have considered a leghorn roo. I am concerned about frostbite in the winter.

 

[Bullitt]

Is this a leghorn in your avatar? He is beautiful! I have considered a leghorn roo. I am concerned about frostbite in the winter.

It is not my rooster. But, yes, it is a picture of a Single Comb Light Brown Leghorn. I think the rooster's body may look bigger in the picture.

How cold does it get in your part of Illinois?

 

[TOP KNOT]

It is not my rooster. But, yes, it is a picture of a Single Comb Light Brown Leghorn. I think the rooster's body may look bigger in the picture.

How cold does it get in your part of Illinois?

It can get down to 0 degrees, usually around 20.