What's the best breed to let run semi-feral?

[chickfused]

I'm in Tennessee. Summers are brutal, winters get pretty chilly. I'm looking for a flock to pretty much sustain itself on my land, no fences, but a coop to go into at night and food water supplemented for free ranging. Basically just a step above feral. Looking for meat and eggs and baby chick raising. Any suggestions for breeds to look at?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I'm in Tennessee. Summers are brutal, winters get pretty chilly. I'm looking for a flock to pretty much sustain itself on my land, no fences, but a coop to go into at night and food water supplemented for free ranging. Basically just a step above feral. Looking for meat and eggs and baby chick raising. Any suggestions for breeds to look at?

Yes. Lower your expectations. Now lower them some more. Disappointed yet? Lower them even further.

Modern birds have been bred to be larger, lay more frequently, and often grow faster than their counterparts of even a hundred years ago. The consequences of all that breeding is that they are far more dependent upon us, and far more dependent upon a nutritionally complete modern feed/diet to perform.

Ancient breeds - jungle fowl - aren't particularly well suited to your climate, but free range extremely well (in their native conditions). They are also tough, not particularly meaty, lay only rarely, and not large eggs at that. Oh yeah, and free ranging means that they are likely to lay eggs all kinds of places you won't find them.

I'm in Fl, USDA Growing zone 8a - while occasionally hotter, I have a longer growing season than you do, a milder winter, and average 1" of rain+ weekly. I'm also on flatter ground than you likely enjoy in NC. You can see my efforts to create a free ranging birds suitable for local conditions, here. and you can see (incomplete) my efforts to bend my feed curve with a biodiverse polyculture, here. Tl;dr - a year of non-stop breeding and frequent culling has provided a couple misses which qualify as forward progress, and one hopefull. I should be pretty close to "there" in four to six years, at the current rate. ...and free ranging saves me 15-35% (seasonally dependant) on my feed costs, but also means that, at any given weight, my birds are more flavorful, have more chew, and took longer to arrive at weight than a similar bird raised in more conventional (coop and run, free feeding) conditions.

I have SLW. They are predator aware, a bit flighty, better free rangers than some of my others. I like them - smart birds. They also take 7 months to maturity, lay eggs maybe three days out of five, and the eggs are medium, sometimes medium-large, almost never large. Bigger than my purpose-built Comets (an RSL-type), the hens still only weigh 4.5-5# and took half a year to get there. SLW, BTW, were bred roughly 100+ years ago as an improvement upon the dual purpose breed, Brahma - which are (eventually) big birds, buit does it ever take forever for them to get there - and they lay no better than SLW, either.

People are breeding "Ranger" lines for improved meat on carcass, decent free ranging ability, and faster growth - but the very impressive numbers coming out of the best of those lines are still coming from very traditional management practices - not turning them loose, offering some feed, and engaging in magic ritual with hopes of success. "Fingers Crossed" is rarely a successful strategy, and never reliable, year over year. Neither is "hope and prayer", "a wing and a prayer", "blood for the blood god", or any other similar practice.

Modern birds were bred on the altar of technology. If you want them to perform at anything like their potential, you need to continue to sacrifice upon the altar of technology. If, instead, you wish to return to ancient roots, and ancient levels of performance - start a culling project, and prepare yourself for Bene Gesserit levels of patience in the creation of your Kwisatz Haderach.

 

[Chookwagn]

Birds that I have found "Semi-feral" while still providing eggs/meat include Barred Rocks and Wyandottes. I don't think you would can get a specific breed that "pretty much sustain itself" on any land. Predators come, and some predators are no match for chickens, even if they are semi-feral. Some breeds are known to be aggressive, but I've found them to be sweet, and vice versa. The only way I could think to ENCOURAGE aggressiveness, would be not to handle them as chicks, then introduce lots of roosters when they grow up so they learn to fight each other and could therefore fight off predators better.

@TheOddOneOut
@Mrs. K
@Chookwagn
@U_Stormcrow
@aart

Barred rocks and wyandottes are too big and slow....

You would want to have some sort of game chicken....

Semi feral chickens aren't going to lay eggs where you want them to.... unless you want to go egg hunting each day.

 

[Chookwagn]

I dont think you are going to get something that fits all your requirements..... you will probably be able to get 2 out of 3 or 2 from 4 of your wishes..... choose the top 2 attributes and then decide on a breed.....

You will probably find that mutts will be your best option...... get 4 or 5 different breeds and let them loose ..... you will soon find out which are better suited to your environment

 

[raingarden]

Everything done in the chicken domestication process has been detrimental to the bird's ability to survive in the wild. Pure red jungle fowl probably do not exist any more because they have inbred with domestic chickens., But the closer you can get to RJF the more likely they are to survive on their own.. There are people selling what they call RJF. I think it is a little bit disingenuous but that is close as you can get.

A bird raised in a coop in the traditional way is unlikely to survive if released into the wild. The bird needs to have been raised by a ferel hen to begin with. The offspring of a broody hen who is very adept at free ranging in your local conditions may be the best place to start. Turn them loose with minimal supplemental feeding. Use just enough feed to bribe them to stay in the vacinity and let nature take it's course.

Mortality of young-of-the-year is going to be every high, just as it is in a wild population.. Something like 90 to 95% mortality should probably be expected.. If you can end up with one good pair after the first few tries then you may be on your way to success.

I think you should just forget about harvesting eggs or meat for five or ten years. Initially, any bird that can survive in the wild long enough to reproduce is too valuable to eat.

 

[All4Eggz]

I would recommend getting flightier breeds, such as leghorns. Google also mentions Anconas, Fayoumis, and Araucanas. Birds that are prone to flying can escape much better from predators. Though it is not guaranteed that all the birds from those breeds will be flighty, there is more of a chance that they will be compared to other breeds. I would also look for breeds that are good foragers.

Great ideas.
I completely forgot about leghorns!
They are PROLIFIC egg layers, the males can carry a bit of meat, they are excellent foragers, they are very flighty (can fly away from danger), and very slim, quick birds. They are not "semi-feral" or even close to feral for that matter, but would probably have a high chance of survival during a predator encounter, since they are fast and fly extraordinarily well. My leghorns can fly over a 10 foot fence no problem, and even flew onto a shed (15 + feet)!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Yes. Lower your expectations. Now lower them some more. Disappointed yet? Lower them even further.

Modern birds have been bred to be larger, lay more frequently, and often grow faster than their counterparts of even a hundred years ago. The consequences of all that breeding is that they are far more dependent upon us, and far more dependent upon a nutritionally complete modern feed/diet to perform.

Ancient breeds - jungle fowl - aren't particularly well suited to your climate, but free range extremely well (in their native conditions). They are also tough, not particularly meaty, lay only rarely, and not large eggs at that. Oh yeah, and free ranging means that they are likely to lay eggs all kinds of places you won't find them.

I'm in Fl, USDA Growing zone 8a - while occasionally hotter, I have a longer growing season than you do, a milder winter, and average 1" of rain+ weekly. I'm also on flatter ground than you likely enjoy in NC. You can see my efforts to create a free ranging birds suitable for local conditions, here. and you can see (incomplete) my efforts to bend my feed curve with a biodiverse polyculture, here. Tl;dr - a year of non-stop breeding and frequent culling has provided a couple misses which qualify as forward progress, and one hopefull. I should be pretty close to "there" in four to six years, at the current rate. ...and free ranging saves me 15-35% (seasonally dependant) on my feed costs, but also means that, at any given weight, my birds are more flavorful, have more chew, and took longer to arrive at weight than a similar bird raised in more conventional (coop and run, free feeding) conditions.

I have SLW. They are predator aware, a bit flighty, better free rangers than some of my others. I like them - smart birds. They also take 7 months to maturity, lay eggs maybe three days out of five, and the eggs are medium, sometimes medium-large, almost never large. Bigger than my purpose-built Comets (an RSL-type), the hens still only weigh 4.5-5# and took half a year to get there. SLW, BTW, were bred roughly 100+ years ago as an improvement upon the dual purpose breed, Brahma - which are (eventually) big birds, buit does it ever take forever for them to get there - and they lay no better than SLW, either.

People are breeding "Ranger" lines for improved meat on carcass, decent free ranging ability, and faster growth - but the very impressive numbers coming out of the best of those lines are still coming from very traditional management practices - not turning them loose, offering some feed, and engaging in magic ritual with hopes of success. "Fingers Crossed" is rarely a successful strategy, and never reliable, year over year. Neither is "hope and prayer", "a wing and a prayer", "blood for the blood god", or any other similar practice.

Modern birds were bred on the altar of technology. If you want them to perform at anything like their potential, you need to continue to sacrifice upon the altar of technology. If, instead, you wish to return to ancient roots, and ancient levels of performance - start a culling project, and prepare yourself for Bene Gesserit levels of patience in the creation of your Kwisatz Haderach.

Extra points for the very appropriate and descriptive Dune reference.

 

[chickfused]

You will probably find that mutts will be your best option...... get 4 or 5 different breeds and let them loose ..... you will soon find out which are better suited to your environment

This is pretty much what I was thinking of doing, and letting nature do the culling for me. I've got a flock of 2 roos and 8 pullets right now that are pretty much in this realm. I bought a whole bunch of different birds and have some observations which could be helpful:

My "Ranger" chicken was the first to get eaten by a predator (dog). She was absolutely huge, and unfortunately, very slow. Don't be the slowest chicken y'all. She was also very docile, and laid every day from the time she was 21 weeks old. She was also shaping up to be a great mom, and foraged like a queen. She was not at all heat tolerant, and I didn't expect her natural lifespan to be more than 2-3 years. She would have stroked out or died of a heart attack. She'd pant at 72 degrees. I will buy more of these to raise for meat, but not as a flock foundation.

The dog attacks have resulted in several of my other breeds showing some predator savvy behavior. My Ancona made a beeline for the coop and went right in the dogproof door. My Crevecouer roo was in a tree (which, good for him, but he failed at his actual job), my Blue Andalusian was also in a tree. Everyone else scattered which meant the dog could only chase one at a time, which is also fairly savvy behavior in it's own way.

I would imagine their main priority would be "semi-feral" breeds, as they will not have boundaries to protect the chickens from predators.

This. I just don't have the ability to pen them and the land is bountiful chicken habitat. They have a coop to go in, and there's water and food in it for winter and night time predator protection. They always go in to sleep, but otherwise just roam around.

I would recommend getting flightier breeds, such as leghorns. Google also mentions Anconas, Fayoumis, and Araucanas. Birds that are prone to flying can escape much better from predators. Though it is not guaranteed that all the birds from those breeds will be flighty, there is more of a chance that they will be compared to other breeds. I would also look for breeds that are good foragers.

Leghorns are really starting to sound like they might be the way to go. I was talking to a local friend and she mentioned them too.

You can see my efforts to create a free ranging birds suitable for local conditions, here. and you can see (incomplete) my efforts to bend my feed curve with a biodiverse polyculture, here. Tl;dr - a year of non-stop breeding and frequent culling has provided a couple misses which qualify as forward progress, and one hopefull. I should be pretty close to "there" in four to six years, at the current rate. ...and free ranging saves me 15-35% (seasonally dependant) on my feed costs, but also means that, at any given weight, my birds are more flavorful, have more chew, and took longer to arrive at weight than a similar bird raised in more conventional (coop and run, free feeding) conditions.

Absolutely fantastic project and info. Thanks for sharing! I may join you in this effort.

Darker colored birds won’t just be hard for predators to see but you too!Imagine trying to find a Black chicken at night,roosting in a tree.I speak from personal experience!!

Hah! I've definitely had to find my black roo a time or two when he missed the automatic night time coop door closing. In the rain. In the pitch black.

If you do get it balanced right, your egg production will probably be a bit less, but if you have enough birds, it may not be an issue.

Honestly, I think I need about 2-3 times as many chickens as I have and just let nature take it's course. My coop isn't big enough to sleep that many though. I could probably fit about 4-6 more in there with enough room for them to sleep. It's 6 x 12.

Thanks everyone! Lots of stuff to think about!

 

[Farmlife16]

I'm in Tennessee. Summers are brutal, winters get pretty chilly. I'm looking for a flock to pretty much sustain itself on my land, no fences, but a coop to go into at night and food water supplemented for free ranging. Basically just a step above feral. Looking for meat and eggs and baby chick raising. Any suggestions for breeds to look at?

I would recommend getting flightier breeds, such as leghorns. Google also mentions Anconas, Fayoumis, and Araucanas. Birds that are prone to flying can escape much better from predators. Though it is not guaranteed that all the birds from those breeds will be flighty, there is more of a chance that they will be compared to other breeds. I would also look for breeds that are good foragers.

 

[Farmlife16]

Great ideas.
I completely forgot about leghorns!
They are PROLIFIC egg layers, the males can carry a bit of meat, they are excellent foragers, they are very flighty (can fly away from danger), and very slim, quick birds. They are not "semi-feral" or even close to feral for that matter, but would probably have a high chance of survival during a predator encounter, since they are fast and fly extraordinarily well. My leghorns can fly over a 10 foot fence no problem, and even flew onto a shed (15 + feet)!

Yes, a friend of mine who has chickens recommended them to me as good free ranging birds. Especially brown leghorns, since there darker color makes them less visible to predators. I would like to get some in near future.