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

[Farmlife16]

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.



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.



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.



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



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.



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!

Penedesencas also seem like a good breed and they are supposed to lay lovely chocolate eggs.

 

[All4Eggz]

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?

Birds that I have found "Semi-feral" while still providing eggs/meat, AND are cold and heat hardy include Barred Rocks and Wyandottes.
I don't think you 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. Rooster fighting could probably cause some issues, but I think that's the only way to encourage fighting abilities.
Hens usually run to hide at the sight of a predator, so you would have to rely on roosters or other guard animals to protect your flock.

Good luck

I'll tag a few people I think might be able to help.

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

 

[Iluveggers]

I was going to suggest brown leghorns would be a good choice. Better than white due to the camouflage.

 

[FolkSonginC]

Hamburgs are great for this purpose. I had a very nice hamburg hen named Goose who was an extremely talented flyer, and very small and light so she was built for it. Very active and aware of threats, at night she would fly up into the pine trees on her own (very high up from the ground) and then climb all the way to the top, and she was always safe from predators there. It was actually me locking her up at night that did her in when a raccoon found a way into the coop.

But she essentially lived just like you're describing, I had a coop and pen for her but she always found a way out of the pen and wandered about during the day, I hardly ever fed her except in the winter, and that's because I'm in Maine. She just wasn't interested, I would put the food out but she would just fly off and go about her business for the day foraging. And she layed a medium sized white egg nearly every day. I imagine hamburgs would be perfect for you. (not as relevant, but I think gold penciled is the nicest variety)

 

[sekeyslaks]

I honestly don't see a problem with roosting in trees, especially if they want a semi-feral bird. My light breeds have always alternated between coop and trees, and I always felt they were perfectly safe when they chose to roost in the trees. They go very high up. Never had any problems with cold either and that's with Maine winters.

Well we have a Lot of predators here,our chickens would never last longer than a week out at night! We're surrounded on all sides by coyote's if the snakes,raccoons,possums,skunks,and minks don't get them first.It's better safe than sorry in my opinion,it only takes one time for the whole flock to be decimated.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Naked Neck Turkens might be good. They can be very defensive although mine have always been loves they will stand up to a cat and I even found a large rat dead in the run one evening. I only had one turken at the time so can't say for sure it was her but my other birds were nowhere near as fiesty.

 

[Lizzy733]

Golden Campine is one I've stumbled across. They are quite small - at the bottom of the standard size scale, but lay around 200 medium size eggs per year, intelligent and known for their good predator evasion and are known for feed efficiency due to being good foragers.

They may not dress out to a large table bird, but their pheasanty look probably also lends to a more gamey flavour. They don't tend to go broody, but are quick to mature and sex. I have 4 in the brooder at the moment that are 2 weeks tomorrow. I noticed the comb sizing up in two of them last Monday. Their wings are already completely in, only one doesn't have a full tail and some have already started on their shoulders. I'm only just getting started with this breed, but so far they've lived up to their reputation.

They are quite a rare breed, so may be difficult to source though. Good luck in finding a good fit.

 

[Mrs. K]

Birds are only part of this equation. A lot is going to depend on your predators. Almost every place has predators, some worse than others.

For daytime predators - I have had fair luck with a good rooster. Not all roosters are good roosters, you want one that sees you first when you approach the flock, that keeps an eye on his girls. A rooster is really not much good until he is close to a year old, and some never get good.

If you get hit by predators- they will be back. Many people have been picked off faster than having a broody hen bring in chicks to counter the loss.

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.

Some people think brown camouflaged birds are best, but others have said, they look more like natural prey, and predators pick them off more so than the white birds. I have lost all colors to predators, with no color being better than the other.

 

[Moe123]

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?

Study the Icelandic breed. Get a guard dog too.

 

[NatJ]

Old English Pheasant Fowl​

if you could get hold of these little beauties in America i think you would be on for a winner. Hardiest little birds around.

It would depend on the climate they are supposed to be hardy in. Some parts of America (like Tennesse, where OP lives) have temperatures much higher than you would typically find in England. Some places have much lower temperatures too, and the Americas also have some predators that England lacks.

Sometimes a breed that is very hardy in one place will also do well in very different conditions somewhere else, but not always-- in this case, I don't know for sure.