Dino Chickens: Survival Chicken Free Range Breeding Project Update October 2021 

Thanks Joe! Although the appearance of the chickens really doesn't matter so long as the birds are good survivors, I do want to create a line of chickens that looks like dinosaurs simply for the coolness factor of it. I think the line that is half-Liege fighter, half-aseel, has the potential to come out that way. I think that gold-hackled stag I show in this video is going to look very Dino like when his tail fills out. His tail ought to get very long and flowing and it should give the impression that he has a long tail like a Dino.

Who is DTG?

@@spaceninjasteve3356 David the Good

@@AM-dc5yz ooh thank you I'll check him out

Those breeds of today are not the same birds as they were then even as the same breeds. Those breeds of that era came off of free range farms. In the decades since they’ve become products of mass production in the hatchery system where the survival instincts have been squeezed out of them. A dominique of 1920 is not the same bird as it is now in 2022. I’m moving chickens back to what they were in the Depression era. Its the hatchery system that has moved away from what our ancestors raised.

@@Florida_Bullfrog One can still get true breeds of those I mentioned from breeders and even, believe or not Cackle Hatchery, which sells exhibition chicks. I once raised Jersey Giants from Meyer's Hatchery and they were as large as Buzzards and laid extra large eggs(don't know if their strain is still true). They looked like a bag of bones at six months. They were really close to the originals.

That's awful 😢

@@chriskeim5699 ? It's almost squirrel hunting season, that's what his channel started on? What's wrong with that? It's as much food and resources as chickens.

I think you are on the right path. Check out my reply on your other comment. I believe crossing Liege to other breeds is a good choice. I am doing that myself. I also believe that outcrossing Liege to hot gamefowl for a couple of generations then back to Liege to make a bird that is high percentage Liege will take care of inbreeding problems inherent to the breed.

I have some American game bantam eggs available now but I am also eating them so I may have some today and not tomorrow.

@@Florida_Bullfrog I would really like to obtain some eggs from you if there is anyway possible

You are correct the bantams are inferior as a food source. I am breeding the bantam line for two reasons. First, I'm envisioning them for people who simply can't free range like I do because they have small suburban back yards and their chickens must remain cooped. The bantams need far less feed than a larger chicken kept in an area the same size and more of then can be healthily packed into a smaller area, making it practical to keep an entire flock in a small pre-fabricated coop. And yet these bantams retain the instincts and builds of my larger Crackers so in dire need they can be released to fend for themselves. So they could still function as survival poultry better than can say, coturnix quail, where the quail generally aren't good at taking care of themselves and can't reproduce themselves but the bantams can. Second, I am creating them for my own enjoyment. I think its so cool to hold a beautiful game rooster in my hand that's smaller than a pigeon.

@@Florida_Bullfrog cool. Yeah I lived in a city neighborhood in orlando, 50x135ft lot, and had 4 buff orpingtons that I free ranged during the day. I lost one as a small bird to a hawk when I walked away for like 20 seconds, I always watched them closely when small so they didn’t technically free range until 4-5 months of age. Once they were larger I let them free range during the day and never lost another bird. The bigger issue was that they would go in my neighbors yards but luckily they didn’t care and I would share eggs with them. Unfortunately one night I forgot to lock the coop and a raccoon killed the remaining 3. That’s where I really started thinking about having a 25-30lb LGD that would stay outside all the time and watch the chickens. Maybe I will have to start breeding a dog for this purpose. Do you currently know anyone who does? I now live on 1.5acres, still within the city of orlando, but now have additional predators such as coyotes and the occasional bear. I definitely think some free range high rooster chickens would do better here but I’d still be worried about raccoons getting them at night mostly. Either way, I’ll continue to watch your progress. Thanks for sharing.

@@jhost0311 I don’t know much about LGDs. I know that around Ocala Great Pyrenees and Anatolians are common due to the horse farms but those are large dogs. Growing up almost everyone in my family had free range dogs with various degrees of bulldog mixed in them. Those were all purpose mutts but none were dedicated LGDs. It probably wouldn’t be hard to find or breed a smaller bulldog to be an anti-varmint dog. That’s basically what my bulldogs have always been. They won’t tolerate any interloping mammal predators. It will take a special small dog to go after a hawk though. The only LGDs I’ve heard of that regularly attack birds of prey are the central Asian breeds where they’ve been bred to fend off golden eagles. I know a fellow around Lake County that has a few.

@@Florida_Bullfrog yeah most of the standard LGDs will learn to watch for hawks too. They are all just too big. Breeders are miniaturizing everything, hopefully they will miniaturize a Maremma shepherd soon. Lol

I have him breeding all of the free range birds. If you don’t mind a mixed breed that he has fathered, I’ll probably offer some eggs this summer.

my thoughts exactly

Which ones specifically? The half-Liege?

@@Florida_Bullfrog yep!

I sell the eggs sometimes on Ebay under the same handle.

Rarely do I sell the adults. I regularly sell hatching eggs.