You're right. Look at what we even use as a synonym for being weak or scared: chicken. I've seen wild fowl living in large wooded parks that were very brave and tough. They would chase off little kids, fight the big muscovy ducks and even stand up to dogs.
I have a pet chick and am planning to shift it to my 15 by 25ft terrace but it was 4ft tall wall,so it can fly out if desired,so should I clip it's feathers and let it roam around the rooftop as his home??
@@Yeshuaschosen yes ... but thats the kinda heart tou want your wild birds to have..... those birds won't be hanging around people too close anyway...
One of my neighbors gave me 5 game hens and one rooster. I have noticed that they fly and run fast. Thus far they have avoided predators, whereas the Rhode island reds just waddle and die. I will be crossing these game chickens with Rhode island red bantams with jungle fowl in the future to create my own line. You are right Mr. Florida Bullfrog. For homesteads it makes sense to incorporate game lineage into specialized breeds.
I've got some wild breed chickens, free range and someone gave me 6 layers, and they are totally different, and veery tame. so far they are locked up as they won't make it free just yet. I'm curious as to how to integrate them and will see how it goes. crossing out is my plan, but I'll see how it goes. I'm very fond of these girls so don't want to have them eaten just yet and we have tons of hungry hawks and eagles
We are currently free ranging for the first time, they came from a lady that has been free ranging for many years. They are mixed birds and im excited to see how this experiment turns out. Love your video
This was dead on. Couldn’t have been more accurate. I have asked/considered all these questions and what you are saying. The true problem is that there are too many pansy’s in this world now but as I was saying.. the correct way to farm animal is to do the minimalist work possible. That’s a homesteader that’s surviving.. because one day there will be no more feed store and billybobby down the way that bought him self 50 acres and has 30 chickens in a 10x10, his chicken will dwindle away like an old fire because they are unhealthy and lazy chickens that rely on an unrealistic diet... great job, God bless🇺🇸
I noticed you took the apostrophe off of "yours" and I didn't think you'd catch it. A man in rural Florida has better grammar than most of my 22 year old friends. I respect it.
Also, leave a RADIO on by their coop if youre not home..Predators will think Twice about getting too close to your chicken house if they hear Humans. It works.😉👍
I'm a backyard Florida chicken owner. My 4 chickens free range in my suburban lot and they are pretty much self sufficient. Have never medicated them, given them apple cider vinegar, done anything else....and they are very vigorous! You are sooo right!
I have a pet chick and am planning to shift it to my 15 by 25ft terrace but it was 4ft tall wall,so it can fly out if desired,so should I clip it's feathers and let it roam around the rooftop as his home??
@@dustinsonnier5602 sadly you have let it go ... if it lives it will be heartier... if you medicate it anymore than a natural means it just makes the flocks more resistant to antibiotics.... When the bird flu came through this year the breeders did the absolute worse thing they could do .... they killed off whole flocks .... that was very dumb ...
I have jungle chicken, im in Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria killed most of my wild chickens, my roosters look just like yours, right now I'm reproducing these birds, mongoose are not forgiving with the chicks, so I take the baby chicks and grow them big enough so they can defend themselves.
In the Philippines we have NATIVE chickens . They're everywhere and don't need to be cared for just let them free range . We get 25+ typhoons each year and they go through it just fine. They're the best tasting chickens in the world.
You're right. Even if the chicken is half game, there's a big difference in survivability, alertness, quickness, and resilience. I used to have an Easter Egger x American game rooster. He decided to free range himself so I let him. And I lived in the city at the time, so he was only in my backyard. I still had to feed him because the backyard is too small for foraging. But he decided to sleep in the tree. He's a great flyer, very quick and alert. He didn't miss any sign of danger. Even if you're in the middle of the city, if you have chickens, somehow hawks will find your yard. I even heard an owl on my tree at night. But he survived all that. Even when it rained over night all night and temperature dipped below zero, he was fine. I crossed him with a bantam Cochin, and even the generation with just a quarter game was very resilient. They too were great flyers, fast, and all slept on tree. Unfortunately I had to give the rooster away because neighbors complained about the crow. The oriental game that are tall are probably too aggressive to each other that if you have a lot of them, they might fight all day and many would fight to the death. Hens also fight. Chicks would start to fight each other even when they were still with their mothers. And they mature slowly. In Asia we have a lot of them. They are mostly free ranged, except for the cocks that are groomed for fighting, so they are very friendly with human but deadly to each other. Hens are not good layers. They lay very few eggs because they take a very long time to raise chicks compared to other breeds. But they are very good mothers and will defend their young more aggressively than any other breed. An oriental game hen (like Asil, Thai, etc..) will beat up a non-game rooster that is not large enough. So if you want to try them, try with a few first and follow your philosophy of letting the strongest survive. They are very hardy birds. However, because their feather doesn't look like it's made for cold weather, I don't know how well they'd do in colder regions of the US. In southeast Asia, where they're everywhere, it's always hot and humid. I guess in FLorida, there'd be no problem.
It was 26 F degrees here in north central FL. less than a week ago. And I'm not even in the pan handle ( colder ) part of the state. We just don't have lots and lots of cold weather like up north can get. But one morning it was 8 degrees F for about 2 hours one morning a couple years ago here about 17 miles west of Ocala, FL. where I live.
Dude. I was just telling my wife I hadn't heard from you in a while and here you are! Additionally answering a question I was asking myself recently. Thanks! Hope all is well.
Very correct! I think you might also be interested in artist Koen Vanmechelen's Cosmopolitan checking project. Who has been crossing all the national races of the world for quite some time. The current chicken was already 14 times more fertile and lives much longer than the average chicken.
If folks would just let them be and live in a large wooded area with water source...they will be fine. They love scratching for bugs and eating some plants. They will survive. All these folks that go overboard are yuppies. Chickens have been here longer than humans...hahaha.
I came here because I have a ton of wild chickens in my neighborhood and it’s suberb . And it started with one neighbor. And all the neighbors don’t mind . It’s like bird watching. Watching different birds than your common birds
Thanks to your advice to David the Good, we will be getting some to inbreed our spoiled ones! Previous owners left some game here but thought of them as only for fighting. 🙏🐓
You are absolutely correct! Your old Florida knowledge is spot on too! Several years ago I had a couple dozen Rhode Island Reds, Plymouth Rocks and 6 or 7 Cubalayas which I pretty much neglected because the other two breeds performed so well and produced so many eggs. Well, as you know Florida has become infested with coyotes (probably because wolves have been wiped out). All my chickens were eventually killed by coyotes except for a few of the cubalayas that roosted high in the trees. I wish I had crossed them earlier. I no longer have the farm, but someday I will return to what I love. Your advice has been the most valuable information on farming that I have ever seen on RU-vid! Thanks!
Fox hunters played a huge part in Florida's coyote infestation. When it became illegal to run foxes they started bringing in coyotes to run the dogs after.
@@lunarrn I don't know about that, perhaps, what I do know is that coyotes didn't exist east of the Mississippi prior to the 1900s. Whether they were deliberately introduced or somehow managed to expand their range naturally, I do not know. There existed a species of wolf in Florida known as the red wolf (which may still exist in certain pockets) as well as a wild dog kept (in a semi-wild state) by certain native American tribes known as the yellow dog or Carolina dog and of course the eastern grey wolf, which may never have been common in Florida because of lack of large prey animals. All three of these canines actively kill coyotes on sight, and that's why coyotes never extended their natural range much past the desert southwest. Now they are found in practically every state.
Also, red foxes are normally the species hunted in fox hunts. The common fox in Florida is the grey fox. Grey foxes will immediately tree themselves when chased by dogs because they are pretty good climbers. Treeing a fox isn't much of a sport.
@@UncasSiboney Florida is full of red foxes... They've been free from trapping and hunting for years thanks to state laws. One of which stopped hunters from intentionally chasing them with dogs.
@@lunarrn That may be the case up around the panhandle and the northern part of the state, I'm not familiar with that neck of the woods, but south of Lake Okeechobee the only fox I have ever seen is the grey which some people confuse with the red. I know the terrain up there is very different, down here with all the brush and bramble you can use dogs to flush hogs out, but I've never seen dogs used for anything else (legally) however, per FWC regulations you are allowed to use dogs on private lands except for Fox Squirrel, Key Deer and Panther, at least in southern Florida.
Glad I looked for “Florida Chickens.” Just getting started with some chicks I bought at the feed store. It’s practically the first time, although I did raise sone game chickens that were gifted to me when I was a teenager. I wouldn’t know how to find game chickens now! Thank you.
I like games, but the game crosses are still pretty aggressive, and were man fighters, and would chase my wife. Last year I got some phoenix hens from cackle haychery that would fly 100ish yards into the trees or roodtop when the neighbors dog chased them. The roosters would loose tail feathers to the dogs, but they got away everytime. I've also had some good success with egyptian fayoumis, and lakenvelder. Crosses with these breeds and commercial strains almost always layed eggs in the medium-large in range. Phoenix are broody if that's important to you, but lakenvelders are not broody, and make a great cross if you're looking for eggs and dont mind hatching chicks yourself.
Once I visited a ranch in Sandhills of South Dakota that that had hundreds of self sustaining game bantams living in the rafters of the outbuildings. Sounds like exactly what you’re describing, great video!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I just bought a home on 10 wooded acres and I want to begin producing my own food. I already noticed some wild foods growing there, so I want to learn how to cultivate and use these wild foods, and I want to have free-range chickens. This is so smart. Returning to the old ways.
I’m in upstate NY. Currently raising out some Icelandic chicks to incorporate into my laying hens genetics. Hopefully, the Icelandics will play a similar role to American game.
I won't lie when I first started watching this being my 1st time seeing any of your videos I thought you were just an abrasive know it all, boasting about your personal flock surpiorioity, but what I've learned and taught my kid is to always listen to what people have to say even if they can be potentially wrong. thank goodness I did this was very informative and boldly stated but yet I still felt you were sincere compassionate and stating facts makes sense we as humans want to control influence and "protect" natural things, because we force the notion of our style of love and survival needs on our animals, I know because I love my chickens and recently lost one of my road red hens to strays it hurt alot. but this basically is saying leave'em be and let nature do her thing. I respect that and will try to incorporate this into raising from now on.
Thank you! What I've found is that sometimes people don't perk their ears and listen to a new idea unless its stated in a way that rattles them. The biggest notion that I'm fighting is that its impossible for chickens to live free range in predator rich environments. Its such an ingrained notion in the internet backyard chicken keeping culture that people won't even begin to hear and opposing view unless its presented in a way that shocks them into listening. That's all I'm trying to do. I don't think I'm better than anyone else. I just want people to be open to alternative ideas on raising chickens. Especially ideas that were once known to chicken keepers and then lost.
I have a small chicken coop in the forest,Thats even not my property.Im a pirate chicken lover 😊 My birds are real organic like yours.hawk atacks,dog atacks and fox all others atack.But my birds can escape,even the small ones.I just give my birds a clean night shelter and some kitchen scratches.Thanks a lot for the video.
in north-africa, there is a name for those mixed hardy free-range and foraging chickens, they are called baladi (villager chickens) they are not bred or selected for meat or laying capacity, but just any chicken that is low maintenance and self-sufficient, good at foraging, eating insects and scorpions and isnt protected from cats or dogs, and isnt fed grains, they eat leftover food and kitchen waste and they are never treated for diseases
I have been considering this line of thinking for quite a while. I am very pleased to find this video to confirm my thoughts on the problem of over-domesticating chickens into dumb helpless birds, and the solution of re-introducing wild chicken genes back into our flocks
Mr Bullfrog is right as rain. I live at 7500' in Colorado and our chickens thrive with high grade feed but zero heat through winter lows of -10f for weeks, as long as they can get out of the wind they are fine. We have no containment, lots of coyotes, and only one loss, our city rooster immigrant who never shut up! Their next generation, via excellent incubator, have doubled our flock.
I had 2 road island red roosters on several of my Brown leghorn/yellow leg hatch/kelso cross hens. That was 13 years ago and they are several generations later. I do add more roosters that are the same cross to help keep the egg production up snd to keep a good size on them.
Yes it is, and a process of elimination. The survivors will rise to the top given enough time and they'll be your brood stock to increase your population.
What a great video. I have always been interested in real forager survival chickens. They would be a great way to control ticks, chiggers and other insect pests. Two thumbs way up!!!!
I’ve got free range American game chickens and got a flock of Rhode Island reds and a flock of barred rocks with a game rooster with them in a pen to see what I come out with
Watching David the Good's stream from last night now and I am following his orders! :) I have 30 chickens doing ok, but not free ranging them. I could except they make a real mess in my garden. Was having problems with them getting out of their yard (about 50x75, so lots of room) so went to electric netting, which is working. But would still prefer to free range. Now considering fencing the garden instead of the chicken yard. Anyway, looking forward to watching your vids and learning more about more feral birds. Grew up with those sorts in the Amazon, but we didn't keep them ourselves. I'm on 15 acres, about 5 are fields, rest scrubby pine with a few acres of wetlands (most of the year not so wet), so have plenty of room for birds to forage. Also looking forwards to your fishing vids. I don't have real water on my land so far, but there is a stream about a half mile down the road that I catch some panfish from now and them. Haven't talked that neighbor into letting me fish on his property yet (only allowed from the bridge), but will keep trying. He's worried (justifiably) about liability. Need to convince him to let me sign a release!
This is what i am talking about.. everyone is all about these feeds and that feeds but i remember in my childhood we took a can of crushed corn twice a day once in morning and once in evening slung it at the coup yard open the coup door chickens went free all day... About 1 hr before dark you took a can of crushed corn slung it around the coup yard about 3/4 of chickens would return to coup the other 1/4 would roost in the trees by the coup. We rarely ever lost a chicken... except for a few that got scooped up by a hawk but thats when we was sent out on weekends and shot any hawks that was flying around.. lost several biddies to snakes but the roosters and hens would attack the snakes.
Many thanks ! It’s reassuring to know other people trying to work With Nature, that make animals and plants evolve by adapting them to specific climates and environment, not just on personal preferences and financial gains. Look at what we had done to vegetable seeds also : thousands of varieties that were lost, and not for the best taste or resilience. I’m not a partisan of going back to complete wild species though, we need some reciprocity between “their” needs and ours; and many varieties in vegetables and animals would just not have survived or even exist without our interests, thanks to our helps sheeps have multiplied and “survived” better than wolves, but we’ve gone too far, and It’s time to correct that. Hope many other will join and do it, it’s a beautiful task. 👍🙌
In key west florida there are wild chickens, perhaps they are the last descendants of the birds that the Spaniards brought 500 years ago, since I see you are fond of the subject as I would be good if I gave you a little walk around key west to see those birds.
That I don’t know from experience. I do know that traditionally the biggest American games were raised all over the east, NE, and midwest, so I would think that the right bloodline would be cold adapted.
I'm from Quebec and up there, we do need to feed during the winter months, as the birds can't scratch through the snow/ice to get to the ground. It's possible to let them range for a long time, but once there's a few feet of snow, they have to be fed, o going around it. Chickens were jungle fowls, not Northern woods fowl. We have rustic breeds like the Chantecler and I personally raise Buckeyes (heavy, though and they don't need any heat even in the dead of Winter), which free range almost exclusively once the snow clears enough. Just need to adapt to your climate, but you can find breeds that do well in the North!
You're spot on ... I used to raise white leggers and Production Reds that exact way ... except mine all would sleep locked up in the henhouse at night. I had some mean ass white leghorn roosters that'd take on anything that'd come around their hens no matter how big it was ... ( the horses learned pretty quick) and Hawks and Falcons didn't have a chance if there was a pair if roosters around even my hens would jump in if one was attacking her chicks ... However, I'm not busting you chops here, but your granny's way of shooting them with a .22 wouldn't work too well if you wanted tender chicken without having to pressure cook them or slow cooking them into oblivion. Unless you've got an excellent memory and can spot all the young birds... mine isn't. I just got back into raising my own birds again. Last year I lost one hen to a falcon and these are fenced in a 2 acre area . I took a different approach this time and started feeding my crows to keep them around. They pretty much take on any hawk that comes around... This method has worked well so far . And I put out a cup of whole corn for them crows and a 10 dollar bag of whole corn lasts me about a year . I'm running a Black Australorp/Barred Rock mix this time although my rooster is Black Australorp I am wishing it was reversed because I know the Barred Rocks roosters can be meaner .. but as soon as I can I'll probably switch to a jungle fowl or Game hoping to get a lighter, quicker, rooster that will whoop ass and still have the heartyness to handle hard weather that the Australorps are known for.. But you are absolutely right... if people want prissy show chickens to look at they are going to suck at living iffree ranging ... You don't raise survival chickens for looks..and them pamper them like you do little yorkie fluff fluff dog..
Those are beautiful birds! What you’re saying makes a lot of sense! I gotta say you have the advantage of Florida weather and probably a great insect supply for the birds which is perfect for free ranging.
I agree Florida's mild winters gives me an advantage. My understanding from northern people who raise chickens similar to myself that they can actually forage in the winter under the snow. But no doubt they're better off here where there are some insects and greenery year round.
Isa brown, golden buff, blue laced Wyandotte. After a year of doing the free range thing, those breeds have done well for me. The australorps and barred rocks have all been killed. Just my limited experience. I’m still very new here.
Very ineresting video, thank you form North Herefordshire UK, i will start soon on the project of A Platoon GI Chickens,a new breed of tough egg layers. Got your lunk from David the Good gardening channel this evening. Great job, love your birds
Completely free range probably wouldn't work well for me on my 3 acres, but I like the idea of birds that don't require constant attention and feed... especially now.
Success doing it this way is habitat dependent. I think it can work on smaller acreages where the chickens have plenty to forage in. Their best forage habitat is overgrown fence lines with leaf litter interspersed with areas of green grass and other greenery to nip at. I've found that where they have a habitat like that with access to water, they don't stray from it much. My free range flock rarely covers more than 2-3 acres as it is. Where they tend to disperse is when there is a secondary rooster that attempts to make his own flock instead of overthrowing the dominant rooster. If you have understanding neighbors who won't get mad if your chickens stray a bit, and if you think your 3 acres has some natural food and cover for the chickens, you could still experiment. You may be surprised how well they do. The person who probably couldn't figure out how to make this work is the back yard flock keeper who only has a fenced back yard.
Finally, someone that actually has free range chicken and knows what it implies! No, not the penned up chicken that's couped up 24-7 and you move the pen every couple of days. True free range chicke are survivalists like these. I love your chickens! When it comes to meat chicken, there is nothing better than free range chicken. No, they don't go from chicks to broiler size (6-7 ) lbs dressed in 45 to 48 days, but they aren't fed grown hormones and whatever else the big chicken farms feed them. They are flavorful and make absolutely delicious chicken broth! If I were near you, I'd be buying(assuming you are willing to sell)your chickens for tablefare, but unfortunately, I do not. My dream chicken farm is to have some 15-20 acres of wooded property that's either surrounded by a moat or is completely fenced in. My chickens would of the type similar to yours(game/jungle fowl) and they would be totally free to roam within this environment. Those that survive predation and diseases will pass those ginetics to the next generaion. Before long, I would have a thriving wild chicken colony. Traps and air rifles would be the means by which I'd harvest them. You definitely are doing it right when it comes to free ranging! Love it and again, beautiful chickens you have!
Amazing how your analogy can be compared to humans as well. Can you imagine what we would call city folk today having to raise their own food. Back to barter.
Hi. Just saw few you chicken videos. I have free range with coop 5’ above the ground with automatic door just to sleep and I lost one hen out of 9(1 is rooster) in one year I guess coyote snatched her. I totally agree with you, if they have the right environment to live in they got tools to do so, even in Oklahoma. Hawks and owls have no chance. Please tell me where can I get really original but not extra bread to be more aggressive junglefowl hen and rooster chicks. Thank you
Hello I'm glad I found your chicken videos. I have had assorted game fowl in the past. Often mostly hens with game rooster running with them. I have also raised several varieties of OEGB over the years. I bought a house with a two acre woods behind it two years ago. Right now I have a few laying hens that I let free range most of the time with a couple of Phoenix males. Since I only have one Phoenix hen right now she stays cooped up in a covered 10x10 dog kenel with her mate. Hopefully I will be able to raise some babies off of her in the spring and turn more of the Phoenix out to free range next year. I also just got two trios of American Game Bantams late this summer with the idea of working on some bantam Phoenix but like them so well I think I'm just going to breed them separate then release some of the extras out to free range. I see that you are working on a line of AGB. I'm going to see how mine do but I might be interested in some eggs at some point to add some new blood into them. Good luck with your free range projects I will keep an eye out for updates.
What you're talking about is the buckeye chicken it was designed for exactly what you're talking about. They make good meat and layer chickens. They can forage pretty well but still need a pen imo. What you're talking about when you speak of hybrids or crosses and the increase in survivability is due to hybrid vigor. It's a well known attribute of many gamefowl. I think you're spot on with your assumption in the regular fowl industry. I think the only issue with bringing outside blood is variability in your fowl for the generations. Crossing in a gamefowl will take away from the intentions of the fowl. Loose conformation and it's original designed intent laid out by the standard
I just hatched out my first flock my first baby I didn't know what I was doing and she hatched out one chick the second one I hatched out 11 chicks and one got away in 10 of them are almost 2 months old. I found if I let him go over the yard they won't tear the yard up if I put them in one spot they will tear it down to the ground to the bare dirt. And they don't eat very much feed because they're always out eating bugs.
Hey Bullfrog, Just picked this video from your line up and I totally agree with the natural selection process. Hell, I even use this philosophy on my dog. I just give her good feed and keep her mentally stimulated a little and she never gets sick. NO VETS , But I do use a pinch of horse wormer on her once in a while. Those chickens looked so tough they carried themselves like roosters, lol They look very fit and able. Those chickens are able to fly too I bet. Thats a great defense against predator's . Your Granma's chickens in Levy had to be awful cold hardy too. PS I'm that guy over here in Dunnellon with the messed up Talon we talked about. My bolts all wobbly. lol
When we retire, I will look for you on you tube and get in touch with you to pick your brain. We plan on retiring Florida in six to eight years. Also we are a LEO family, husband and wife.
My Americana is plenty strong. I would prefer that she not be a cross beak, but she sleeps in our rig at night and plays all day within sight of me. I understand that although Izzy is perfect in every other way. She chases down stuff so I know she could feed herself if her beak functioned. Her personality is perfect. I know I cannot breed her with that defect. When she is no more I will be looking for a bird exactly like her with a perfect beak.
My chickens are self-efficient I sell some of the eggs. I sell plants from my garden. I make enough money to buy food, scratch, and seeds to plant more for the chickens and 1 Muscovy duck. I own. I have one hybrid game hen. She is a new to my chickens garden. It's to hard to free range them too many people have xLarge dogs that try to kill them off so I am making my garden into a Oasis for chickens.
Bring those chickens to Canada, we will see how they handle winter! Not that your chickens are not awesome, they are! But you need a little more solid built bird to stand the cold.
Great advice! To be clear the one's you have roaming free have no coop? Or is it available for them if they have no where to hide? Thanks for your time!
Oh Lord, my chickens are weak! My newbies (22) are still in a brooder inside being babied. They haven't even touched grass yet. I know better! They have a fantastic set up outside to free range. I will take them outside tomorrow in their new chick play pen for an hour to see how well they do. I figure another 3 weeks with me inside until my other order of chicks come in. I'll probably let the newbies out sooner. BTW, I agree with you 100% but my actions are going against nature. My fault!
Question: How do you collect the eggs and catch them to get meat ? Seems to me more bother, if you have to chase them down and hunt for the eggs. I am an old fellow, and can't run fast,and my eys are not as good as what they use to be.
Food for thought but for me there are some reservations I need to work out in my mind. 1. How do I control them to remain on my homestead and not wonder off to be lost to other farms. 2. Hunting them for meat is going to be a challenge. 3. They look scrawny with little meat. Once I can get my head around that, I'll be sold on the idea.
Here’s my answers 1) it isn’t in their nature to wander far so long as they have good food, water, and cover. Good habitat in other words. Even in nature their wild ancestors the red junglefowl have small home territories of only a few acres. A very small homestead may have issues, but something in the 5-10 acre range with appropriate foraging habitat should keep them contained. 2) I haven’t found them hard to shoot. They can also be trained to roost in coops for easy grabbing at night. Although I don’t recommend it because what you can grab so can a predator. 3) they are scrawny. Other kinds of gamefowl in the same family can be twice as large but good survivors. All of this family of gamefowl have plump breasts for their size. The way I suggest looking at it as is free meat. It doesn’t matter how scrawny the bird is if you can kill all you want. If it takes 3 birds to get enough meat for a couple of chicken dinners, then kill three. 3 scrawny birds you have to harvest are better than 1 big meat bird you don’t have because it can’t survive.
@@Florida_Bullfrog Thanks for taking time to address my few concerns. We have recently fled our country and settled on a different continent. Now in Portugal we have acquired a few chickens. I was lucky to get hold of some Fresian (Friesland) chickens and they have good flight sense and are very alert. They run to the same roosting spot to lay eggs and kove foraging. I'll be getting 8 more this month and don't look forward to spending more money on extending the coup. Your video may make a big difference, so thank for for your answer and video. Ps: Fire arm licence is virtually impossibly to get but a bow and arrow should be good for the job
The other thing about the Americanas is that they are decent brooders and Izzy is now almost three and no hawk, dog, snake or wild cat can get her. She comes to me 98 percent of the time I want her to and lands on my arm like a hawk. Her coloring blends in even better than your birds in the woods. I wish I could just breed out the cross beak without there being any more or any genetic carriers of it, because again she is perfect except for that
i have game birds and dark cornish with the exact plan i threw two game hens and a bany rooster out in the back yard one time by the end of the some i had chickens everywhere
I’m so glad I found you. I see now the hen and 8 chicks I was given is hybrid jungle fowl. She has bands on her legs and a tag on her wings. I live in a neighborhood that is rife with Mexican cockfighting people. She hatched 14 chicks. She wants to roost in trees. Please help me set up a coop and run arrangement so that can I care for her and her little family. I want to keep them enclosed because they will fly away, get killed by feral cats, fly into a neighbors yard and get killed by a dog, or I won’t be able to find her eggs. How to keep them in my yard? Clip all their wings? Get them used to coop life so that if I let them out every afternoon and hope they go back to the coop every night? Live in a suburban old neighborhood in Southern California. I have a nice lawn and a small orchard. I don’t have a yard large enough to do chicken tractor. They wouldn’t be free ranging and eating fleas and ticks then. Suggestions.
With bands and a tag, I wonder if she was someone’s gamefowl? If that goes on in your neighborhood, she probably is. American gamefowl will look like the junglefowl just larger. It is not impossible to keep one in a coup and run. In fact most people who raise gamefowl these days do keep them penned or tethered. Any standard coup and run design should work that’s covered. But she’ll probably thrive free ranging. Biggest issue is that she won’t likely stay in your yard without confining her.
I wouldn’t recommend clipping their wings. Its their flying that most often keeps them out of predator trouble. Clipping gamebird wings would be like declawing an outside cat. If you can build them a spacious run, they’ll thrive in a traditional coop. They’re very adaptable birds.
Florida Bullfrog I got a good quality carport that I lined with welded wire. I have been letting them out every morning and at evening they go back in the run and roost on their old tractor cage. I lock them in at night. have a small lot with lots of trees and three patios. Lots of cover. We don’t have raccoons or opossums here. It’s too urban. I squirt down the patio often so it’s not poopy. They are mostly grown now. Probably too big for a cat. I clip one wing so they can’t fly over my fence. I have a jack Russell here too that chases cats and is very respectful of the Choi’s (me)They peck around the yard and are very happy. I kept two roosters for protection. He is a good leader. It’s been a huge joy. They aren’t the slow egg kind. They are the jungle fowl blood. Thank you for your work on these videos.
How are those chickens avoiding invasive Pythons, African redhead agama lizard, green iguana, Argentine tegu, Northern curly tail lizard, and Nile monitor lizard????
I was wondering if you can give us a sense of the % losses over the generations during the transition. Furthermore, I don't mind feeding hawks and eagles, but I am not so fond of foxes and raccons. Rats and snakes , on the other hand, REALLY "rattle" me. Would you comment on WHAT predators are feeding in your backyard?
