Developing My Own Breed Of Large Gamefowl For Free Range Survival (Junglefowl x Liege)

[Florida Bullfrog]

Marek's seems to be quite common. Most of the chickens raiser I know, have had experience with it.

I agree, many of the gamefowl breeders I am familiar with that have had their lines for more than a decade have had it and culled it out of their flocks. It can be beat.

 

[Perris]

This is real old knowledge and a shame it has been lost over the years with commercial feeds flooding the market.

I am trying to revive it; you (and @Karoo permaculture ) might find this interesting
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...eat-tears-a-calculator-or-deep-pockets.78655/

 

[Perris]

When I can get large batches of chicks that make it to adulthood without symptoms, I’ll know I’m going in the right direction.

I concur. I think I'm a little ahead of you in this journey; only setting eggs from older birds (including a 6 year old, all of whose chicks from last summer have done well) has worked for me.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Sorry to hear that! Sounds like big set back. Do you still have the fayoumis? I'm curious if they'll live up to the hype of being Marek's resistant

Oh yes, only one fayoumi is left. She seems fine so far and has already brooded. Her sister got stumbly and I culled her, and the pure fayoumi I had got a crippled leg at the same time Azog got a limp, and I culled it.

So my impression is “no” in terms of their fabled resistance to Marek’s.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

This will of course change my project. I still have Sherman, who shows no symptoms, and I have several pure Liege hens, who show no symptoms. So I will breed those and see what happens. But they haven’t had access to the free range flock where I think the virus was or is living.

But the birds that have passed the test of time to this point (at least 2 years) with no symptoms are:

1. Lanky: half-Cracker, half-American game.
2. A barnyard layer cross of 2 different layer breeds.
3. Several black hens that are half-Indo, half-Cracker. Indo himself being half-aseel, half-Liege.
4. A half-Cracker, half-wyandotte, hen.
5. A half-Indo, half-Austrolorp, hen.

Those are the chickens that have lived free range for a long time with zero symptoms. Lanky had been cooped a while but he grew up free range.

I don’t have Indo on the list because he got weakly for 2 weeks when he was a chick turned out to free range for the first time. He’s a strong, healthy, adult now and he seems to throw strong chicks that have survived with no symptoms when crossed to Crackers. But when crossed back to Liege none of his chicks have survived. He also has an odd pupil to my recollection that doesn’t really look like Marek’s to me, but I’ll post a pic tonight.

I also don’t include the straight-combed, half-aseel hen I have. She shows no symptoms and is old enough to have manifested them. But I also kept her somewhat isolated from the free range flock. I have her on free range now. As much as I prize her, she has to survive and thrive in order to be of use to me. I know she’s tough because she grew up wild off farm. But I don’t know if she’s been exposed to the Marek’s yet.

The Indo x Cracker hens seem to be the most prolific. I have several running around with a healthy looking appearance.

I may return to crossing Crackers and “terrorfowl.” It won’t give me the crazy looking dino bird I want but it may give me a yard full of resistant, athletic, chickens, and then I’ll have to shape the birds from that base.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I forgot to mention some birds:

1. Erik the Red, a half-Cracker half American that is a distant cousin to Lanky.

2. A pure, red eared, Cracker hen.

3. Several American game bantams, including my original brook cock and up to Gen 4, line bred, hens.

They are all older birds with no symptoms.

I also have some juveniles on free range that have showed no symptoms, but it will take time for that to bear out. Two of them are 3/4 Liege, 1/4 aseel. A stag and a pullet. So this past spring’s terrorfowl. 2 survivors of about 100 I produced. No symptoms on those two so far. They seem strong and healthy. Virtually all the rest died of what I now know to be Marek’s. Most within a short amount of time of being turned out to free range.

Most of my coops are empty. Everyone is on free range except roosters with select hens, and I also just brought in a pure Cracker cock to breed back to some particularly wild looking AGB hens from my teacup Cracker project. The offspring should have a very strong wild RJF look.

I will probably sterilize those coops that have enclosed roosting/laying houses and let them sit empty for several months. Then I’ll pen off the two surviving terrorfowl Gen 3s if they’re still doing well.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

No hatchery-produced birds are left on the farm. I have culled anything that might have the Marek’s vaccine.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

Culling hard will get you almost anywhere.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Culling hard will get you almost anywhere.

I feel like the free range flock looks 10 times better now that I’ve removed all the hatchery birds off of it and any bird I was suspicious of. The birds are disparate from one another in terms of coloration and comb traits, but it otherwise looks like a flock of very athletic and healthy chickens. Like I’ve trimmed the fat off the flock and what I’m left with are lean and mean.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

Yup, I have never been a fan of hatchery birds. To dependent for my taste.