Adaptation comes first. They have to be a good fit for your environment. That's one of the problems I'm running into. A bird perfectly adapted for one area may be a dud in another.
One thing I would love to find is a population that truly hunts mice. I mixed in several breeds that were...
Several people here are working on it. There are breeds out there advertised to forage, etc., but they've been bred for appearance and a breed standard for so long that the traits that made them successful as a breed are mostly gone.
Once the initial mixes are established I'll be selecting for...
"Force feeding methionine to excess..."
Really? Like anyone is going to force feed a chick straight methionine, other than for research purposes, of course. For heaven's sake, a bird can die from being held under water too, so obviously water is bad for birds...
I find chickens remarkably intelligent about what's not good for them.
Mine won't touch dry beans, mushrooms, raw potato or avocado. Other than that it's game on. They will dig onions out of the ground to eat them, and they eat garlic tops.