Boschveld Thread

[chameleon]

I've been scouring the internet and BYC for weeks and have found very, very little information about the boschveld breed. If there is anyone on here who has or had Boschveld chickens I'd love to know what you're experience with them has been. I will be receiving 4 Boschveld hens next week, so any advice will be welcome. I will also add any useful information I learn and pictures as I go along.

So far all I can find is:

- It is a South African breed developed from 3 indigenous breeds: Venda, Matabele and Ovambo.
- They are a large, dual purpose breed.
- They are hardy. Disease resistant and tolerate heat and cold well.
- They are very strong, fertile birds and roosters are aggressive, making them ideal for free ranging.
- Hens begin laying at 24 weeks (some say 20).
- Hens lay an average of 4 large eggs per week.
- Cockerels are ready for slaughter at around 12 weeks.

This is basically the official description that I've been able to piece together from free range farming websites, but I can't find more detail about their size, space requirements, temperament, and personal experiences with them as backyard chickens.

 

[chameleon]

Until now I've only had experience with bantams, so the first thing I'd like to know is how much space they'll need.

I have a 86 square foot covered run with a 22 square foot raised coop inside the run. The coop has 6.5 feet of roosting space. Is this enough for 4 very big hens? (Apparently they're very big, I havent seen them yet) They will be able to free range when I'm around, which is most of the time, but they will occasionally have to spend a couple of days locked up, if I go away for a weekend or when we have heavy rain.

I'd actually like to have 6 hens, but I thought I'd start with 4 and see how they do in the space available. I think they may be similar to Brahma in size, but I could be wrong.

 

[chameleon]

Another question I have about them: How well do they fly?

They're good free range birds, but that my also mean that they can fly reasonably high to get away from ground predators. How high would the fence need to be to keep them on your property?

 

[3riverschick]

Hi,
I think you have room for 6 hens in the coop. The standard math per adult large fowl bird is 4 sq. ft. inside the coop and 10 q. ft. outside the coop. Roosting space would be 12-14 inches per bird.
Sounds like real nice set-up. I don't know about the flying, but you have plenty of room n the covered run for 8 birds.
Best,
Karen
in western Pennsylvania, USA

 

[chameleon]

Hi,
I think you have room for 6 hens in the coop. The standard math per adult large fowl bird is 4 sq. ft. inside the coop and 10 q. ft. outside the coop. Roosting space would be 12-14 inches per bird.
Sounds like real nice set-up. I don't know about the flying, but you have plenty of room n the covered run for 8 birds.
Best,
Karen
in western Pennsylvania, USA

Thanks for the numbers! I feel much better already knowing the four of them will be comfortable in there for now. My plan is to eventually transform the whole run into a nice big coop, and then fence off about 2700 square feet of my yard to let them free range. Once that's done I'd like to get a few more, but that's just a dream for now. My hens arrive on Thursday so I'll try to post pics and more information on their size by the end of the week.