Chickens in nature

[No Coop No Problem]

I'm making this thread to show people that chickens can do fine in more natural settings. My chickens are completely organic, live outside 24/7 and sleep in trees. They spend most of their time running around the forest and swamp, existing around countless different types of wild animals

I don't think the gamefowl need me at all, but the production chickens do. Keeping a semi-feral flock is a balancing act of these two genepools- survivors and producers. Currently I'm aiming for 3/4th dual-purpose, 1/4th gamefowl (dunghill) mutts that are camoflaged with the environment. I believe this is the optimal balance for my set-up to keep food on the table

Here's an assortment of pictures since I began keeping chickens, going roughly from old to new. It's been a long journey and I've learned much over the years:

Credit to my wife for taking most of the good pictures here. Also my LGD deserves credit for making this all much easier. I did this for a year and a half without a dog, which was much more stressful

I'll post more in the future

 

[AntiqueB]

It's cool that they can live that way, but I'm curious -- without a coop, and with semi-feral birds, how do you collect eggs, or catch chickens to butcher?

 

[Apis mellifera]

How would they do here?

 

[No Coop No Problem]

It's cool that they can live that way, but I'm curious -- without a coop, and with semi-feral birds, how do you collect eggs, or catch chickens to butcher?

I have nesting boxes, mostly 5 gallon buckets, placed in a few sites. They're more comfortable than random holes so they lay their eggs in them

For catching chickens I mostly catch them in the trees at night, or occasionally I catch them in an outdoor cage I made for capturing the impossible Fayoumi/Sumatra mutts

How would they do here? View attachment 4021070

Heh that would probably be much more difficult. Anywhere snowy is basically another planet compared to my southern swamp. None of my children have seen snow yet

 

[No Coop No Problem]

Record breaking snow here near the Gulf of America. Most of the chickens are choosing to hang out under my house but there's still some out adventuring. This is the first time I've ever seen it snow in the south

 

[No Coop No Problem]

Young RIR x Ameraucana/Asil cockerel running around. I suppose he's technically an Easter Egger

 

[WingItRanch]

Very interesting and beautiful!

This is not meant to be rude at all, just a question because I live in the woods in East TX and I have all sorts of critters that want to eat my chickens...

How many do you lose to predators yearly? Do you have so many so it's negligible if you lose a few?

 

[No Coop No Problem]

How many do you lose to predators yearly? Do you have so many so it's negligible if you lose a few?

That's basically it. Last year I lost about 5 very young and immature chickens between 1-12 weeks of age. That same year I had maybe 15 hens go broody. The dog and fences prevent all adult predation and nearly all losses of the young

The interior fences on my property have "chicken holes" that allow free movement of the chickens but that predators themselves are unfamiliar with

Dog and fence combo works very well. Plus game chickens themselves are immortal

 

[WingItRanch]

That's basically it. Last year I lost about 5 very young and immature chickens between 1-12 weeks of age. That same year I had maybe 15 hens go broody. The dog and fences prevent all adult predation and nearly all losses of the young

The interior fences on my property have "chicken holes" that allow free movement of the chickens but that predators themselves are unfamiliar with

Dog and fence combo works very well. Plus game chickens themselves are immortal

Awesome! Thank you for explaining. I don't have full fencing on my property but I do have trail cams and we have everything from Bobcats to Eagles to Coyotes and Foxes. I'd love to have a bunch of chickens free ranging someday. I have half woods and half pasture.

Eventually the property will be fenced and I'll have goats and a guard donkey. Maybe more animals if I can't control myself. Hoping with more large animal activity, the predators will move on.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

Red Sex Link running around