Chickens living free sharing the land with the predators

[Dita Orlik]

Yes. I've let the borders grow wider and wilder. My flock have been free ranging since 2017; the oldest hens are 7, still sprightly, still laying, still fertile even (one of the matriarch's eggs was set this year and it is already apparent at 12 weeks that she is going to be another bossy boots). She's an Araucana, btw, not a game breed, and Araucana are in the make up of Americaunans and some EEs; your EEs may also have the genetics to do fine for years.

One, until about a year ago, but he did not live out, and I'm not sure he had a lot to do with their survival actually. The chickens have managed their security themselves since then.

Very nice.

Ditto!

Ditto. Broodies teach chicks to scatter apart though, and not all the hens stand their ground; some run and hide instead. This was the most recent example that I spotted through a window (so poor quality photo). Dom near the middle; his subs on the wings, facing different directions; hens in the middle. The no.2 roo must have been elsewhere with more hens, and I've no idea where the broodies were at the moment this group were spooked and on alert, but everyone was there for tea, so the threat passed, and they were fine.
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Nice birds, they look as if they rather looking what the danger is because some of them don't even look up. But now imagine you will have a coyote staring at them. That's a different ball game. And that is not coyote passing by that's coyote coming to get the chicken. I like the bushes, good cover.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

What did the fox do?

It was going after an old American Gamefowl's babies. They were running away and when the fox got close she turned around and tackled it directly in the face. The fox jumped back and hesitated, which gave the hen and her babies enough time to escape

First, jungle fowl, live in .... jungles. Heavy cover, harder for raptors to attach using speed. Harder to spot the chickens.

Very true

 

[Perris]

But now imagine you will have a coyote staring at them. That's a different ball game.

My birds have developed fitness to survive the predator threat that they face here. I don't doubt that in a different environment, with different threats, different behaviour would be needed to survive. That's what evolution is all about.

 

[Dita Orlik]

A couple of things. First, jungle fowl, live in .... jungles. Heavy cover, harder for raptors to attach using speed. Harder to spot the chickens.

Back in the 70's when game chickens were still allowed to be raised, people would "farm" young stags. Six to eight months old, too big to let run loose or they would kill each other, but they would place one stag per house out in the country. The stags tended to stay put, roost in trees, browse for its own food. If it survived it was a pretty healthy and pretty smart rooster in excellent shape flying up in the trees to roost. Owls would get some of them by flying up into the tree and climbing along the branch to get to the rooster. Possums, same thing.

Game fowl owners would also have a lot of "yard" birds living free range, usually fed once a day. Lots of free, no work chickens, usually young stags running around too, before they became old enough to be territorial and would start fighting. And meat birds of course. Good luck finding the eggs though and few of the yard birds would be useful for fighting as their lineage was unknown. Owls and possums were know to take out a half dozen chickens on a branch, killing them one at a time, the birds rarely being able to fly or see at night.

Chickens are prey species, like rodents, so they have large clutch sizes and reproduce several times a year, depending upon their numbers to provide for some of the chickens making it through the year to repopulate. The down side to trying to raise free range no coop birds is that they will draw more and more predators of all sorts.

In SE Oklahoma chickens do not have enough food on their own they would have to travel in late fall and winter. I do not let my chickens to breed, I left one egg for one to sit on and of course it's another rooster .. Easter Egger. With this predators here non would survive. I have 3 pairs of Barred Owls who would pick them up like raspberries after dark. I can catch all of them but I don't have to because they love the coop. I have laying boxes from the outside of the coop and some screwed to the side of my house, so whatever the danger is, they can go around somewhere else to lay eggs, I give eggs away for free. The best thing on the side of the house is they don't poop where they lay, so that porch has never chicken poop on it. Those RJF had a serious fight three weeks ago and since then they never fought again. Easter egger rooster stays with main rooster in the coop. It's like a circus here. because I have them as my companions I have a different approach to breeding, I don't want to breed them. But I need one Red Junglefowl female Diego strain to replace my poor Goldi. I almost got one, but I don't want her to sit in the box for three days to be shipped here. if you build a coop like this, what is just for sleeping and you can put the food there you will lose almost no chicken because it is the same like they sit on the trees except they are safe, and you don't have to worry they would love the coop you will never have to force them to get it. I promise you.

 

[Dita Orlik]

My birds have developed fitness to survive the predator threat that they face here. I don't doubt that in a different environment, with different threats, different behaviour would be needed to survive. That's what evolution is all about.

Oh, I like that evolution, that's right. Mostly my chickens, they got lucky with this method if the dogs were not here that would not work.