Landrace/adaptive breeding discussion

[Florida Bullfrog]

My first year with chickens I started with American Game and RIR. The first year half of my reds decided to sleep on the ground and the other half decided to copy the games and roost in trees

All of the ground roosting reds died from predation. However not a single chicken was ever taken in a tree. I caught many racoons and opossums trying to catch them while tree roosting but the chickens would simply fly off into the night

I don't believe fighting at night in the dark is necessary at all, only flight. However it sounds like our predator situation is quite different from one another

This is my logic as well. Natural selection also applies to the predators here. Anything stupid enough for me to kill it, or harmful enough for me to thoroughly hunt it down gets eliminated from the gene-pool

We're dealing with dramatically different snake situations it sounds like. I only have a handful that I've always allowed to be around. Maybe the cats or dogs are keeping the snakes in balance here, or maybe it's something else entirely

It's good you're killing stupid and destructive snakes

Post #320 might address the different snake situations. I have found that serious chicken predation is extremely species specific. I have another kind of rat snake here that won't touch the chickens for reasons unknown. All non-venomous snakes that don't cause verifiable damage get a pass from me. The only ones I preemptively kill now, besides venomous snakes, are the grey rat snakes. Our specific variant of grey rat snake is called a "white oak" snake. We do have subtropical-specific variants of common species in Florida. Our timber rattler is called a "canebrake" rattler and they used to be considered a distinct subspecies of timber rattler and are still considered so by several herpetologists. It's possible that even within regional variants there are major behavioral differences. I know that one reason some herpetologists still consider canebrakes distinct from timber rattlers is due to behavioral differences.

 

[Molpet]

However not a single chicken was ever taken in a tree.

First few years the turkey roosted in the trees with no problems.....then the GH owls found them . Several years old tom they took out one year. I hatch 4x what I need so I have enough to share with the predators and coccidiosis.

 

[centrarchid]

I'm about 15 years into my effort and seeing some limitation related to population size. I can support at most about 25 breeders over winter and that has dropped down to ten more than once. Ideally, multiple other persons with similar interest towards same goal would exchange birds with me as a buffer against loosing genetic variation by random events. Everyone doing their own thing independently is just another way to develop more inbred lines that just look different.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I'm about 15 years into my effort and seeing some limitation related to population size. I can support at most about 25 breeders over winter and that has dropped down to ten more than once. Ideally, multiple other persons with similar interest towards same goal would exchange birds with me as a buffer against loosing genetic variation by random events. Everyone doing their own thing independently is just another way to develop more inbred lines that just look different.

We're all so separated as far as distance that collaboration is almost impossible. Maybe trade eggs? I wish I could find someone in the area who is willing to host a population so we can trade roosters every few generations.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

My stock is seeded all over north Florida, south Georgia, and a little in south Alabama. I keep a network of breeders that have my lines.

In fact, I’m going this weekend to far west Florida to evaluate some cockerels on another farm to bring back for my American game bantam and teacup Cracker projects.

I think of it as genetic banking. I preserve my lines and the host gets the benefits of my chickens.

As far as changing birds for landrace projects, I would think it would be most beneficial to exchange with people in your general vicinity so as to have birds that face the same climatic, environmental, and disease conditions. Possibly the same predation conditions as well.

Hatching eggs don’t carry as high of a risk of disease as grown birds. I no longer bring in outside birds of other lines unless they come off of farms I’ve previously traded with.

 

[LaurenRitz]

My stock is seeded all over north Florida, south Georgia, and a little in south Alabama. I keep a network of breeders that have my lines.

In fact, I’m going this weekend to far west Florida to evaluate some cockerels on another farm to bring back for my American game bantam and teacup Cracker projects.

I think of it as genetic banking. I preserve my lines and the host gets the benefits of my chickens.

As far as changing birds for landrace projects, I would think it would be most beneficial to exchange with people in your general vicinity so as to have birds that face the same climatic, environmental, and disease conditions. Possibly the same predation conditions as well.

Hatching eggs don’t carry as high of a risk of disease as grown birds. I no longer bring in outside birds of other lines unless they come off of farms I’ve previously traded with.

I have a line on one woman in the area who has the same general mindset, but she raises sheep rather than chickens. I can't find anyone else. I'll keep looking, because I agree with you that local is best.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I heard the chickens screaming and went outside, to find a snake trying to get into the broody cage. The rooster was ruffled, I don't know whether he tried to drive it away or not. I chased it away, and by the time I got back to the coop it had returned. They all started screaming again.

I need to put out traps.

But it's good that they recognized the snake as an enemy and alerted. The older chickens don't.

I was going to let the chicks out today, but now I can't until I catch the chick thief

 

[Ridgerunner]

I kept a garden hoe in the coop to deal with things like that.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I kept a garden hoe in the coop to deal with things like that.

I hadn't seen any snakes near the 2nd coop, so I didn't have anything ready. That has now been remedied.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I kept a garden hoe in the coop to deal with things like that.

Square Mouth Spade. My aim is no longer adequate for relying on a hoe. Also, spade is convenient for moving deep bedding on almost 100 sq ft of raised floor.