/Chickens General/I didn't notice a dedicated thread for Chickens, so I figured I'd start one. This thread is for all things related to Chickens, your strategies in raising them, the types of genetics you favor, the environmental threats we have to worry about, and how to prepare for an economic and social collapse.Post all your chicken related Questions and Insights, help other anons establish their flock, or pick up new information for your own use.Resources:>Survival Chickens.https://thesurvivalgardener.com/free-range-survival-chickens-is-here/>Harvey Ussury Managing a small scale Flock:https://themodernhomestead.us/>Intro to Heritage Breedshttps://youtu.be/uhhEenOL0g0?si=n2U0fWQT-_-g0fIj>Why Modern Chickens are Defectivehttps://youtube.com/shorts/BozHTpN0w64?si=rtZckljFBNj7zrKy
>>2878741OP loves cock
>>2878741I just started a flock of about 17 Icelandic Chicks, they are about 3 weeks old, and had a pretty good hatch rate from the 24 I ordered online.They all seem healthy, and I put them in an outdoor brooder/mini coop at just 1 week old.I got them because they are super flighty and have good Foraging abilities, and I think there is a lot of purpose in preserving their genetic purity. However I want to make sure they are as Good as I can get them before I set them out on their own.I intend to let them go Entirely Freerange, meaning no coop, just trees, some small shelters for ground cover and egg laying, where they will survival entirely upon their own merit. I live in a highly dense predator environment equipped with Bears, Wolves, Hawks, and even Eagles from time to time (Which I've heard are the worst).My birds are almost fully feathered at just 3 weeks, they forage like crazy, and they are super flighty anytime I try to interact with them, which I think is good.Just curious if anyone else has experience with Freerange Survival Chickens in high Predator Environments. I fully expect to lose a few to natural conditions, but my goal is to use only the Icelandic genetics to create a locally acclimatized line that will be self sufficient and able to provide for generations to come.Also, how many chickens should I have in a freerange flock to where I don't have to worry about inbreeding so much?
>>2878745>flock of about 17Are these quantum chickens? Is 17 just too high and you keep losing count?
>>2878746What? Are you saying my flock is too small?I intend to purchase more, this is just what I'm starting with. I'd like to get at least 50 birds, and I'd like to expand to have even more if they do well. I just don't know how many I'm going to need to have good genetics, or if I just let them do their thing and have nature prune them for me.I've done a lot of research but I'm still fairly new to this.
>>2878745I never imagined i'd one day be the anon that shits on a parade but i'm fairly certain your entire flock will die when the word gets around in the predators villain bar where everyone is mad hungry, if the first guy visiting doesn't end up butchering all of them. I haven't done any chicken raising so it's not like i know what the fuck i'm talking about, but would you suppose chicks with high foraging and flight capabilities were bred in iceland, where there are no predators whatsoever? Would you care to imagine normal chicken could have gotten naturally selected out of those that stayed put in their little caged up coops, where they had the best odds of safety and survival?Couldn't you get like a dog or something so when some jackass comes along they'd bark and you could grab your firestick and mincemeat 'em instead of playing god or larping like a fucking chicken hitler?
>today OP loves cocks but is somehow not a faggot
>>2878750No, coop bred chickens are typically the first to die when hardship hits, they have weaker immune systems, plus without foraging abilities, broodiness, and other traits, they are incapable of fending for themselves.The book referenced in the original post, Freerange Survival Chickens, goes into the history of Rome and what happened to all of their coop chickens when Rome collapsed. Looking into the history of Gamefowl, and especially their origin in Jungle Fowl in South Asia, there are many breeds that came and have survived well in a freerange environment, if not thrived.Now, I am fully aware of using Icelandics in place of a more defensive landrace, and this is the weak part of my strategy. However, I am providing them an abundance of trees and ground cover to sleep in and take shelter from predators.I have so many trees in fact I'm not really worried about ground predators, so much as I am about aerial predators. Icelandics can roost as high up as 30 feet, and even as chicks they've already maxed out the heights I gave them in as little as a week. I'm relying on their evasive abilities more than their defensive abilities, and hoping that natural selection will over the course of generations make them even more well suited for the environment.We will have dogs and other large livestock eventually, but as good as I can get them to survive on their own the better.As a last note, pretty much all chickens were Freerange up until about 100 years ago, so what I'm doing isn't exactly new, but genetics is a big factor.>>2878754Those are some pretty birds anon. What are they?
>>2878761Brown sexlink ISA Brown I wanna say?Most of those are gone now. That was during my heyday of 60 burds.We’re desperately trying to move so I’ve been whittling down the flock.I’ve got 21 birds now: 1 duck, 1 turkey, 1 rooster, 12 mature hens, and 6 pullets that should start laying in a couple months.The pullets are black sex link and California whites. Turkey is a heritage bronze.
>>2878761I’ll check that survival chicken book out. Good call on Harvey usery he’s the fucking man. Joel Salatins old shit is good.Check out the mating and breeding of poultry by Harry lamon.It’s a hundred years out of date but that’s fucking what you want. The peak of poultry knowledge before fag ag took control.
>>2878741i raised 40 chickens in picrel this summer. they were grass fed except for 30 minutes/day they were given meat chicken food. it was a huge success. ended up with 39 seven to nine pound chickens dress weight. the most expensive part were the chicks (cornish cross), so i bought some cornish game hens to breed with my barred rocks.
>>2878770cornish game hens, they cost $30 each, so im gonna try to hatch some to sell
>>2878768>It’s a hundred years out of date but that’s fucking what you want.Honestly from everything I've seen, Chicken keeping has been pretty consistent all throughout history, only with the development of modern AG have things changed so drastically, typically limiting backyard poultry keepers and strengthening these mass producers.I honestly trust anything that is older than 100 years than most of the new information.Hell, they had incubators even in ancient Egypt.I'll be sure to check it out.>>2878770Hell ya anon. I did something similar with picrel out of random materials that were just lying around. It's supposed to be really good for brooding chicks because it gets them used to the pathogens and all the other good stuff in their environment at a young age. I throw a handful of weeds in there and some chick starter everyday, usually sprinkle it on some logs so they get used to looking for insects inside the wood, and they dig like crazy.Only thing about this is that it's not so easy to move on bumpy ground, especially where I'm at we have moles that tear up the ground (Which Salatin doesn't mention, but is worth noting for anyone trying to do this).Once they get too torn up you just leave em in one spot for sequestering later chickens you want to mate, brood, whatever.Only other problem is my cats won't bugger off from the sides staring in at them lmao.
>>2878766How well do they do in the winter? I've heard good things about them for egg laying. That's sort of the trade off of what I'm doing, my chicks will be good layers but nowhere near what a sexlink is.I know a lot of people preparing to move just because of the droughts, fires, and absurd laws popping up everywhere. Hope you stay safe and active anon.
>>2878776Last year I didn’t put any light out and lost a couple. As long as you keep them covered and dry you should be good for winter.I’ve completely rearranged (this will be the 7th time) and I’ve settled on a system that is working better so far. I had to keep my roosters separate so I made four separate areas with an enclosed hallway.I’m going to eventually do a clan system and have three separate groups and one overflow. My biggest issues are predators; coons, possums, foxes, and dogs.I have nesting hawks in my oak but they don’t ever fuck with the chickens… HeyHey the Rooster will fuck em up.
>>2878778How big is the rooster? Mine should reach up to at least 5lbs, but I haven't had a full grown rooster so I'm not sure how big they should be to be a good deterrent for Hawks.I hear the clan mating system is good for a small flock, but that sounds like a lot of work to keep them separate. What do you do to keep them separate? Just some fencing or separate coops? My birds are so flighty I'd have to make enclosed spaces to keep them in.
>>2878775This isn’t a bad modern source but yeah fuck these mass producer mother fuckers right in the cloaca. My great aunt was a lady scientist back before there were lady scientists. Like went to college and grad school in the 30s. I was raised on her farm every summer until I was 16.Survival of the fittest. I don’t recommend that approach for your own immunity but you want birds that can stand the cold, stand disease, and fight or try to fend off predators. I cull for aggressiveness towards humans because we have a six year old. Three strikes and you’re out. I get spurred three times and your soup motherfucker. >>2878776I forgot I mainly do it for dual purpose. We eat any old chickens so I don’t mind if they beef up but my sexlink lay like crazy. My buff Orpington is six years old and still lays twice a week and she’s a tank. One of the first birds we got during lockdown and she’s survived three companion rooster and fox/dog attacks, got loose and lived in the bush for six weeks before I just found her outside the coop one day decided to come home. I like having a rainbow flock of backyard mongrel birds.
>>2878779I have a large carport I converted into a pen and have it broken up into four areas using recycled pallet panels wrapped in wire with a separate door for each area. He’s kind of a chonk now but I’ve had bigger. I’d say 5-6lbs easy.
>>2878780I've actually read Pic Rel, it was a good introduction for sure.>you want birds that can stand the cold, stand disease, and fight or try to fend off predators.That's why I chose the Icelandics, they canhandle -20, have good healthy genetics for strong immunity, and they are very flighty for roosting and avoiding predators (Though as mentioned not as much aggression or spurs, also the best Winter Laying bird around).I hear most people prune aggressive or excess roosters. I'm doing Freerange though so I've heard you can keep more roosters provided they have enough space to chase eachother off.>My buff Orpington is six years old and still lays twice a week and she’s a tank.That sounds like some genetics you want to keep. Have you gotten chicks from her?>I like having a rainbow flock of backyard mongrel birds.That's another reason I like the Icelandics, they are visually diverse even though they're all fundamentally the same breed. The research I did indicated that compared to Heritage Breeds and Landraces, the Barnyard mix isn't as strong health wise, but still better than most other contemporary birds. Whats been your experience with Mutts? How easily do you avoid health issues?>>2878781Gotta love the scrap builds, those are the best. Do you alternate them being on pasture or just keep them all inside most the time?
>>2878782I try to cull for aggression but I need a couple new roosters. I’ve had the best luck with hand raising them together so they have a pecking order from the get go but some birds are just assholes and can’t be around people. I supposed if you had enough space it wouldn’t be an issue but like I said the best luck I’ve had with roosters is raising them together from egg or keeping them completely separated.>Have you gotten chicks from her?I have! She’s hatched out two rounds and might be broody again but she’s on isolation because she picks on all the other chickens rooster included.>Whats been your experience with Mutts? How easily do you avoid health issues?Mutts are far far better than “purebred” in my experience. I tried to do Cream Legbars and I love them but every single one had some fucked up toes or thin/misshapen eggs. There just isn’t enough genetic diversity in the breed where I live and I’m not paying a premium for questionable birds. I like black australorps, buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island reds, Plymouth rocks (get big roosters), white, brown and black sex link, basically whatever is on clearance at Tractor supply for now until we’re someone better. I have only had mystery die offs during the birdagedon 2022-2023 and it want bird flu. A whistleblower called the place I got feed from out for spraying the bags. I switched to a small feedmill and haven’t had any die offs that weren’t predator related since.>Do you alternate them being on pasture or just keep them all inside most the time?I let them out every day but I alternate which groups so I don’t over graze and kill all the green in my small yard so I have them out every day but no more than 6-7 at a time every third day. Know what you’re feeding them!Always supplement your feed with wild bird seed high in corn and sunflowers. Big egg loves fucking with the amino acids in feed.
>>2878745I hatch 500-800 chickens a year of various breeds.I have coops and free range during the day.With 17 birds it doesnt take much for your entire flock to disappear. Even a low number of "i only lose one a month!" means theyre all gone in a year and a half.Broody hens in the unprotected open is a death sentence.Winter without supplemental feed is a death sentence.Theres a reason there are very few land race breeds.
>>2878786They started getting busted fucking with eggs in the 90s and call it a conspiracy even though it’s a fact.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysine_price-fixing_conspiracyThen they did it again in the early 2000s and got busted again.https://www.reuters.com/article/world/us/us-egg-producers-sued-for-alleged-price-fixing-idUSTRE48P80D/They got busted again in the teens for poisoning them.https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40878381And most recently.https://ncnewsline.com/2026/07/01/no-yolk-nc-ag-jeff-jackson-settles-antitrust-lawsuit-for-3-million-eggs/Oh no wait MOST most recently.https://time.com/article/2026/08/15/eggs-recalled-for-salmonella-upgraded-to-highest-fda-risk-level/
>>2878786Legbars are good in my area but marans have issues.Nothing sucks more than spending big money on having eggs shipped and then you have a crappy hatch.
>>2878779Here’s a pic. Excuse the mess we had a lot of rain now I’m mucking out.It’s a 10x20ft structure with 4 4ftx10ft cages inside.Enough room to comfortably fit ~2 dozen birds or cramped 3 dozen.
>>2878786>Mutts are far far better than “purebred” in my experienceYa that's the downside of a lot of heritage breeds from my research as that many of the once strong healthy lines have been inbred, yet another unfortunate casualty of Mass Production.Have you ever considered growing your own food for them? Might be hard depending on the amount of land you have but its a damn good way to ensure you're going to have food for them if anything happens to the system.That's the reason I chose Icelandics, because if I do it right, they have the potential to forage for 100% of their diet year round. I've been watching the behaviors of the Wild Turkeys and apparently they food on nuts and digging through the snow for goodies, so my goal is to get my birds to do the same.>>2878789That's a lot of chickens. How many acres do you have them on?Ya 17 is defintely small, but we have the mobile coop I showed and another big coop, so I'm debating not letting them fully freerange until I have the stock needed to replenish themselves (Whilst avoiding inbreeding too).I've considered doing nesting boxes, but from what I've read of others doing freerange they just let them rest and brood wherever they find that's safe, be it in the barn or under some shrubs.>Winter without supplemental feed is a death sentence.We definitely plan to supplement them for the first few years, but I also intend to plant some trees that will leave nuts and other goodies for them, so that overtime they will have their own food source. Lots of compost piles too.>Theres a reason there are very few land race breeds.I mean so many of them were wiped out by big AG, but ya, it takes a lot for chickens to get acclimatized enough to survive in their environment. Still, I think if any kind of collapse happens, I'm going to be a lot better off if I can actually get them to be self sufficient.I expect a lot of trial and error, but definitely need a bigger flock.
>>2878832Oh hell ya dude, I admire the grit.Some of the folks I've seen have multiple coops, so being able to make your own out of scraps is a big bonus.
