Self-sustaining Chicken Flock?

[Organic Cowgirl]

With emergency preparedness in mind, what group of chickens would you get and how would you keep them? For example, I have Rhode Island Reds, who lay well, but no RIR roo, so I can't keep a clean line going. I have Cochins, but their fertility rate is very low due to their feathering. Alas, none of my ladies go broody.

What breeds would you keep to provide eggs, meat and raise their own chicks? It doesn't have to be only one breed, though I'd have to pen them, if the traits required that I keep the chicks from being crossbreeds, as they freerange right now.

I know bantys are good mamas. As are what, Polish? Do any of the meat breeds breed on their own?

[ladycat]

Any kind of games are excellent. Bantam or standard. They can find all their own food, are wary enough to escape predators (most of the time), and multiply very well without any human intervention.

If you decide to go that route, get dark colors. Light colors are too easily seen by owls and other nighttime predators.

[vegascowgirl]

I like bantams as far as keeping chickens that will hatch their own chicks . My bard rocks and buff oringtons (sp?) are great layers but not broody at all. so bantams/bantam mix would probably be what I ended up with in the long run.

[joseph97297]

I'd get Buffs and Barred Rock as well (to me, more winter hardy), with a few RIR thrown in for broodiness. Our best Rooster is a RIR/Barred Rock mix, large, docile and ....how can I say this..... insatiable.....even for a chicken.....

I'm not too worried about pure strains, figure if things don't go south, will replenish bloodlines in 2 years.... if things head south, then who cares what variety chicken you have, the eggs taste the same....

We did get 14 bantams for free, but I don't like them, wife does. They just stay under foot too much for my liking, and you can't really "toe" them like a standard....

[Bonnie L]

I gave up on pure lines shortly after beginning my chicken "career." Last year I bought some more Buff Orpington chicks (my favorite breed) to replace my old non-layers, but my favorite rooster is a Buff mix with several different breeds. I'm getting some bantams this spring to hatch out my own. All my old broody hens died of old age.

[Common Tator]

I have had australorps and americanas both go broody. I stuck day old chicks from the feed store under them and they were excellent mamas!

[chickenista]

I agree with mutts.. get several different breeds.. I have a few roos that are of very large breeds that I use for breeding meat birds. Marans make good meat and are very hearty and easy to keep.
For a 'no fail' set of broody hens you should get several standard game hens or game mixes. They can set a good number of eggs..over 12 at a time.. and will brood several times in a season.
And as the games breed in and lay many of their offspring hens will brood as well.
In their pen, to make your life easier, you need to build a frame and top it with rat wire.
Plant grasses and greens under the ratwire (birdseed is a good thing to plant as are oats, rye etcc) That way the birds can peck the grasses as they grow through, but cannot scratch the roots out of the ground and kill the grasses and that way they will always have some green in their pen.

[RedTartan]

My Buff Orpintons are fabulous broodies. I had one hatch out a clutch of 18 last year.

RedTartan

[diane]

I found that my Barred Rock-RR cross hens went broody on the very first cross. I plan to order some chicks from both breeds and do some hatching to get some cross-breds. We had a major predator attack almost 8 years ago and I lost all my crosses. Prior to that my flock had been self-sustaining for many years. I love my Buffs but I want to establish a self-sustaining flock again.

[menollyrj]

We have Buff Orpingtons & Black Australorps in separate flocks. We have hens go broody all spring & into the summer. The buffs in particular are great mothers because they are...poofy. They are heavily feathered, and usually start laying about a week earlier than the BA's in the spring. Their eggs are larger too. Finally, they are of mellow temperament. The BA's are jumpier and meaner to each other. Never had a BO roo flog me, but seems like all the BA roos are hateful to a degree.

-Joy

[turtlehead]

A great resource for deciding what chicken is right for you is Henderson's chicken breed chart. You can find a breed that lays well, goes broody, forages (or does well in confinement), and you can pick a breed that gets large enough that the roos are a good source of meat.

We really like the Speckled Sussex. They lay well, forage well, and the roos are decent butchering size at about five months or so which is not bad for a dual purpose breed. I've only had one hen go broody but she hatched 15 out of 16 eggs. My broodiness problems are due to heavy predation around here and a struggle to get hens old enough to be broody. We've only had a really secure place for them for about four or five months now.

the chart: http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenders...ks/chooks.html

[AnnieinBC]

That's a great link, turtlehead, thank you for posting it

Annie

[texican]

Avoid Polish..... unless you like to give 'haircuts'... they'll literally get 'blinded' by their crests.

I have dozens of varieties... pretty much all the bantams will lay a clutch and then go broody, and hatch out. I've got four or five hens running around with chicks, right now... My flock outbreeds their losses...

[Cyngbaeld]

You need a land race chicken that is adapted for your area.

[diane]

Originally Posted by Cyngbaeld

You need a land race chicken that is adapted for your area.

As the poultry forum moderator one would think you might know some of us would not have a clue what you just said. Care to elaborate?

[Wisconsin Ann]

Landrace breeds
Landraces (not to be confused with the Swedish Landrace swine breed) are local populations of animals that are consistent enough to be considered breeds, but are more variable in appearance than are standardized breeds. They also lack the formal definition and organizational structure that is typical of standardized breeds.

[Cyngbaeld]

Basically a land race is an animal that has lived multiply generations in one area. It has not been culled except by nature (survival of the fittest). It thrives in its environment with little input from humans.

[diane]

Thank you. I had not heard that term before.

[steff bugielski]

I second the game birds.
We rescued about 30 hens from a cock fighting operation a few years ago. The ASPCA gave us the hens but no roos. I can not tell you how many clutches those birds have gone off and hatched. I think they are all in the coop and one day they appear out of nowhere with 20 chicks. They will raise every one up to adulthood too. I have even seen them fend off the hawks.

[texican]

I guess I've got a lot of 'landrace' breeds then. Some of my flock are over 20 generations old...