Self-sustaining Chicken Flock?

My flocked has sustained itself for many years. It is a mix of many breeds that I bought in 1991 when i first started in chickens....it was 50 Murry McMurry's Rarest of the Rare Pullet Collection and 3 Phoenix rooster chicks. So really all kinds of cool chicks. So now years later, who knows what genes have been preserved? They are broody and scrounge well and do well in our heat, unlike heavy breeds who often die in the summer from heat stroke here. In winter, they still roost in the trees, and in ice storms are covered in ice just like everything else. baby chicks hatch in the fall and winter months, they run around in the freezing weather, doing fine, alert and smarter than their hatchery raised counterparts. Summer broodiness and laying is rare as it is hot and snakey and so many fire ants make it impossible to raise offspring. Summer layers don't reproduce. It's the winter layers who have learned to fool mother nature.

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Diane Rhodes
Feral Nature Farm
LaManchas, MiniManchas and Boers
Member ADGA, MDGA

My vote would be for marans. The ones I've had were naturally mareks resistant (I was losing lots of other breeds at the same time and only lost the occasional roo among the mareks), big and meaty enough to make a decent meal out of, prolific breeders that readily go broody and do so in the nest boxes (they rarely "go missing"), and good foragers.

They're not very good layers, however -- the ones I had were strongly seasonal. But they will definitely reproduce themselves, with plenty of extras for the table.

I like banties cause they are natural born survivalists. They scratch up their own food. They roost high in the trees where it's safest for them. They are fast little things that rarely get caught by a predator when they're on the ground. They can hide in a tiny little spot, even hunkered down in the grass. Their eggs are small so I use 2 instead of 1, but what the heck, the eggs are free so I use all I need and still have leftovers. It takes a couple of them to make a meal, but as long as they keep hatching out chicks to keep growing to table size, that's ok, it's free meat for the table.

The hens go broody often enough to keep the flock built up pretty good. They are natural born survivalists.

I don't try to keep them limited to a pure breed. I'll be happy as long as they lay eggs and taste good. Oh, and did I mention that they are natural born survivalists?

The longer you have a strain, the more they will adapt to the conditions where you live. After a few generations, you'll have a flock that is custom designed to your area and needs. I bought my first chicks from a 4-H'er who had bred several breeds over 4 years to get a great chicken for meat & eggs. I wish I still had some of them, they were the best flock I've ever had.

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This is just an idea that I had but couldn't you free-range all you pure blood line and crossed chickens togather. Pin them up and seperate them a short time before you want to collect eggs to hatch. Put the eggs under any kind of chicken that wants to hatch them.

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Keep your SP101 handy!

You could do that, but I will tell you that I used to range all my chickens together in the off season and then separate them out for breeding purposes. I learned real fast that if I didn't want weird mongrel chicks that I needed to wait at least thirty days.

-- Leva

Well you have to eat something!

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Keep your SP101 handy!

We have buff and white Cochin bantams. Nice egg layers and with 24 hens we pretty much have one or two that are broody at all times. We've butchered the extra roosters and although they're not huge, they're more than adequate for our small family. We're really pleased with their hardiness as compared to various standard breeds we've raised in the past.

Be sure to have a LGD if you want to free range your survival flock. I have birds that rarely visit the feed dish, hatch their young and raise them and I never get to lay a hand on them. If I want one to eat I have to use the .22.

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I believe in God's willingness to heal.

Cyngbaeld's Keep Heritage Farm, breeding a variety of historical birds and LaMancha goats. (It is pronounced King Bold.)