YesterdayI posted an article on extreme free - range chickens .
Today I ’ll enjoin a remarkable narrative of genetics , southerly inventiveness and born selection .
On Halloween a man and his married woman with a couple of young fry came magic trick - or - treating at my front door . Since we are quite rural and did n’t get any visitant last Halloween , we were unprepared for caper - or - treaters .
“ I do n’t have any confect , ” I said , “ but I do have a mulberry tree I can give you . ”
With that , I institutionalize my daughter out back to get a mulberry tree . The child seemed a number garbled about it , but the parents just laughed and order they ’d be happy to develop a mulberry . I asked if they desire some farm eggs , too .
I know I was scarper a risk here , since I ( a ) , did not give these hapless people any confect , and ( b ) , was now offering to give them ammunition .
A chicken roost does not get any simpler than leaning a pallet against a wall
The pop allege , “ Aww no , we got plentifulness of farm eggs . ”
“ What bird are you evoke ? ” I demand .
“ They ’re actually my pop ’s . He has a mixture . ”
A chicken roost does not get any simpler than leaning a pallet against a wall
“ Do you keep them in a barn ? ” I need .
“ Naw , they just betray , ” he enunciate .
As I had just been talking withFlorida Bullfrogabout Cracker chickens and extreme free - ranging , I was intrigued . We ’ve lost LOTS of poulet to predators over the years , yet here was a cat with chicken that were dwell in the wild and patently producing eggs as well .
“ Can I come see them ? ” I take , apportion further that I ’d been in a conversation with a man who was talking about the same matter his pappa was doing .
“ certain , ” he said , and present me his routine . “ You ’re welcome to add up see . ”
The following Saturday I had some time , so I called him . He said they were home and just hanging out .
“ Hey Rachel , ” I said . “ You need to go see some chickens ? ”
“ trusted , ” she allege . She grabbed a Seminole autumn pumpkin and I brought a couple of Rocky Patel cigars to give our hosts , then we headed out the door , a duad of our children in tow . It was a cool afternoon , and the sun shine atomic number 79 through the pines as we drove past churches and trailers , farmhouse and fields .
They lived mayhap 15 minutes away from us at the conclusion of a rural route . A red soil private road roll up beside a country home with fences and outbuildings and small children encounter . A fence beside the driveway throw back an miscellany of miscellaneous gripe Bos taurus who were grazing contentedly on heavyset dark-green pasture .
I was wave down by Jeremy , the world I ’d meet on Halloween . He stand with two other men in front of an open garage . All three had cans of beer in their hand , as any healthy Alabamian should on a cheery Sunday afternoon .
“ Park anywhere , ” he allege , so I did , pulling up onto the grass . I was meet by a pit copper pup and a grizzled bulldog along with a babe girl with golden curls . J shook my helping hand and I gave him a couple of cigars . He thank me and bring in me to his pop , a weathered fellow with a wry grin . His name was Bobby .
“ I heard you were maintain chickens without a coop , ” I said . “ Do you do anything to protect them ? ”
These hens are a cross between domesticated egg-layers and game cocks. They are quick and wary – and excellent foragers.
“ Naw , ” Bobby aver . “ They take care of themselves . ”
“ How do you get their egg ? ” I need .
“ I ’ll show you a nest right now , ” he said , designate me a pile of hay bales in a three - sided store edifice . On top of the hay was a beautiful little nest .
Unlike her Buff Orpington ancestors, this hen is wary and quick, living naturally in the forest
“ Where do they roost ? ” I asked .
“ They go up in those tree at night , ” Bobby articulate , pointing to some trees along the barbed telegram fence behind their service department and a duo of belittled shed . “ Some of ’em go in the holly , some in that oak , others are up in that one . A few will go in there , ” he go on , maneuver to a small shed . “ Here , I ’ll show you . ”
We walked over to the little shed . “ Here ’s a roost I made , ” he order .
This rooster was in no mood to be photographed
A poulet roost does not get any simpler than leaning a palette against a wall
“ I just put a palette against the rampart . ”
( In the picture you could see some fencing on the edge of the building , but the front and part of the back were completely open . )
Grenadian “Yard Fowl” foraging in the jungle
On the other side of the piffling building were some scummy nest boxes . They were made from pine boards and were currently empty .
“ A phalanger has been getting in here and slip the bollock , ” he enjoin . “ I got ta ensnare him . There was some shells in here but I suppose he wipe out them too . They like to get the egg . ”
“ This is amazing , ” I said . “ You have predators , but the birds are just roam around without getting pour down . ”
Extreme free-range hens foraging around the edges of the farm
“ All kinds of predators , ” Bobby say . “ Hawks , owl , racoon . ”
“ You desire a beer ? ” Jeremy postulate , bringing a few stale cans of Natural Ice .
“ indisputable , ” I say , accept the can . “ give thanks you . ”
“ I throw a little grain out now and again to keep them around , ” Bobby continued . “ They all flow around here . Sometimes we ’ll get a young rooster taking off some of the hens and starting a new flock . I ’ve give flocks to all my family around here . ”
“ How did you get start rear birds this way , ” I asked .
“ I originate with some Buffs , ” he said . “ permit them wander the yard . But they ’re fat and ca n’t rest in the tree diagram well . ”
“ Right , ” I said . “ They ’re work up for meat and egg . ”
“ Too light , ” he allege . “ I lost half my flock to predators . But my neighbor had a game rooster . ”
“ Like , a fighting hammer breed ? ” I asked .
“ Yeah , a Gray . They ’re good fighters . ”
The young man behind him nod . “ Yeah , they ’ll fly up to face meridian , then dive on another rooster . ”
“ Wow , ” I said . “ So they ’re tough . ”
“ Real tough , ” Bobby said . “ I let them breed the Buffs and then hatch the nut . You know those Buffs , they ’re risky moms . They wish to sit down on a nest long enough to despoil the bollock , then abandon them . ”
“ Yeah , we had one that did that , ” I say . “ We called her the bad single mother . ”
“ They need some game in ’em , ” he continued . “ You mix them , they get tougher and they ’re better female parent . So , the first class I lost half the peck , but the second twelvemonth I do n’t even believe I misplace five birds . They got tougher . They fly up into the trees and fend for themselves . Look – you see that mamma with her little hen ? She ’s part Buff , part secret plan . you’re able to see the stripes on those chicks , too . They ’re half the mother , half game . ”
“ The other day she beat the bulldog off when he fuck off a little too nigh to her biddies . She ’s tough . ”
I point out she was also a expert color , flux in with the background and the woods . Her skirt were even grueling to spot .
A couple of children rolled up on a four Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler and introduce themselves to my tyke . Most of my child joined them and head off to go jump on a trampoline in the nearby champaign .
“ Do you do anything to protect the mothers and chick when the doll are footling ? ” Rachel asked .
“ Nope , ” Bobby allege . “ I allow the rickety ones get killed . Only the sassy and tough 1 live . ”
These hen are a crossing between domesticated orchis - layer and game cocks . They are warm and mistrustful – and excellent foragers .
“ Do you think Leghorns could devoid - range like this ? ” one of my sons ask , getting interested in the conversation .
“ No , ” Bobby replied . “ You know why ? ”
“ Why ? ” my Word replied .
“ They ’re white , ” he say .
“ Oh . So the marauder will see them ! ”
“ That ’s ripe , ” Bobby aver . “ They ’ll find fault ’em off . ”
“ So you do n’t lose birds to predators anymore ? ” Rachel need .
“ Only thing that gets ’em now is an bird of night . One dark I find out them up in the tree diagram making a lot of noise , so I came out with my flashlight . An hooter was right there on the branch next to them , right at the end of the wrangle . They ’ll snap up a volaille by the neck with their claws and take him right on down . ”
evidently , though , Bobby and his family were n’t lose enough razzing to make a difference . There were chickens wind in and out of the edge of woods , over Sir Henry Joseph Wood rafts , around the out buildings and into the glumness beneath the hollies .
Unlike her Buff Orpington ancestor , this hen is wary and agile , living of course in the woodland
“ How many shuttlecock do you have ? ” I asked .
“ I got no idea , ” he secernate me with a chortle . “ A lot . ”
“ And you do n’t really have to feed them or anything , ” I tell .
“ Like I said , just a little grain to keep ’em around now and again . ”
I was amazed . They got plenty of eggs and spend very piffling to get it .
While I was there , I did my good to take pictures . It was hard to take decent shots , as the fowl were untrusting and not concerned in being anywhere close to me .
We thanked out hosts and were place home with a 5 - Imperial gallon pail of homegrown sugared potatoes and recount we could come back anytime .
This , then , was the extreme free - ranging Florida Bullfrog was talking about .
He told me that in the past , his erstwhile Florida Cracker root were poor and the chickens had to make economical sense or else they would n’t be worth keeping . They were n’t plump PET that involve to be mesh in cages . They were scrappy wench , mistrustful , tempestuous , impudent . They were fighters – often literally , as prick - fighting was a major variation until being banned in recent decennium . The old lines of bird may not have been rich and may not have laid an eggs every single daytime , but they were equal to of bring on meat and eggs for a farm family without needing to be pampered and feed with bagged maize and soy .
This cock was in no mood to be photographed
In the third world , scrappy , half - wild fowl are still the norm . In Indonesia I saw chickens ranging without fence at a Lutheran school where I taught a few horticulture socio-economic class . At night the birds perch as high as sixty feet up in a huge tropical tree diagram . Down lower their owners had put some basket in the branches , which they told me the shuttlecock would lay egg in during the day .
Down on the island of Grenada they called their traditional chickens “ Yard Fowl . ” Yard Fowl were known to be much elusive and vulture - test copy than the hatchery chicks that were commonly imported from Trinidad .
Grenadian “ Yard Fowl ” forage in the jungle
They too would rest in trees at night . They were a plebeian sight beside the road and scurrying about in the city , snap up drop food .
What does this mean for us today , as homesteaders seeking a sustainable flock ?
Perhaps it mean , as Florida Bullfrog allege , that to deal with chicken vulture we need to change our chicken .
uttermost free - range of mountains hens foraging around the edge of the farm
Seeing Bobby ’s farm stack in legal action , I have decided to get a couple of plot rooster to replace my fat , domesticated , almost flightless roosters . Some roosters with struggle putz gene , not placid domesticated egg - laying or meat bird cistron .
Then , a few weeks afterwards , I ’ll hatch out the leave egg .
The secret plan cocks will hybridize with Brown Leghorns , Production Reds , Australorps , California Whites and Buff Orpingtons .
When the biddy get big enough , I will then relinquish them to face the predator - fill state of nature of rural Alabama .
May the best Bronx cheer acquire .
Addendum
After read this article , Jeremy texted me a shot of his dad ’s chickens roosting for the night . Now those are some ruffianly chicks !
