Landrace/adaptive breeding discussion

[LaurenRitz]

Some nights, she even refuses to sleep in the coop. Despite that, she flies very high into the trees, and has never been caught so far

Would you set her eggs? Or even let her brood her own, in spite of (or because of) her tendency to sleep in trees?

 

[LaurenRitz]

I now have to be very selective about the sitting too, as I've reached the carrying capacity of the land and every space is precious. So I do not let pullets sit. I do not let any hen showing any sign of illness sit. I do not let any hen sit before the local wild birds are well into their nest-building (April, usually). The wild birds have got the timing for foraged food availability down to a tee, and I want my flock to synchronize with them.

So in your estimation, a broody in high summer, fall or winter is a defect? Would you cull a bird that only wants to brood in winter?

 

[fluffycrow]

Would you set her eggs? Or even let her brood her own, in spite of (or because of) her tendency to sleep in trees?

I'd be happy to set her eggs. I've not been able to tell her eggs apart from the rest, but I know for a fact that she's laying. Unfortunately, my landraces have never gone broody, something very important to me, and something mentioned earlier in the thread. She was raised by a mix breed bantam. This year no one has gone broody so far, so I incubated to reach the numbers I wanted to reach for this year. Some of the eggs I set were definitely hers. Any female offspring of hers that are as good as her, and have at least some creme or brown on them will be kept (for the reasons previously stated, i won't know for a fact that she is the mother, but I have my suspicions).

If she were to go broody, I'd have one more reason to set her own eggs; her genes would introduce broodiness back into the line. Tree sleeping for me is a plus. My birds seem to do a good job by sleeping high for the most part. My very longterm plan is to range them 24/7 (not just dawn-dusk), so tree sleepers are welcome

 

[Ridgerunner]

I eventually want a bird that can thrive without human help if necessary.

So basically you want a feral flock.

she flies very high into the trees, and has never been caught so far

Would you set her eggs? Or even let her brood her own, in spite of (or because of) her tendency to sleep in trees?

You need to set your criteria based on what you want, not someone else's goals or preferences. If I wanted a flock that could survive without humans locking them in a coop at night, I think that would be a good trait and that the hen could teach her chicks. I'm not sure what is inherited behavior or learned behavior but I'd try to hatch eggs from chickens that behaved the way I want them to.

If she were to go broody, I'd have one more reason to set her own eggs; her genes would introduce broodiness back into the line.

I kept a rooster from an egg of a hen that went broody. Overall broodiness jumped a lot in the flock from his pullets. He obviously passed on some broody genetics.

 

[LaurenRitz]

So basically you want a feral flock.

In a sense. I would have no objection to a feral flock, but I do want to reintroduce the instincts that would help them survive in that situation.

You need to set your criteria based on what you want, not someone else's goals or preferences.

Of course. I have a hen that goes broody twice a year, once in the late fall. While I have no specific objection to this, it's not something I want to encourage. I am curious as to how others feel about this.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Any female offspring of hers that are as good as her, and have at least some creme or brown on them will be kept (for the reasons previously stated, i won't know for a fact that she is the mother, but I have my suspicions).

Maybe next time you want to incubate, isolate her for a couple days so you know the eggs are hers?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have a hen that goes broody twice a year, once in the late fall. While I have no specific objection to this, it's not something I want to encourage. I am curious as to how others feel about this.

If you want broodiness in your flock, hatch eggs laid by broody hens and keep the chicks as replacements. If you do not want broodiness in your flock, don't.

I encourage broodiness in my flock because that suits how I want to raise them. With a broody hen I check under them when I'm collecting eggs after the others have laid and remove any that don't belong. I let my broody hens decide when to bring their chicks off of the nest and raise them with the flock. I feed a feed that is suitable for the chicks to the entire flock so feeding time is no different with or without chicks. The broody hens handle integration for me.

The way I manage my broody hens is less work for me than incubating the eggs or buying the chicks and raising the chicks myself. A lot of people on this forum can't manage them my way. Some because they won't, they can't keep their hands off or they just enjoy it. Some because they don't know that chickens have been doing this for thousands of years without human interference. And some because they don't have the room.

 

[LaurenRitz]

If you want broodiness in your flock, hatch eggs laid by broody hens and keep the chicks as replacements.

Oh, I was referring to going broody in the fall and winter. I definitely want broodiness.

 

[fluffycrow]

You need to set your criteria based on what you want, not someone else's goals or preferences

Very true. I try to keep my wants and needs to a bare minimum, though. Landraces were shaped by the land, and that's what I'd like to keep doing

 

[fluffycrow]

Maybe next time you want to incubate, isolate her for a couple days so you know the eggs are hers?

I've considered this in the past. Their coop has a pen that I use to introduce the youngsters. Theoretically, I could confine her in there for a few days, but I don't know if I should. Keeping the landrace away from the land is not my favourite way of going about things, although I have done it before