Creating a Stronger Free Range Survival Chicken

[@pootiesart]

Your videos are so inspiring. It’s a simple idea but we’ve grown so accustomed to babying everything that was designed to work without our help. 🤦🏾‍♀️

[@kralupinensis]

I have a great experience with Sumatra chicken. Very smart, vigilant, and known for their uniqueness in endurance flight, they are also said to be very similar to pheasants in nature. They spend whole days in the woods, there is no need to feed them at all, they flee into the treetops during a predator attack. Extremely strong and sinewy, no other breed can beat the wings with such force. When you cross them with a jungle fowl, you have one of the most beautiful and capable birds I have ever seen.

[@spaceninjasteve3356]

Do you have a flock of mixed Sumatra and jungle fowl? These videos have inspired me on my own breeding project.i have red jungle fowl and old English game but considering a few other breeds for cold resistance.

[@AntChiulli-Chiulli_RS]

how do you feel about the aseel breed? i’m gonna be trying them out adding three to my flock this spring, i plan to aclimate them with the other chic men’s correctly and all that so there’s no fighting don’t worry, but in terms of how smart they are or combat efficient in terms being a rooster protecting the flock…etc. how do you feel about the breed in general?

[@childlikefaith7257]

How many eggs does the Sumatra lay per year

[@rachelbishop8556]

I had a Assel show up on my porch. A hen. She was all beat up and hungry. So I caught her and kept her in the house for 48 hrs and then took her out to the backyard. She is such a wonderful, feisty bird. I love your flocks.

[@misterz2719]

You sure raised a lot of birds in a short time. Very interesting video, thank you.

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

Yes, they reproduced very fast.

[@joannew3905]

I planted Seminole pumpkin for the first time this year and it is taking over my back yard! It's a good homestead squash as it is prolific, very resistant to pests, and the pumpkins will keep for a very long time.

[@ToshdogII]

Great video. Very informative. Beautiful birds. Like your homestead.

[@guitarjacklup]

Always enjoy your videos. Keep them coming

[@eflowers8306]

I have a golden comet golden pheonix cross rooster that turned out bigger than his golden pheonix father. He's a real pretty golden orangey red ish color with white tail feathers a couple of which have some irredecent green spots on them. He had a brother that had an all green irredecent tail but he passed away from a sudden chest infection. Your videos on making your own breeds has inspired me to try it out more.

[@kzw5263]

If you would post a link to hatching eggs in your description it would help your sales

[@KM-ts6co]

Such beautiful chickens

[@zakkrick]

If you ever see a chicken face turned purple and feeling sick, that means that they ate a black widow. Just give them not even half of a spool of salt and a lot water. The salt will kill the poison from the black widow. But give them a lot water after you given them some salt. I use to raise a lot fighting roosters like you have here so I know how to take of them.

[@00dreamer00]

Hows the hybrid breeding program going?

[@perfectweather]

I got a rooster named Eastwood that looks a lot like you're meaner rooster. He's fearless and meaner than a Jar full of fire ants.

[@ryu-ken]

Love how you run your farm. Survival of the fittest. Some cupcakes may cry though

[@pedroespinal3593]

Bantam always sounds like a small bird to me. A five pound gamefowl rooster will fight some predators away.

[@joannew3905]

I have three young Liege Fighters. Rooster can get to be around 3 feet tall. They are not aggressive towards humans and not aggressive with other chickens but they will fight hawks. Fight and win, from what I hear. Very cool birds.

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

The farm that imported the Liege into the US isn’t too terribly far from me. I learned about the Liege only after I begun my project. I thought I had an original idea in a giant game chicken, but the Belgians beat me to it by a couple of centuries. But if you note the breeds I’m using I’m following a similar plan as to what created the liege; large oriental gamefowl to a bankivoid type gamefowl. My final bird may end up smaller than a liege but if it consistently hits an athletic and strong 6-7lbs I’ll be happy.

[@joannew3905]

Yep, as long as they are big and tough you'll have what you need. My LF are only about 2 1/2 months old and they are big and growing fast. The hens are much smaller than the rooster.

[@jeffreydustin5303]

@@joannew3905 The question I have is do you want a fighter or a flighter? A fighter might win against a hawk but not two hawk attacks probably. Flighters might avoid multiple attacks from various types of predators, foxes, snakes, hawks, etc. Just an idea, no idea if reality is different.

[@predatorschickens6143]

I didn't know you had a KZbin Channel too. I'm thinking of maybe ordering some eggs from you next spring if I can get around to it, & or have space. I'd like to hatch a Cockerel for my Red JungleFowl hybrid hens.

[@heathwood8135]

American Game bantams and miniature Pit Game or the combination thereof makes some of the strongest, toughest, smartest, and successful at living feral. I have several hundred in multiple flocks.

[@JohnSmith-en2st]

I've got standard American game a d they are excellent birds good mothers I cant go near my chicks hens attack my they stay hatching eggs had zero die from predators only died from one of my roosters

[@mjk9388]

David the Good sent me. :-)

[@gardencodes91]

Do you're survival chooks nest where you want them to.. Or do they nest out in the bush like turkeys?

[@DoThingsMakeStuff]

I would like to start a new free range flock my question is if you’re starting from scratch at what point can you turn them out?

[@chuygarcia1225]

hello, do you have some for sell? I would be interested if you do.

[@marinellahobbyfarm-manongb4891]

Just Subbed, thks for all the tips

[@colinselby2405]

The Greg Judy of chickens

[@natepallett6541]

American gamefowl hens will attack hawks I have several hens fought multiple times with goshawk and red tail hawk

[@frustratedmajority851]

I'm deciding between American game fowl and old english game fowl. I live in North georgia and winter temps can get into the single digits... and I read that american game fowl combs are prone to frost bite? Not sure if that's only prone to happening in extremely cold climates or anywhere that gets below freezing but old english game fowl don't seem to have that problem. Old english are also larger than Americans. Since I'd be harvesting them for meat and not eggs, this trait is desirable. Any thoughts? Would Americans struggle with several single digit nights during winter? Any experience with old english game fowls?

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

I think Americans can handle it. Its hard to get true Old English in the US. Most Old English bred in the US are of American stock bred to Old English show standards. And Americans were originally Old English anyhow. Where American gamefowl started to branch off from Old English was with the addition of oriental gamefowl crossed in. That’s why many American gamefowl families have pea combs. The pea combed birds can handle frostbite better because they can tuck the whole comb under their wing on a cold night. Straight combed fowl get frostbite when their combs are large and can’t all fit under their wing when they sleep. Some of my Crackers get frost bit combs on the tips but don’t seem worse the wear for it. You could either look for pea comb Americans or dub straight combed fowl if it becomes a problem. American genetics are now so diverse you can probably find a large bodied family. The Americans I’m crossing into my Crackers are downright huge.

[@frustratedmajority851]

@@Florida_Bullfrog interesting stuff. Any recommendations on a source for American game fowl chicks/eggs? Or are you in tye business of selling fertilized eggs?

[@bobbyblair1084]

Nice birds im interested on how they turn out.

[@mattandrews8528]

Also I mixed blue jersey Giant with my chicken barnyard mix for added size, if you want some extra size that breed will mix it into the genetics quickly lol

[@JohnSmith-en2st]

I bred my American game with blue sapphire gems reproduction and barrd rock

[@JohnSmith-en2st]

And now u have second generation coming bred back to the same American game rooster

[@JohnSmith-en2st]

I want a aseel to bred into my flock next

[@JohnSmith-en2st]

I only ly keep a couple roosters only the alphas the toughest sell the rest

[@Sarah_Inspired7]

Guinea fowl can eat up to 4,000 ticks each per day. 🙌

[@williamhaskellhaskell3162]

Hi bullfrog. I'm wild Willie on GTA. I lived in Jensen beach Martin county. Fla. From 76 to 86. That town is all built up. Condos. Development. And pollution in the Indian river. No more woods or clean water! A shame you have talked about. Thank you. Bill

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

Its terrible isn't it? Heartbreaking actually. And I don't think there's a fix.

[@mattandrews8528]

Have you ever thought of adding geese or Osceola turkeys to your flock for more variety? I raised some Osceola turkeys from egg to add to my chickens here in N FL. The Osceola turkeys were a fun project that honestly turned out pretty well. I’m going with meat geese next because they eat mostly grass and they should be able to graze my backyard nicely then make a meal one day.

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

The geese are a no go because of my wife’s phobia of them. Turkeys we have considered and we’ve found a good breeder not far from us who has quality bronze turkeys. I have considered crossing them to wild turkey and raising the hybrids. When the lady I know has eggs I’ve going to buy or trade a batch from her and incubate them. I’ve never raised turkey before. Because I have a large wild turkey population, I figure my biggest issue will be them intermingling and the bronze turkeys possibly leaving. Some of my guinea losses have been from the guineas integrating with wild turkeys and leaving with them.

[@asahelkish5809]

Guineas leaving with the turkey?? Or did they just get feral by themselves? Guineas hardly mix with other poultry

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

They left with the turkeys. A turkey hen adopted several guinea keets. It’s pretty common. I know of two other farms that lost their guineas to turkeys.

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

There’s probably a big difference between how guineas relate to wild turkeys than domestic turkeys.

[@igotboredfkit]

Can we get an update on the Aseel. Have you intigrated them yet? Also the American/Asian cross how big is he know

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

I’ve been holding off until I upgrade my camera or camcorder. My good Panasonic died on me. I got about 5 years of heavy use out of it but in the end it couldn’t take the punishment in my backpack. I’m either going to upgrade my cell phone to a IPhone 12 Pro Max or get a Sony 4k camcorder. I hope to make the upgrade in a month or so. Until then, I’ll post some pics up in the community feed.

[@jason3064]

Great video , have you ever tried raising dominicker/dominique chickens. They free range very well. Had some over here in the caribbean, i'm from Trinidad, and they thrive well in the bush.

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

I haven’t, but my brother loves dominickers.

[@jason3064]

@@Florida_Bullfrog yeah they are very tough chickens, able to pretty much take care of themselves in a bush setting like you have there, tasty as well lol.

[@aron8949]

My friend just told me he can take me to rescue some fighting roosters for breeding in Southern California

[@kirisranchomicasa4998]

Hi 👋 question what's the price on the wild game fowl rosters ?

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

Depends on the rooster. They can range from as low as $25 or as high as $200.

[@Drewskidelmar]

Good video - those are some really pretty roosters! I currently have a flock of free ranging bantams with 4 roosters and 3 hens . I (hopefully 😂) have more hens in the brooder coming , but was wondering if it’s possible to keep that many roosters?

[@Red-Tempest]

I have black breasted red Cubalayan bantams and they are excellent flyers and foragers and are friendly. But also have a flighy wild instinct. And are cold hardy but may need insulation where I live. They are awesome. We recently bought black breasted red game fowl bantam chicks and were hoping to hybridize. We wanted a super cold hardy, wild, small, ok egg producing bird, were hoping a Cubalaya rooster mates with a game bantam hen. We'll call the breed black breasted red English cubalaya. Crossing my fingers they breed this spring.🤞 I think the 2 breeds will make excellent offspring. And if we make a new species we get to officially name it!!

[@paulsmith4789]

You've come a long since you started. I've got a comment and a question. First have you tried eating any of the guineas cause they are good eatin. Second have you noticed with the increase of your flock, fewer ticks and bugs in general. I'm just across the state line from you so our habitats are similar.

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

I’ve definitely noticed less insects. My yard area is almost totally devoid of grasshoppers and any visible insects during the day. I have hardly any insect damage in my garden. At night crickets are still common and I’ve noticed an increase in the wild, outside, cockroach population of various species. Not sure if its because the chickens have removed their predators or competitors or if its my lack of pesticide use outdoors. I have cleaned a couple of young guineas but at that time they were too small to have much usable meat.

[@williamcunningham7695]

I raised just pure game and they did great, the only thing is the roosters are very territorial so the young stag would take the hens just coming off the chicks and take them into deep woods to avoid other roosters. I am going to look into getting some junglefowl, Where did you get yours??

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

I got mine off of a farm in central Florida. They couldn’t or wouldn’t tell me anything about their background. Those SE Asians who have looked at and bought my birds indicate they’re high quality hybrids, but to me it seems they could as much be old school Spanish games. I’ve never let the mature brood cocks stay around each other to see how gamey they actually are. About the time spurs sharpen up I separate and cull them. With my more recent batch I’m going to let them do what’s natural and see what happens.

[@williamcunningham7695]

@@Florida_Bullfrog Ok, I'm waiting to see the next cross your doing(with the aseel?). Do you think the size difference would allow them to breed? Anyway, you need to post another update video on these guys.

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

I think they’ll breed fine. What I question is whether I’ll get a mix of the traits I want or a mix of the traits I don’t. I want the next gen to have the size and tenacity of the aseel with the longer necks and longer legs. But I want the birds to also have the larger wings and flightiness of the junglefowl. I selected a line of aseel with wings that are large for aseel but as they mature I can tell that their wings still aren’t as developed as equivalently sized pure bred American gamefowl. I want the end product bird to be able to easily launch 20 feet up into a tree. One issue is that aseel are solid boned and the junglefowl and American games are hollow boned. I don’t know what happens when solid bone is crossed to hollow bone.

[@williamcunningham7695]

@@Florida_Bullfrog Well I guess thats why its an experiment! Can wait to see the product.

[@JohnSmith-en2st]

Lol ya I raise them in town in fenced in back yard I had stags and hens living roosting in my neighbors house all over town for over a month all summer no feed by fall they came back I put back in the coop they service on there own reason they took off becuz my rooster chased them out

[@jeffreydustin5303]

How many chickens do you have to raise in order to activate meaningful selection that will improve free ranging, parasite resistance, alertness, camoflauge, gain on poor forage, foraging vigor, fertility, high reproductive drive, strong roosters that guard the flock, etc.?

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

I'm going on three years into my free range survival project. I noticed an improvement to general survivability after one generation. Some of the traits you've asked about tie into other facts such as the freshness vs inbreddedness of the genetics you're working with. Especially traits relating to virility and fertility. I've noticed by 2 1/2 years my Crackers are showing some sensitivity in their fresh chicks to weather that they used not to show. Especially cool mornings and torrential rains. I do not know how inbred my Cracker flock was when I received it. Based on how well they cross with other bloodlines and how the hybrid offspring almost always come out larger with longer legs, I suspect my Crackers have been inbred for a long time. Some inbreeding is fine in chickens but when it continues for many years eventually new blood has to be brought in. I just completed a video on my cross breeding projects I'm going to try to upload tomorrow. By the time I'm done I want my Crackers to be about twice as big as they are now but keeping the same traits. I think I've found a bloodline of American games that will do that for me.

[@masonmurphy2294]

I live in citrus county Florida and would like to maybe come visit your property ! Maybe purchase a rooster from your game bird stock ?

[@russellfredrick6519]

I've been missing your videos glad to see you again. Have you ever considered geese? They are the best watchdogs you'll ever have.

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

My wife was chased by a gander when she was a kid so she has a phobia of them.

[@russellfredrick6519]

@@Florida_Bullfrog they tried to chase my wife too. She always kept something in her has to shoo them off. I would turn and grab them by the neck and hold them gently while talking to them to make them understand. We would have to have a conversation about once a week.

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

If my wife wasn’t afraid I’d sure try one. I like the fact they are almost grazers like a cow. I don’t have any other poultry that fits that niche.

[@yasinkurt1271]

hi . Can you cross the jungle flow breeds with sussex, rhode island red etc. i really exciting this kind of x cross breeds anyway. Of course if u want :))

[@TheGrmany69]

Those assil crosses also look like the paujil fowls of south america.

[@JohnWagner-p3t]

What are you're prices on your fowl

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

I don’t offer them anymore.

[@PiedmontFoodForest-kz9fi]

@@Florida_Bullfrog Okay, so we'll have to start from scratch. If you were starting over to produce a 'cracker chicken' what breeds would you start with? Or do you know anyone selling similar or derivative birds or eggs? Thanks!

[@childlikefaith7257]

You probably already know but some games the hens and roosters both have spurs.

[@nathenwallis5664]

Really cool video!

[@cashfarm8245]

What causes the cocks to want to figut after thunderstorms?

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

They can’t recognize each other with wet feathers. Brothers become strangers.

[@cashfarm8245]

@Florida_Bullfrog oh ok thankyou

[@DuaneT64]

The Asil is a strong hard hitting chicken if you was to cross your Asil's with something like a Kelso(fast hitting) or Round Head(fast hitting) and line breed down to 2/3 Hard and 1/3 Fast i think it would make a great free range survival bird........you would just have to some how keep all the roosters completely separated.

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

I am shying away from the aseel though. My aseel pair have been free ranging now since a couple of weeks after I shot this video. They've hit a developmental wall where they're now growing slow and I don't believe they'll be much larger than the junglefowl, and the aseel stag is very submissive to the dominant junglefowl roosters.

[@codycarter913]

Great video!! Can the chickens fly at all? Like the guinea's.

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

They fly very well.

[@ryantobey6476]

Thanks for the video

[@TheExtremeRace]

What are of fl is that? Do you ever sale and hbrid game fowls?

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

I sell the hatching eggs. Rarely I'll sell roosters. I never sell hens. People often jerk me around when buying the roosters so I generally don't bother offering them for sale anymore. If I have extras I don't want I just cull them.

[@predatorschickens6143]

By the way, this is MysteryChicken from BYC.

[@derek4real179]

Asil/hatch is your breed

[@rhinohorn5145]

Hi sr.do u sale a pair of wild chicken? U do l like to buy a pair.

[@YoNi-xi8pk]

The chicks of the very beautiful rooster tyrant that you have do you plan on selling any extra roosters or hens you have ? If so I’d be happy to take them in shipping or pickup whatever is fine with you reply to my comment so I can give you my contact info

[@Qaibpigeonsfishing]

Just sub to your channel. Love your birds. I also have asain thai roosters / hens myself.

[@stratinvllc]

I just bought 10 jungle fowl from cackle hatchery.

[@j0505galvez]

Get you some game chickens

[@anandchundi6805]

bro this video is insane, first of all you're experimenting breeding hybrid chickens which is awesome and then you say you're trying to revive an extinct species. Most Florida video I've seen in awhile

[@socksfor4453]

My grandfather have chicken farm but on 3 males and 3 females my grandfather try to breed it so we can have more

[@blooky102]

hmm if i were to breed chickens this would be the way I would do it: indio gigante x Jersey giant = gen 1 hybrid , gen 1 hybrid x jungle fowl= gen 2 hybrid, gen 2 hybrid x indio gigante.

[@peterzin8979]

That chicken tastes better than fat chicken

[@bradystew31]

You start adding the game fowl and the asil you’re going to have some problems when the offspring stags mature. Also it is pronounced A-seal.

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

My Crackers are already gamefowl and kill each other when grown, so I am familiar with the rooster management issues that come with gamefowl. There is no one correct way to pronounce or even spell aseel or asil. Its a word found across many ancient languages to denote the same family of bird and has multiple pronunciations.

[@natepallett6541]

That asil hen will kill all your hens when she is adult

[@tomsd8656]

Do you know that if you cross Asil to jungle fowl, you basically get chickens very similar to the various breeds of American game, because just about all American game has some oriental game in them. So they will be bigger but also more aggressive toward each other. But I have seen American game roosters killed by hawks pretty easily. So if the objective is to deter hawk attacks, it wouldn't work. Red tail hawk would even go for turkeys. There is nothing the chicken can do against strong talons, unless they all gang up on the hawk, which usually won't happen if they are free range. They would just run first, and whoever the unlucky one would get caught. On the other hand, oriental games like Asil, Thai, Ganoi, O Shamo (the biggest of them all), are my favorite breeds, so if I have a place like yours , I will definitely keep them. Also, it is true that hawks tend to leave the big ones alone and go for the smaller ones.

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

I just added Liege game to my flock. I'm going to go with them crossing to the Cracker birds instead of the aseel. The aseel are maturing extremely slow.

[@black.king.genetics1]

How can I get some eggs from you are some chick's

[@k15jam62]

How to make a rooster strong and fierce and I buy a male duc , this duck attacks chicken s all the time my rooster cward

[@superbuddyfranklin]

The Guinea fowl eat ticks,

[@umeshrana1465]

❤❤

[@dablaugntximntxub2318]

you'll never find a rooster to fend off a hawk or predators unless you raise some thai rooster that's gonna stand a chance with hawk, but not other pedators.. those asil won;t do much but will fight your hybride jungle only... whom ever told your that a rooster will fend a predator is bogus only.. you can get the biggest asian game fowl that's the shamo still won;t do anything against fox or hawks..i been raising asian game birds for over 15 yrs and i live in the country and even my most fiercest shamo is still opossum lunch...these birds will kick you and all, but easy prey to predators.

[@Gunner-ll1zd]

My g fowl had a 40% success rate with hatching and mothering their own keets. Pretty horrible moms. I had better success stealing, incubating their eggs and raising them up a bit before letting them out.

[@beastboi78]

My babies get eaten at night by the rats then they get up and they have to dodge hawks, a rabid mongoose, and a family of Argentinian Tegu Lizards. I found the best way to get my game fowl numbers up i wait till they hatch out when they come out of hiding then i grab em and put them in cages up in the air also helps for my dogs to get to know em cuz they can sniff em thru the cage and idk about anyone else but i leave the mom out cuz sometimes the moms squish them

[@matthew-ww6vs]

Iowa blue chickens

[@JohnSmith-en2st]

Breed them with a aseel

[@fishguygobies3932]

Are you sure those aren’t jumbo/french guinea fowl? They look bigger than average. The French’s are much more prone to predation and reproductive issues because they can’t fly well and are very inbred, losing a lot of maternal instinct. I’d recommend doing something similar to your chickens, mix your remaining guineas with wild type helmeted guinea fowl and you’ll produce a much more hardy, semi domesticated bird.

[@fishguygobies3932]

To clarify, they CAN still fly, just not as well. They’re also less intelligent.

[@superbuddyfranklin]

8:33

[@prowe0009]

I wouldn't cross asil with them. There not good flyers. There thin feathered. Can't handle cold weather. Not a good idea. I would cross them with something different. A game fowl of some kind. Game chickens does good free ranging. Iv have every different kinds of chickens for 40 years. I love jungle fowl. But it better to keep cross them with game fowl. You need good flyers. To keep them selfs from predators.

[@sammybrown6133]

If you want a good and hearty bird, just go with the American game....none better at surviving and raising chicks. The Asils are very poor layers.

[@joerowland7350]

Are you the same person that does the pellet gun videos I like game birds John jumps radio is my favorite if you want stronger you need rope train thim