Dino Chickens: Survival Chicken Free Range Breeding Project Update October 2021

[@qualqui]

Dino Chickens, great title, no wonder DTG recommended us to check out your channel Florida Bullfrog! Beautiful and Brawny, you only have survivors here, I guess most folks pamper their chickens and they grow big, fat and clumsy,easy prey for predators.Thanks for sharing, liked,subbed and greetings to your family and you! :)

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

Thanks Joe! Although the appearance of the chickens really doesn't matter so long as the birds are good survivors, I do want to create a line of chickens that looks like dinosaurs simply for the coolness factor of it. I think the line that is half-Liege fighter, half-aseel, has the potential to come out that way. I think that gold-hackled stag I show in this video is going to look very Dino like when his tail fills out. His tail ought to get very long and flowing and it should give the impression that he has a long tail like a Dino.

[@AM-dc5yz]

DTG sent me! Subscribed and excited to learn more.

[@spaceninjasteve3356]

Who is DTG?

[@AM-dc5yz]

@@spaceninjasteve3356 David the Good

[@spaceninjasteve3356]

@@AM-dc5yz ooh thank you I'll check him out

[@karen-hillshomestead]

New subscriber, sent over by David the Good!

[@Brinnyanderson]

I am so inspired by your birds. This will be my first year trying my hand with chickens. I've learned so much from you. Thank you for your videos Bullfrog!

[@hillbilly24]

Old DTG sent me over here. Glad I found your channel i subscribed as well.

[@georgiadailyr3448]

I was just thinking about how bad I wished you had a new video so glad you uploaded you need to upload more

[@TheDigitalPrepper]

Good tips and information! Been looking into chickens for preparedness (and I just love chickens lol). Stay safe and stay prepared out there!

[@debbiemasters6086]

Hey Bullfrog, I must say I'm danged impressed with your flocks. I myself have never been a fan of game chickens but I'm learning alot & I may have to try a couple hens sometime I need some more info on jst the up keep & raisin part. I live in the woods so they have to be able to survive that & the Florida weather. Thanks again Bullfrog.

[@MPunZ]

Good job overall I’m very amazed at what you’ve accomplished with your blood lines those little bantams sure caught my eyes, as an enthusiast of the tea cup size I am also impressed with you cuz the game fowl you use

[@IAMGiftbearer]

Gorgeous birds! How much does a Rooster of that variety cost? I love the coloring and the shape! Right now I'm looking at various breeds to see what I want to get. I'd love to have one of those!

[@GypsyBrokenwings]

Came over from David the Good. Trying to find game birds in NE Bama.

[@ElvinVamp]

I couldn't find much info on breeding jungle fowl crosses. Glad to come across your page :) I have some red jungle fowl and blue Andalusian hens I'm going to cross to a rir or a blue red wyandotte roo. All of mine are free rangers and sleep in the trees. Can't wait to see more from you and to see what happens with my crosses

[@afj3rd]

New subscriber,David the Good sent me.

[@randomcuriosities8441]

Love the videos. You are living the life friend.

[@feellnfroggy]

Looking good. Looking forward to some pellet gun hunting vids soon enough?

[@chriskeim5699]

That's awful 😢

[@feellnfroggy]

@@chriskeim5699 ? It's almost squirrel hunting season, that's what his channel started on? What's wrong with that? It's as much food and resources as chickens.

[@amberemma6136]

Is this part one of your two part series?

[@dilipkumars6556]

Why u removed aseels from your stock

[@jhost0311]

What is the point of the small bantam chickens? Smaller eggs and bodies seems like a negative as a food source.

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

You are correct the bantams are inferior as a food source. I am breeding the bantam line for two reasons. First, I'm envisioning them for people who simply can't free range like I do because they have small suburban back yards and their chickens must remain cooped. The bantams need far less feed than a larger chicken kept in an area the same size and more of then can be healthily packed into a smaller area, making it practical to keep an entire flock in a small pre-fabricated coop. And yet these bantams retain the instincts and builds of my larger Crackers so in dire need they can be released to fend for themselves. So they could still function as survival poultry better than can say, coturnix quail, where the quail generally aren't good at taking care of themselves and can't reproduce themselves but the bantams can. Second, I am creating them for my own enjoyment. I think its so cool to hold a beautiful game rooster in my hand that's smaller than a pigeon.

[@jhost0311]

@@Florida_Bullfrog cool. Yeah I lived in a city neighborhood in orlando, 50x135ft lot, and had 4 buff orpingtons that I free ranged during the day. I lost one as a small bird to a hawk when I walked away for like 20 seconds, I always watched them closely when small so they didn’t technically free range until 4-5 months of age. Once they were larger I let them free range during the day and never lost another bird. The bigger issue was that they would go in my neighbors yards but luckily they didn’t care and I would share eggs with them. Unfortunately one night I forgot to lock the coop and a raccoon killed the remaining 3. That’s where I really started thinking about having a 25-30lb LGD that would stay outside all the time and watch the chickens. Maybe I will have to start breeding a dog for this purpose. Do you currently know anyone who does? I now live on 1.5acres, still within the city of orlando, but now have additional predators such as coyotes and the occasional bear. I definitely think some free range high rooster chickens would do better here but I’d still be worried about raccoons getting them at night mostly. Either way, I’ll continue to watch your progress. Thanks for sharing.

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

@@jhost0311 I don’t know much about LGDs. I know that around Ocala Great Pyrenees and Anatolians are common due to the horse farms but those are large dogs. Growing up almost everyone in my family had free range dogs with various degrees of bulldog mixed in them. Those were all purpose mutts but none were dedicated LGDs. It probably wouldn’t be hard to find or breed a smaller bulldog to be an anti-varmint dog. That’s basically what my bulldogs have always been. They won’t tolerate any interloping mammal predators. It will take a special small dog to go after a hawk though. The only LGDs I’ve heard of that regularly attack birds of prey are the central Asian breeds where they’ve been bred to fend off golden eagles. I know a fellow around Lake County that has a few.

[@jhost0311]

@@Florida_Bullfrog yeah most of the standard LGDs will learn to watch for hawks too. They are all just too big. Breeders are miniaturizing everything, hopefully they will miniaturize a Maremma shepherd soon. Lol

[@FLAC2023]

That thing is huge!

[@charliew1758]

Nice to see an update on the chickens😁

[@frustratedmajority851]

Just ordered 5 liege fighter hatching eggs. Gonna mix them into my barred rock flock lmao. Not trying to breed a super chicken BUT I do want a badass rooster to protect my flock and introduce some wild genetics at the same time. We have hawks and a liege fighter should work nicely at keeping them at bay

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

I think you are on the right path. Check out my reply on your other comment. I believe crossing Liege to other breeds is a good choice. I am doing that myself. I also believe that outcrossing Liege to hot gamefowl for a couple of generations then back to Liege to make a bird that is high percentage Liege will take care of inbreeding problems inherent to the breed.

[@lanecude8363]

I am really liking what direction your American game bantams are heading please feel free to let me know if any become available either hatching eggs or birds I would absolutely love to get my hands on some of your birds

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

I have some American game bantam eggs available now but I am also eating them so I may have some today and not tomorrow.

[@lanecude8363]

@@Florida_Bullfrog I would really like to obtain some eggs from you if there is anyway possible

[@berniebones]

Looking awesome buddy

[@darrellmorris988]

That’ big hen u called a leage hens can I purchase one a rooster?

[@robertpaulson3935]

I'm in IN, would be interested in buying some aseel and or leige or hybrids of either. Thank you!

[@MrGuyCali]

Any updates on these?

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

Which ones specifically? The half-Liege?

[@MrGuyCali]

@@Florida_Bullfrog yep!

[@newmaineguide]

I'd love to use these as a base for a cold hardy game fowl.

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

I have him breeding all of the free range birds. If you don’t mind a mixed breed that he has fathered, I’ll probably offer some eggs this summer.

[@gregzeigler3850]

Amazing, that you are going the opposite direction than our ancestors in the Great Depression who were more likely raising Brahma, Black Jersey Giants, Dominique,Plymouth Rock and the like for meat and eggs.............

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

Those breeds of today are not the same birds as they were then even as the same breeds. Those breeds of that era came off of free range farms. In the decades since they’ve become products of mass production in the hatchery system where the survival instincts have been squeezed out of them. A dominique of 1920 is not the same bird as it is now in 2022. I’m moving chickens back to what they were in the Depression era. Its the hatchery system that has moved away from what our ancestors raised.

[@gregzeigler3850]

@@Florida_Bullfrog One can still get true breeds of those I mentioned from breeders and even, believe or not Cackle Hatchery, which sells exhibition chicks. I once raised Jersey Giants from Meyer's Hatchery and they were as large as Buzzards and laid extra large eggs(don't know if their strain is still true). They looked like a bag of bones at six months. They were really close to the originals.

[@black.king.genetics1]

How can I get some of your game birds

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

I sell the eggs sometimes on Ebay under the same handle.

[@chriskeim5699]

Finally a new video!! 😍😍

[@poodledaddles1091]

New sub here David the Good sent me

[@lizparenzan4761]

David the Good sent me🤗

[@Kinjo2008]

*D-2-The-G sent me this way.*

[@pollyannaprinciple5860]

RIP young chicken.

[@sirchrisdrake5243]

silkie chickens

[@ianbennett3092]

Sent by DTG!

[@RebelBoy-is7hw]

Been waitin on another video!

[@anandchundi6805]

my thoughts exactly

[@wandapurvis8643]

David the Good sent me

[@black.king.genetics1]

Do you sell chickens

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

Rarely do I sell the adults. I regularly sell hatching eggs.

[@nateross14]

These are cool chickens but I think you could teach regular chickens to 90% free range from a young age and they would do fine They would just not grow as big as they normally do and lay less eggs. I'm not convinced one has to get "Special game chickens" for their Homestead. In a properly functioning Homestead, you'll always have enough scraps and feed to sustain a few chickens over winter. I'd much rather have the friendly temperament of RIR and Barred Rock I think over game chickens

[@Florida_Bullfrog]

Hatchery chickens can learn from an established free-range flock how to survive, but you got to burn through several. A few years ago my wife wanted some layers for Valentines Day to enjoy as pets. I got her 24 of 4 different breeds. 2 survived after 2 years of free ranging. Predators got the rest. I culled those 2 when Marek’s broke out because I was concerned they had the vaccine and that’s no good for breeding towards resistance. I have had 100% survival rate for white Leghorns. I simply gave them away because their white feathers annoyed me. In the book I talk a lot about what a person needs to look for in a free-range survival chicken. Its not just “game” chickens that can make it. But know that today’s hatchery RIR isn’t the same RIR as your grandmother’s free-range RIR of 1950.

[@nateross14]

@@Florida_Bullfrog Interesting, and good info! I have had excellent luck "Free Ranging" Current RIR, leghorn, BARRED rock etc. and haven't lost a single one to any predators in 10 years, but I think people have a different idea of what free ranging is. If one wants to let the birds do their thing and forget about them, then yeah I can see issues and hence a more robust bird. My idea of free range involved basic steps to protect against predators like a safe place to sleep at night. During the day my birds roam freely where they wish. In the end, there are many good ways to go about keeping birds some easier than others. I don't mind doing a small amount of work to keep my flock safe, but the Game chickens are definitely a nice option.

[@sirchrisdrake5243]

Get some silkys