new ones need to be locked up afaik for some amount of time to lock in your location as "home".
My dads flock didn't have a coop or nest boxes but they had 16 acres of mountains and fields to forage on from sunup till dark .They roosted in trees & drank from creeks & springs. Dad fed his scratch feed to get them to roost close to the house and in the winter he gave them corn. Most people raise game chickens here.I find it really interesting the difference in my birds (I have a lot of different breeds) even though they all came from hatchery stock.
My Leghorn I think could easily survive off free range as when I let them out she’s very industrious and always scratching away. She finds tons of food for herself including stuff that the other birds miss and doesn’t eat that much feed. My EEs are also pretty good foragers.
Meanwhile some of the birds like the SS, Delaware, Orps, Australorp, etc. not only eat a ton but will literally eat food from the feeder before coming out even with the door wide open! Or they make us dig holes for them.
Now, once they’re out or if we’re not out there, they’re pretty good foragers and find a lot of stuff but they’re definitely a lot lazierI need about 20 million more Leghorns to turn loose
Dads flock of white leghorns unbelievably escaped most "day" predators while he worked by staying in the woods out of sight.We rarely saw them until midday. When predators tried to kill his chickens at night they'd make a racket & dad would go out with a gun & light & take his dog .He'd usually fire his run & they'd take off. Over the years the predators finally outnumbered his flock as they taught their young to hunt his chickens too .He finally got rid of them to keep predators from killing them all.
Depends on the nutritional value of the roughage.
We have a patch of Kudzu growing nearby so I picked some leaves off the vine to see if my chickens would eat it & they loved it. I wouldn't advise anyone plant Kudzu anywhere because its invasive but if you already have it growing nearby its a good food source for livestock.
My rooster only crows during the night if somethings harassing them or trying to get in the coop. I think its pretty common for them to crow around daylight regardless.
I seriously doubt it you being farther north t.There are few bugs or plants growing that they can eat is why most wild birds migrate south.
Isn't it difficult to find the eggs in a set-up like this? Or did he just not care about eggs?
I Don't know why anyone raises chickens this way.I think he raised them for the fun of it and chose this method because it was the least amount of work.
