What about chickens?

[Heka]

So for chickens, it may depend on the breed, then.

I doubt cattle would die out, domestic sheep... Hmmm... They'd have to relocate their wild.

I know pigs revert to bores quickly....

Goats would have no problem, at all....

Sheep in the wild are fine. I know plenty of people who have lost a sheep, only for it to turn up years later...

[Denarius]

Re: What about chickens?

Sheep in the wild are fine. I know plenty of people who have lost a sheep, only for it to turn up years later...

And that's in Australia, yeah? So it's not for lack of predation.

[nbdy]

Re: What about chickens?

We have chickens, and when they are getting the nutrients they need they each lay an about an egg a day. We gathered over a dozen eggs each day in the winter. Put a couple of roosters in the mix and that is one hell of a reproduction rate. And roosters are not animals to tangle with. Some breeds they can be 3+ feet tall with spurs like velociraptors. I have seen regular sized reds eat frogs, rodents, and once about an 18" snake, in addition to the bugs and vegetation that everybody knows about. When a chicken dies the other chickens cannibalize it if not removed promptly. No, I don't think the Polish or Silkies would make it, they are challenged to make it with human help, but the sturdier breeds probably have a better chance in the wild than most people.

[B. de Corbin]

Re: What about chickens?

We have chickens, and when they are getting the nutrients they need they each lay an about an egg a day.

Put a nightlight in the coop and you'll get two a day

[Heka]

And that's in Australia, yeah? So it's not for lack of predation.

Yeah exactly. I mean of course they get taken out occasionally, but 15 years ago a family friend won some record for the longest wool on a sheel, because it had been missing and unshorn for like 4 years.

Theres an element with the sheep, they are bred to grow wool, if they are not being shorn regularly, would that affect their chance of survival? Also not having their tails docked to prevent issues back there.

[Heka]

Put a nightlight in the coop and you'll get two a day

And soon you'll be on your way to factory farming!

[B. de Corbin]

Re: What about chickens?

And soon you'll be on your way to factory farming!

Not if you cuddle and kiss you hens every day.

(Notice how I didn't mention cocks)

[Rae'ya]

Re: What about chickens?

I doubt cattle would die out, domestic sheep... Hmmm... They'd have to relocate their wild.

Feral sheep exist, in many countries (including Australia). As with anything, there is cross breeding that makes the feral populations no longer resemble the originals, but if Merinos can go feral in Australia and survive long enough to form self-sustaining feral populations... domestic sheep can survive anywhere. And yes, we have predators. Dingos have interbred with feral dogs to the point that many dingo populations now contain much larger dogs than they originally did. Which means we now have predators large enough to take adult sheep, goats and roos. Plus a number of small predators that can take lambs and kids (foxes and quolls being the most obvious).

Australia has feral... well pretty much everything. If it was a livestock species and it came to Australia... it now has feral populations. Camels, goats, deer, sheep, cattle, water buffalo, pigs, rabbits, chickens... not to mention the brumbies (not really livestock, but feral horses have been thriving here for a very long time). We even have feral donkeys. Plus the introduced bird and fish populations.

It may just be that this sort of thing is so much more visible in Australia, because we have such a unique natural ecosystem that it's painfully clear to everyone here what is 'native' and what is introduced. Almost all of the feral and non-native animals here in Australia were accidental escapees or small-number releases. There are relatively few species which were released en masse on purpose (cane toads, foxes, rabbits, deer, some bird and fish species). But what this means is that we as a country are a perfect example of just exactly how easy it is for domestic species to survive without humans. These animals came to Australia, escaped or were released, and now have thriving populations in a climate and ecosystem that is, in many cases, drastically different to what they were originally bred for.

You'll probably find that if you dig into it, the US and Europe have a vaster number of feral populations than many people realise.

Dairy cows though, I think might have some issues.

I grew up surrounded by dairy cattle, just around the corner from one of the largest dairies in the Mallee (by head of cattle, rather than land size). I've seen dairy cattle form ranks against dogs, so predation would not be the issue any more than it would be with beef cattle. If humans cease to exist tomorrow, the majority of active dairy cows will get mastitis... but it wont kill all of them. A significant portion, yes. But whole scale death resulting in no dairy cows surviving? I think that's relatively unlikely. So yes, dairy cattle would have issues, but I don't think they'd die out. Presuming that they then managed to down the fences, what was left would then breed with the bulls or with the beef cattle down the road (my aunt and uncle kept a hundred head of beef cattle, about 2km down the road from the dairy, which translates to much closer to the actual cattle themselves, so this is a completely realistic scenario). In the end, we would still have feral domestic cattle as a species.

With Cows and also chickens there is the "Hormone" issue. and the anti-biotic thing. I don't know how those alterations would effect their ability to survive. In many ways our "Meat" is altered quite a bit,and also they "Might" be effected by being kinda dependent on "Altered" cow and pig and chicken feed. Might that effect their ability to digest "Wild" food.??

Just wondering here..Not an expert on animal metabolism..

Meat chickens will die. Especially the poor sods who are intensively raised. Meat chickens are... defective. But it's not necessarily because of the antibiotics and hormones they are fed (which, incidentally, not all chicken growers actually use). It's because of their dysfunctional body shape, stunted wings and pitiful legs. Cattle, sheep and chickens as a species will survive, but certain specific breeds will die out almost immediately. Pigs and goats are amazingly resilient and hardy, and have far less dysfunction bred into the commercial breeds, so I don't think they'd have issues. As part of my vet nursing training I did a day's work in an intensive piggery (one of the terrible ones where the pigs are kept in tiny stalls not even large enough to turn around in) and those pigs still had natural forage instincts. They still snuffled around in the concrete, and they ate their own shit the way that any pig confined in small spaces does. Presuming they get out of their pens first, those pigs will survive.

The digestion thing would not be a concern. Most of them will actually be healthier on 'wild food' than on the crap they are fed in commercial livestock farms. Ironically, grazers, browsers and foragers retain the ability to find food much better than captive raised hunters and scavengers do. Ruminants (cattle, sheep, deer and goats) and hind gut fermenters (horses and rabbits) are fundamentally designed to eat high fibre, low nutrient feedstuffs... grass, weeds, leaves etc. That's why commercial farms feed grain... because it's high fat, high nutrient dense and it puts on the weight and muscle mass that is needed for a good food beast. Even pasture fed, free range meat livestock are left on legume based pasture rather than standard old grass. So the grain-based feedstuffs of the commercial meat industry are actually not feeding for survival, but for overweight, unhealthy beasts. Turn those animals out on plain old grass? They'll lose weight, but they'll end up healthier. Like a person who goes from eating high protein, high fat McDonalds and KFC all day to eating fruit and veg.

Theres an element with the sheep, they are bred to grow wool, if they are not being shorn regularly, would that affect their chance of survival? Also not having their tails docked to prevent issues back there.

Our feral populations have managed so far, and given that most of them are from Merino stock it's a pretty good indicator that wool-sheep are capable of surviving. We tail dock and mulse lambs in order to minimise the incidence of fly strike, which is actually not always fatal, and which still happens in non-mulsed sheep with tails. But Australia has more of a problem with this than many other countries, due to our climate. Again... if feral sheep from Merino stock can survive in Australia, they can certainly survive in other countries.

[Heka]

Not if you cuddle and kiss you hens every day.

(Notice how I didn't mention cocks)

I think the cocks would fight back.



I also feel totally convinced by what Rae'ya has said. To me this is about over haha. Things will survive without us. Good on them haha

[Rae'ya]

Re: What about chickens?

I also feel totally convinced by what Rae'ya has said. To me this is about over haha. Things will survive without us. Good on them haha

Yeah sorry... you all need to ban me from the animal threads

[Gleb]

Re: What about chickens?

I dunno... Some people ( at least those who can afford it) would keep them as pets. But most of the chickens would die, I guess.

[nbdy]

Re: What about chickens?

Put a nightlight in the coop and you'll get two a day

Poor chickies! It's already one hell of a menstrual cycle.

[B. de Corbin]

Re: What about chickens?

Poor chickies! It's already one hell of a menstrual cycle.

Actually, I'm being serious. We live In a cold climate, so K'Roe rigged up a light in all the coops to give then some warmth. She only put it on at night, or on bad days.

The ducks and chickens both layed about double.

We did this for several years in a row, and our birds live much longer than average, so it doesn't seem to hurt them.

[nbdy]

Re: What about chickens?

Actually, I'm being serious. We live In a cold climate, so K'Roe rigged up a light in all the coops to give then some warmth. She only put it on at night, or on bad days.

The ducks and chickens both layed about double.

We did this for several years in a row, and our birds live much longer than average, so it doesn't seem to hurt them.

Call me an old hippie (and you'd be half right) but we try to let them live as natural as possible -- run around and eat whatever they feel like. Aside from providing safe, clean shelter and fresh water, oh, and tossing out sunflower seeds each morning, we leave them to be whatever they mean to be. My place is a great place to be a chicken because we only eat the eggs and don't put them down when they're spent. Seems sort of horrid to take everything a creature produces and then kill it when it stops producing. I could understand it if it was a starving time around here, but it isn't.

[B. de Corbin]

Re: What about chickens?

We're much the same here. We tried raising meat birds, but they were icky.

Our other birds just are pets. We eat the eggs (even from peahens), but not the birds.

Other people's birds come here for retirement.