[FERDY]

I have just come back from the most wonderful long weekend in Spain, much of which was spent eating tapas & drinking fine Rioja.
I stayed in a wonderful area in the hills close to Gibraltar with my uncle in law & his wife.

They had lived there for over twenty years and have always kept chickens.
The two hybrid hens in question lived in a 5mx5m  enclosure with a small coup inside.

They were fed on layers mash as well as all manner of raw kitchen scraps including bread.
Their drinker consisted of a dirty bucket of water which was topped up every few days.
The accommodation was water tight but had not been properly cleaned/disinfected since the summer.
They had never been wormed nor vaccinated and red mite were inevitably present in the coop all year round due to the mild climate.

So you might obviously think they would be very poor layers but on the contrary they always provided two eggs daily despite the shorter winter days, they were bright, happy, healthy hens and this was the method in which my uncle had kept chickens for years.

I am therefore wondering if perhaps we are making unnecessary work for or selfs & spending needlessly , these are after all the ancestors of jungle fowl.

[jinty1911]

Well, obviously a hundred years ago the hens didn't get wormed or vaccinated and were fed on scraps but I think we enjoy spoiling our chicks (Well, I do) so I suppose it's what needs must?   

[evie2]

When we got our first chickens we were told to 'treat them mean' that way they would lay plenty eggs, needless to say we didn't and they gave us lots of lovely big eggs

[cluckingnuts]

The wild jungle fowl doesn't live knee deep in it's own dodo, an enclosed one has no choice. Muddy water is not the same as stagnant.

[hillfooter]

Our damper climate may have something to do with it it too.  Sunshine is a disinfectant and will kill bacteria and dry hot conditions helps a lot.

HF

[FERDY]

The wild jungle fowl doesn't live knee deep in it's own manure, an enclosed one has no choice. Muddy water is not the same as stagnant.

These chickens were not knee deep in muck, in fact their coop was quite free of muck as they pooped in the run.
The water was not stagnant but it was not cleaned every day as recommended.
My point is that they lay well for three years causing little expenditure or fuss whilst having a contented life.

[min200]

What sort of breed were they Ferdy?  I used to live in Andalusia myself (Carboneras) but wasnt quite so chicken mad then!

[FERDY]

What sort of breed were they Ferdy?  I used to live in Andalusia myself (Carboneras) but wasnt quite so chicken mad then!

Not entirely sure on the breed but they were hybrids.
I was staying in La Linea , beautiful part of the world.

[joyfull]

hybrids often will lay every day for 2 to 3 years whether happy or not as it's in the genes (look at battery farms), I am not saying these people treated their hens like that but just pointing out it could have been in their breeding.