Gavran Chickens: A Tiny Indian Farm, a Whole Lot of Fowl Freedom

Attaching a 30 sec clip that's actually a 6 month process compressed down, so it needs a bit of explaining or it just looks like random farm footage.

I run a small free-range indigenous chicken operation in India, raising a native breed called Pure Gavran (basically the traditional village chicken breed here, nothing commercial about it). Thought this sub might find the process interesting since it's pretty different from how most poultry gets raised.

Day 1, we put a hen on about 15 eggs in a quiet corner. No incubator, no machine, she just sits on them like hens have been doing forever. 21 days later they start hatching. We leave the chicks with her for a day or two because whatever she does in that window, we can't really replicate it artificially, and it makes a difference.

After that they go into a brooding setup where they get vaccinated (skip this and you WILL regret it) and fed BSFL (black soldier fly larvae), basically a natural protein source among other natural feed until they're about a month old. We hatched 2000+ chicks naturally this time, and it's honestly the most nerve wrecking part of the whole cycle.

Around day 50-60, once they're a month old, they finally go out into the free-range area. This is the fun part to watch. They're eating bugs, chasing fallen fruit, exploring, doing whatever they want basically. No cages.

Here's the thing that surprises people most, because these are native indigenous breeds, not commercial layer breeds, it takes a FULL SIX MONTHS for them to reach laying age. Compare that to commercial layers which get there way faster because they're bred specifically for speed. Our birds just aren't built that way, and honestly we wouldn't want them to be.

Diet the whole way through is old-school village style, feed inspired by traditional practices, no antibiotics, no growth hormones. I'm just showing you the process because I don't think most people outside India have seen a native breed raised this way.

Curious if anyone here keeps a slower-growing or heritage breed, does the wait feel worth it compared to hybrids, or is 6 months to maturity just painfully long from a keeper's perspective?