I'm assuming you're thinking of getting some chickens so I'll share some of my experience.
I used to raise game chickens up until a few years ago when my wife said they had to go. They were constantly tearing up her landscaping projects. They will scratch up EVERYTHING and they especially love anything freshly mulched or newly worked ground.
I raised a breed called Round Head, at least that's what they were called locally. Very beautiful birds. And you're right. They are very hardy. I kept some cracked corn around for the kids and guests to feed them but they basically took care of themselves. They ate bugs and such and drank out of the creek.
They were good layers of tasty brown-shelled eggs but didn't always make their nests where I wanted them to. I even built nesting boxes but they usually preferred one of the sheds. We'd always pick a few eggs and leave a few. Several weeks later we'd see a momma hen leading a dozen little chicks around, which was really quite nice to watch.
Another thing I learned. The only way to ever catch a game chicken is to catch him or her off the roost. Mine always roosted in a big boxwood tree so they were fairly easy to catch. If you do get some you'll have to do this at some point or you will get too many roosters and they WILL try to kill each other when they come of age.
Overall, I enjoyed raising them. They are easy to care for as long as they have a good fresh water supply. They don't do well in pens or chicken houses where diseases can spread easily.
Hope this helped.
