We recently acquired a Wyandotte rooster (5-6 months old) and want to add some hens so are educating ourselves about the different breeds and how to best care for chickens. However, a lot of the information is pretty general, does anyone have a recommendation on which breeds of chickens are the best in our environment?
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I have had very good luck with all of my birds dealing with the heat but my austrolorps seem to be the best but our duck never seems to be affected. We have russian orloffs and americaunas they seem to all be fine we don't have anything like misters to cool them off just shade we also always have spot of dirt that is always wet and they seem to be very happy.
I currently have 7 chickens(all under 2 years old) and can pretty much tell which egg is whose. I've been charting what they lay so I got curious, after this discussion, and decided to total eggs by chicken for the last few months.
I thought you all might be interested.
Of course it also matters what you feed. I feed an Organic corn and soy free feed, oyster shell as wanted, and scraps from my garden. (They've been eating a lot of zucchini lately :-) )
I totaled 2 pages of charts. The first page is from 4/9-5/27, the second is from 5/28 - 7/15.
2 Gold sex-links
-page 1 - 19 and 46
-page 2 - first one died of unknown causes and second one was stung by a scorpion. :(
2 Leghorns (Ideal 236)
-page 1 - 35 and 40
-page 2 - 29 and 26
total - 64 and 66
1 Black sex-link
-page 1 - 42
-page 2 - 34
total - 76
2 Black Australorps
-page 1 - 40 and 48
-page 2 - 29 and 36
total - 69 and 84
2 Production Reds
-page 1 - 42 and 41
-page 2 - 32 and 34
total - 74 and 75
My Australorp that's friendly and acts like a shadow when I'm outside doesn't lay as well as the one that shies away from us.
Of course, this is a very small sample, but I think it's interesting anyway.
I've heard the Austrolorps handle heat well, as Becky noted.
We have a variety of breeds (barred rock, RIR, leghorn, Ameraucana, misc. sex-links, Delawares, Welsummers, Cuckoo Marans), but no crested birds or fancy ones. They all seem to drop to half production in the heat, but they all handle the heat well.
Your setup will play a huge role in their survival in the heat more than anything else.They need lots of ventilation. We have a fan for any birds kept in the pen, though typically they free range on a pasture. Some also like a kiddie pool to stand in.
Shade, of course, is important. If you can give them a tree with lots of leafy branches close to the ground, they will probably love to hang out under the branches. The leaves give off moisture and that evaporates, causing a cooling effect.
My overall best layers are the two easter eggers. I'm not sure if they are Auracaunas, Americaunas... but mostly golden colored, cheek muffs, greenish legs, laying blue/green eggs. With 15 birds, I get two or three colored eggs for every dozen laid.
Excellent information. I had found this link previously as well and its fascinating. My first inclination would be to think that the more leggey, light coated, smaller breeds might do better. But I am by no means an expert and looking at some of the breeds Becky mentioned, that doesn't seem to hold true. It seems no suprise to me that the Brahma's would not do well. They are huge and thick so the whole body size/surface ratio would kick in. As well as the thick plumage. They also have plumage on their legs don't they? I would think that could be a big disadvantage here.
I have had Reds, Sex-links, Austrolorps, Leghorns(Ideal 236), Barred Rocks, Brahmas, and EEs. The Austrolorps seem to handle the heat the best and continue to lay. I haven't lost any of the Leghorns, but they don't lay as well as the Austrolorps in the heat. My EEs and Brahmas seem to be the most susceptible.
That said, my advice is to get what you want and expect to lose a couple each summer.
My chickens free-range, have lots of natural shade over grass, a wade pool, and a mister but it seems like whatever I do to keep them cool, I still lose 1 or 2 who just can't handle the heat (or get stung by a scorpion, or swallow a screw, etc.)
Also, you should look at backyardchickens.com. They have a Breed listing with lots of info on each breed.
They also have lots of information on how to raise chickens, of course.
I'm not sure which are the best, but I can tell you from experience that the high crested breeds like the Polish chickens have a terrible time in the heat so you may want to avoid them, even though they are beautiful birds.
Replies
I have had very good luck with all of my birds dealing with the heat but my austrolorps seem to be the best but our duck never seems to be affected. We have russian orloffs and americaunas they seem to all be fine we don't have anything like misters to cool them off just shade we also always have spot of dirt that is always wet and they seem to be very happy.
good luck!!!
I currently have 7 chickens(all under 2 years old) and can pretty much tell which egg is whose. I've been charting what they lay so I got curious, after this discussion, and decided to total eggs by chicken for the last few months.
I thought you all might be interested.
Of course it also matters what you feed. I feed an Organic corn and soy free feed, oyster shell as wanted, and scraps from my garden. (They've been eating a lot of zucchini lately :-) )
I totaled 2 pages of charts. The first page is from 4/9-5/27, the second is from 5/28 - 7/15.
2 Gold sex-links
-page 1 - 19 and 46
-page 2 - first one died of unknown causes and second one was stung by a scorpion. :(
2 Leghorns (Ideal 236)
-page 1 - 35 and 40
-page 2 - 29 and 26
total - 64 and 66
1 Black sex-link
-page 1 - 42
-page 2 - 34
total - 76
2 Black Australorps
-page 1 - 40 and 48
-page 2 - 29 and 36
total - 69 and 84
2 Production Reds
-page 1 - 42 and 41
-page 2 - 32 and 34
total - 74 and 75
My Australorp that's friendly and acts like a shadow when I'm outside doesn't lay as well as the one that shies away from us.
Of course, this is a very small sample, but I think it's interesting anyway.
I've heard the Austrolorps handle heat well, as Becky noted.
We have a variety of breeds (barred rock, RIR, leghorn, Ameraucana, misc. sex-links, Delawares, Welsummers, Cuckoo Marans), but no crested birds or fancy ones. They all seem to drop to half production in the heat, but they all handle the heat well.
Your setup will play a huge role in their survival in the heat more than anything else.They need lots of ventilation. We have a fan for any birds kept in the pen, though typically they free range on a pasture. Some also like a kiddie pool to stand in.
Shade, of course, is important. If you can give them a tree with lots of leafy branches close to the ground, they will probably love to hang out under the branches. The leaves give off moisture and that evaporates, causing a cooling effect.
My overall best layers are the two easter eggers. I'm not sure if they are Auracaunas, Americaunas... but mostly golden colored, cheek muffs, greenish legs, laying blue/green eggs. With 15 birds, I get two or three colored eggs for every dozen laid.
I also like Henderson's Breed Chart for narrowing down what I'd like.
http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html
Good chart, thanks!
Excellent information. I had found this link previously as well and its fascinating. My first inclination would be to think that the more leggey, light coated, smaller breeds might do better. But I am by no means an expert and looking at some of the breeds Becky mentioned, that doesn't seem to hold true. It seems no suprise to me that the Brahma's would not do well. They are huge and thick so the whole body size/surface ratio would kick in. As well as the thick plumage. They also have plumage on their legs don't they? I would think that could be a big disadvantage here.
I have had Reds, Sex-links, Austrolorps, Leghorns(Ideal 236), Barred Rocks, Brahmas, and EEs. The Austrolorps seem to handle the heat the best and continue to lay. I haven't lost any of the Leghorns, but they don't lay as well as the Austrolorps in the heat. My EEs and Brahmas seem to be the most susceptible.
That said, my advice is to get what you want and expect to lose a couple each summer.
My chickens free-range, have lots of natural shade over grass, a wade pool, and a mister but it seems like whatever I do to keep them cool, I still lose 1 or 2 who just can't handle the heat (or get stung by a scorpion, or swallow a screw, etc.)
Also, you should look at backyardchickens.com. They have a Breed listing with lots of info on each breed.
They also have lots of information on how to raise chickens, of course.
I'm not sure which are the best, but I can tell you from experience that the high crested breeds like the Polish chickens have a terrible time in the heat so you may want to avoid them, even though they are beautiful birds.