Cold hardy AND broody choices?

[Tnic]

I'd love to suggest that you look at Dominique. I'm also fond of EE or Ameraucana, and one of my EE laid very reliably last winter (3 eggs/week) without extra light, while the RIR and home bred BSL did not lay until Feb. If you're looking at RIR, i'd suggest that you look at Buckeye instead. There's a gal in Maine who is breeding Buckeyes. I don't know the quality of her stock. For my own flock, I'll not choose any more straight combed birds, and will not have feathered feet due to winter frost bite issues. I am in the Bangor area, and use electronet, as well as allowing free range when i'm at home. Love the electronet! Come visit us on the Maine site.

BANGOR??? COOL! We'll be in Levant while we set up the homestead in Machias. I'll def look you up when we get home.

And I LOVE the looks of the Buckeye! It MIGHT have something to do with my entire family being native Buckeyes (born n bred to hate that Team up North

) though. Might have to have a roo just to bring in on game day so he can crow for the Bucks. lol

We were scoping out pics and reviews of the Doms last night after reading through the posts here and they sound like a great breed to start out with as well as possessing all the traits I'm looking for. Cold hardy, dual purp, good brooders and decent layers. Not to mention they're quite handsome birds to boot, a real plus.

Maine site?

Lots to look at and ponder. Thank you all for your awesome insights.

 

[speckledhen]

I think you'd do great with Buckeyes and Doms, one pea combed and one rose combed, so no frostbitten combs at least. And if you breed a Buckeye over a Dom, you get a sex linked chick so you will be able to tell which sex it is at hatch, though a small number of those could end up with single combs (chicken genetics, gotta love it) The Barred Plymouth Rock was created out of the Dominique. Good luck to you!

 

[lazy gardener]

Sex linked, yes! But, if i'm not mistaken, the resulting comb would be Walnut. Not altogether a bad thing, especially if you could breed it on the small side. I've considered the options of a flock made up entirely of these 2 breeds myself. If given the room, I'd maintain a line of pure Doms and a line of pure Buckeyes, and cross BE over Dom for sex links to sell. I'm betting that they'd sell like hotcakes!

 

[lazy gardener]

Maine site: Go to "social", scroll down to "where am I, where are you". Click there, scroll down to "Maine". It's about 5 miles long, so you might want to skip to the last 5 pages or so. You can do that by hovering over the ... in the top R corner, then typing in the page you want to go to.

Gardening topics are under Misc. You might also want to check out "fermented feed" under "feeding and watering your flock". You can type in any topic that your heart desires under "search discussions", and you'll find enough information to keep you going for at least 3 months!

 

[speckledhen]

Sex linked, yes! But, if i'm not mistaken, the resulting comb would be Walnut. Not altogether a bad thing, especially if you could breed it on the small side. I've considered the options of a flock made up entirely of these 2 breeds myself. If given the room, I'd maintain a line of pure Doms and a line of pure Buckeyes, and cross BE over Dom for sex links to sell. I'm betting that they'd sell like hotcakes!

Note, I said a small number would be singles. The resulting comb would be walnut in 75% of the cases, but I have a rose x pea hen that has a perfect single and had to do research to find out what the heck happened. To my surprise, I found that in about 25% of the cases, you do get a single comb! She is BLRW x blue Ameraucana.

 

[rancher hicks]

So I think I will jump into this.

When I first got started I ordered 8 breeds three of each, from Ideal. From those and being here on BYC I have learned a few things.

1. Some breeds didn't mix well. I gave away the SLW's, GLW's and the Aussies because they were picked bald and I'm not one to make a hen suffer. I'd rather just give them a new home.

2. My Doms had a rosecomb good for the cold. The hen that did go broody hatched two for two, in below zero weather in an unheated coop. Very aggressive momma. She would fly in your face if you messed with her chicks. Egg size not great.

3. Dels are great, at least mine are, winter layers. I just have not been able to get them as fat as the BR's, from Kathy. Not broody enough.

4. Your line means everything. Breed is good, but the line of the breed is more important. A friend has SLW's who had fertility problems. You will need to maintain a good line.

5. Hardy lines are important. Birds that get sick and/or die won't do you much good. How well they lay, brood and all that has more to do with the line of bird than it's breed. Prolapse, crop and egg problems are genetic.

6. Cold hardiness. I didn't get light breeds cuz it gets cold here. I'm zone 5 moving to zone 6 with the climate change and have had Dom, Dels, BR's, SLW, GLW's, Aussies, C. Marans, BO's, CR's, EE's and Bantam Frizzles. All do well in the winter, though I think a rose or pea comb variety is best. I cringe when I see frost bitten combs on the roosters, though it can be avoided. Just not by me apparently. Ventilation is difficult sometimes. A Hygrometer can help maintain the humidity.

7. I suggest two or three breeds so where one may fail the other will excel. Also if you plan to keep a closed flock keep good records to develop your own line. Even if you buy from the best breeders, expect to work on your own line. Chicks can come out different from their parents and some will be keepers and some will be other wise. Here are pics of some of my birds.

Good layers, heavy and brooders.

Columbian rock, nice small comb heavy birds Del hen round, good layer

Barred Rocks heavy, I think laying better in their third year than the first. Broody. Good camouflage.

Frenchy orig. hatchery 2008 and she just hatched four chicks and is laying again.


I wish you success,

Rancher

 

[HeadChick2014]

Would love to purchase some Bielefelder's from you when you have some chicks , if you have some , you would not mi d parting with !!

 

[Turk Raphael]

My dad's family has raised Naked Necks aka Turkens for nearly 80 years in the mountains of West Virginia. Granted, not the most attractive birds to some folks but they have been around for a couple thousand plus years for reasons that didn't take appearance into consideration.

I know it got down to -41 F there last winter (not considering wind-chill) and they didn't even suffer so much as one case of frostbite. The birds are friendly to a fault and stand heat as well as cold.

OOPS...I forgot to mention that Turkens are excellent layers of large to extra large brown eggs and the cockerels especially possess a very fine meaty carcasse.

 

[ChickCrazed]

Would love to purchase some Bielefelder's from you when you have some chicks , if you have some , you would not mi d parting with !!

Sure, I will be hatching to order or have hatching eggs. I won't have chicks until Spring. PM me when you are interested!

 

[faro]

Does anyone have lohmanns or lavenvelders?