Find or Create Midwest hardy breeds: Heat, Cold, disease

[MrFarmboy1888]

So, here in kansas, and surrounding Midwest region, we have Heat often hotter than Florida, and Cold often colder than coastal places further north. I have seen 110F and -10F.
So, first, on existing breeds that are hardy for both extremes, for me the Americana has been pretty resilient, for instance the Buff Orphington seems to suffer more in both summer and winter.
The mediterranean breeds seem to take heat better, and I am thinking the majority of the cause of that is body type since they take heat even with dubbed combs which help them take cold beter if they do not have a comb to freeze.
So, I am thinking add some Mediterranian body type to Chantecler comb for a Midwest hardy dual purpose breed, select for hardiness for 6 generations.
Whiting True Blue should be very Midwest Hardy if my theory is correct.
Some cross ideas to create a new bred that lays good, still has some meat potential, and is heat and cold hardy:
1) Buff Catalana or Buff Minorca to buff Chantecler.
2) Brown Leghorn to Partridge Chantecler.
3) White Leghorn or White Minorca to White Chantecler.
4) Red Leghorn to Buckeye.
---
For disease resistance could cross some Kraienkoppe or Cubalaya or Fayoumi into the breed, which should also help some for heat.
Thoughts and ideas?
Or experiences with such crosses and their heat/cold hardiness?

 

[Sally PB]

No experience or ideas, but following to see where this goes!

I'm in Michigan and the Great Lakes certainly modify our climate. We can still get very cold (0 to 5 above is pretty dang cold) and hot/humid (90+ and humidity).

My first rooster (Buff Orpington) lost parts of his comb and wattles to frostbite. My current rooster (White Chantecler) had no such issues last winter.

 

[Saveria]

So, here in kansas, and surrounding Midwest region, we have Heat often hotter than Florida, and Cold often colder than coastal places further north. I have seen 110F and -10F.
So, first, on existing breeds that are hardy for both extremes, for me the Americana has been pretty resilient, for instance the Buff Orphington seems to suffer more in both summer and winter.
The mediterranean breeds seem to take heat better, and I am thinking the majority of the cause of that is body type since they take heat even with dubbed combs which help them take cold beter if they do not have a comb to freeze.
So, I am thinking add some Mediterranian body type to Chantecler comb for a Midwest hardy dual purpose breed, select for hardiness for 6 generations.
Whiting True Blue should be very Midwest Hardy if my theory is correct.
Some cross ideas to create a new bred that lays good, still has some meat potential, and is heat and cold hardy:
1) Buff Catalana or Buff Minorca to buff Chantecler.
2) Brown Leghorn to Partridge Chantecler.
3) White Leghorn or White Minorca to White Chantecler.
4) Red Leghorn to Buckeye.
---
For disease resistance could cross some Kraienkoppe or Cubalaya or Fayoumi into the breed, which should also help some for heat.
Thoughts and ideas?
Or experiences with such crosses and their heat/cold hardiness?

That sounds like such a cool idea. I hope some breeding buffs find this.

I wouldn't worry too much about frostbite as long as your coop has good ventilation. My birds don't get damaging frostbite on their combs till it is -15, and it usually takes a couple nights in a row for it to be bad, and even after that it heals up fine.

 

[NatJ]

So, I am thinking add some Mediterranian body type to Chantecler comb for a Midwest hardy dual purpose breed, select for hardiness for 6 generations.

Have you tried Chanteclers, just the way they are? You might not need to mix anything in, just get a group of Chanteclers and breed from the ones that handle the heat best.

Hatchery "dual purpose" chickens tend to be smaller and more slender than the breed standard-- so hatchery Chanteclers might already be right for your purpose.

The same goes for Buckeyes.

Whiting True Blue should be very Midwest Hardy if my theory is correct.

You could ask about other people's experience, or get some and try for yourself. That would be a way to test your ideas fairly quickly, before you devote many years to an actual breeding project.

Some cross ideas to create a new bred that lays good, still has some meat potential, and is heat and cold hardy:

1) Buff Catalana or Buff Minorca to buff Chantecler.
2) Brown Leghorn to Partridge Chantecler.
3) White Leghorn or White Minorca to White Chantecler.
4) Red Leghorn to Buckeye.
---
For disease resistance could cross some Kraienkoppe or Cubalaya or Fayoumi into the breed, which should also help some for heat.
Thoughts and ideas?
Or experiences with such crosses and their heat/cold hardiness?

You certainly could try all of those things, and they might work.

But you CAN eat Leghorns, Minorcas, and similar breeds just the way they are. So if you want a Mediterranean-type body build, you might just try the Mediterranean breeds the way they are first, and see what you think. Just plan on butchering them young-- they grow fastest while they are young (most breeds do that), but they also tend to stop growing at a younger age compared to some other breeds (the biggest breeds are usually the ones that grow for longest, not necessarily the ones that grow fastest at first. At least, that is mostly true if you ignore the special meat breeds like Cornish Cross.)

If you want the Mediterranean type and the smaller comb, cross the Leghorns or Minorcas with Kraienkoppe or Cubalaya (or Yokohama or Sumatra), rather than looking for something big and meaty when you don't actually want the big body.

If you are trying to match colors in your list, Brown Leghorn and Partridge Chantecler are not the same color/pattern, and I don't think Red Leghorn & Buckeye are either (obvious detail there: Red Leghorns have a red tail, while Buckeyes have a black tail.) You certainly have the potential to get nice looking brown or red chickens from each cross, but you are likely to get a variety of appearances that you can either work with or select in the direction of whichever color & pattern you are actually trying to make.

Thoughts and ideas?
Or experiences with such crosses and their heat/cold hardiness?

No direct experience, but I've seen lots of people talking on these forums about where they live, what temperatures they deal with, and what breeds they have. I think there are probably quite a few breeds that could already work for your purpose.

But if you want to try crossing various breeds, certainly go ahead-- it's always fun to play around with things, instead of just buying a breed that someone else developed. If you try it, I'll be happy to hear the results and admire pictures

 

[JacinLarkwell]

My ketwas were Champs this last winter (-20 and colder), same with my mixed breeds that all have lighter egg type breeds in their background.

 

[SueT]

I live in SWMO, and have had many breeds, Plymouth rock, orpingtons, australorps, Wyandotte. Only my leghorns got frostbite when the temps were -20F during a polar vortex. No one has had any problems with the triple digit temps that we get every year, and this year was the worst so far.
More than any others I’ve had, I love my Spitzhaubens, which originate from Switzerland. I love my little Sebright, tho she gets cold enuf that I bring her in when it’s under 10F. So anyway, I crossed the Spitzhaubens w the Sebright, and got my designer mix I call Sprights. I really like this mix, they are medium size, hardy in all weather, small combs, good layers, intelligent…and they all look just alike. I have not experienced any diseases in any of my flock, so can’t speak to that.

 

[chicken-tender]

I am here is SW Michigan. I do not have a lot of experience with breeding but have several Ideas I am working on.
I restarted with Partridge Chanteclers ( 5 hens, 1 rooster) 1 Buff Chantecler hen and 1 Dominique hen from Ideal hatchery in Texas. I lost 4 chicks shortly after arrival which threw things off. I replaced with 2 local barred rock chicks. As they grew, I found I had a Demon rooster that hated my wife which earned him a free trip to freezer camp. In the two years I kept just those hens, my egg production was very satisfactory. I did manage to get chicks from the rooster before his trip. They grew fine, some I kept as hens the rest including a barred rock rooster I got by mistake, were cockerels. I caponized them and had 3 slips out of three attempts, so they got processed sooner than I wanted. I have now started over again with Bielefelders. I have 5 pullets and 1 cockerel. I have kept the Barred Rocks, the Dominique and the largest 2 Partridge Chanteclers. I expect to cross all with the Bielefeder.
I am also looking for a couple of Bresse hens and Langshan hens. I want to cross breed and try to get a whiter meat breast and a larger breast. All the original breeds I had have done extremely well in both the summers and winters here in SW Michigan. No frost bite or heat problems. I do not use artificial lighting but I had a steady stream of eggs all winter . Did not keep an accurate egg count but I gave away at least 3 dozen and ate one or more myself each week. I have high hopes for the same results for the Beilefelders. My ultimate aim is a chicken with a white meat breast similar to the Cx crosses that I can hatch at home and will free range effectively. Which I can say the Chanteclers are really good at.

 

[MrFarmboy1888]

I am here is SW Michigan. I do not have a lot of experience with breeding but have several Ideas I am working on.
I restarted with Partridge Chanteclers ( 5 hens, 1 rooster) 1 Buff Chantecler hen and 1 Dominique hen from Ideal hatchery in Texas. I lost 4 chicks shortly after arrival which threw things off. I replaced with 2 local barred rock chicks. As they grew, I found I had a Demon rooster that hated my wife which earned him a free trip to freezer camp. In the two years I kept just those hens, my egg production was very satisfactory. I did manage to get chicks from the rooster before his trip. They grew fine, some I kept as hens the rest including a barred rock rooster I got by mistake, were cockerels. I caponized them and had 3 slips out of three attempts, so they got processed sooner than I wanted. I have now started over again with Bielefelders. I have 5 pullets and 1 cockerel. I have kept the Barred Rocks, the Dominique and the largest 2 Partridge Chanteclers. I expect to cross all with the Bielefeder.
I am also looking for a couple of Bresse hens and Langshan hens. I want to cross breed and try to get a whiter meat breast and a larger breast. All the original breeds I had have done extremely well in both the summers and winters here in SW Michigan. No frost bite or heat problems. I do not use artificial lighting but I had a steady stream of eggs all winter . Did not keep an accurate egg count but I gave away at least 3 dozen and ate one or more myself each week. I have high hopes for the same results for the Beilefelders. My ultimate aim is a chicken with a white meat breast similar to the Cx crosses that I can hatch at home and will free range effectively. Which I can say the Chanteclers are really good at.

Nice ideas! Yeah, I have a few ideas as well on creating new breeds and one includes meat, which is several options something like this:
1) Chantecler cross to Dorking.
2) Chantecler cross to Bresse.
Then cross 1 and 2, and then select for a few generations for consistency.
-
Or for dual purpose great eggs and great meat:
1) Chantecler cross to Dorking.
2) Chantecler cross to Leghorn
Then cross 1 and 2, and then select for a few generations for consistency. The Dorking is supposed to be tops for meat, the chantecler has Cornish and Other heavy breed in it so should be good meat and cold hardiness, and the Leghorn tops for eggs and heat tolerance plus it is pretty cold hardy to, or i could use Australorp it is part Leghorn and better for heat than many heavy breeds other than the color, the perfect heat bird would be a light colored Australorp i am interested in creating such a bird if i ever get to that!!

 

[Sally PB]

I have now started over again with Bielefelders. I have 5 pullets and 1 cockerel. I have kept the Barred Rocks, the Dominique and the largest 2 Partridge Chanteclers. I expect to cross all with the Bielefeder.

I have 4 Bielefelder pullets that I got as chicks from Mt. Healthy this past May. My flock is "full" right now; I got Biels to see how they fit in. If they work out as well as I hope they do, there might be a Biel rooster and breeding in my future.

My girls are wonderful so far; two of them are definitely "lap chickens," something I'd been wanting.

 

[chicken-tender]

I really liked the Partridge Chanteclers. One of best for free ranging I think. Very predator aware from birth. My cockerel responded to squirrel warning call about cat when he was only 6 weeks old. His offspring got out and into the field next to me. I got them all back but 1 pullet. She evaded recapture for 6 months! Two neighbors kept seeing her but none of us could catch her. She excaped in May at 8 weeks of age, I finally caught her 2 days after Thanksgiving on the 3rd day of heavy snow. She was healthy and sound but weighed 2 lbs less than her three sisters.
My one problems with the breed is the past breeding for eggs instead of meat. But I guess that is problem with all hatchery stock.