Hedemora Thread

[Jake Levi]

Any updates on the Hedemoras?

I am back in Northern MI, coming back went through -22F weather from MT through western MN and one SC Icelandic had severe frostbite on his SC, the RCs all did well,

I was able to acquire 3 Icelandics with feathered legs, and 2 with smaller RCs, one seems to be sexually retarded, cant decide if it wants to be a rooster or pullet so its going to a pet home, the largest is a tightfeathered white rooster, but has a SC so he gets rehomed also, the middle one is a blackbreasted red winged RC with what seems to be 'enhanced' feathering on all of the body and good leg feathering, he will be used at least one time on all of my small flock of hens, all but one are RCs, and some very small ones. I have a larger RC blackbreasted red winged rooster with very dominant trait, he will get a limited breeding with several of the hens for some diversity to this years chicks, I am hoping for much better feathering and combs from the small dark featherlegged rooster. By fall I will have some good comparisons between the two sires. Its tempting to use just the one enhanced feathering one for this year. But will keep both roosters for half the season at least,

the bigger older rooster does have excellent growth for his age, not sure if that is not a factor of his dominance, but if so it all works well for the breed.

I am considering getting a few of the Hedemora chicks this spring to compare with the Icelandics and the new breeding added this fall in the featherlegged one(s).

 

[klf73]

these are my new babies, these are going into a separate pen from my other hedemora

 

[Jake Levi]

In looking at the Roosters in MT the bulk of them that I am seeing are SCs, have you not seen any frostbites on them ??

Several of my Icelandic SCs do have bigger and thicker SCs, and they still got frostbit this winter. One severely.

I just dont trust the SCs in the north, pea combs are best with small RCs close behind, and very small wattles. As the Chanteclers have. And the misnamed Albertans that the American Poultry Assoc. misnamed as Chanteclers.

 

[Jake Levi]

Any replies out there?

I like what I read about the Hedemora, but do have concerns, and would like to deal with them, I can see a definite value to them. I do believe there is shared ancestry with the Icelandics, the colors and feathering I see are very much alike.

For a northern clime I prefer to see Pea Combs, or Rose Combs then the Single Combs.

My Icelandics have been laying very well all winter, with just some additional light, no additional shelter then a 3 sided shed. I do plan on weighing a couple of the roosters before breeding season.

Hopefully by the first of June will be incubating the first eggs by the RC featherlegged rooster. It would be nice to be raising out some Hedemoras at the same time to compare the two as same age groups and compare the development.

I would also love to get DNA compared on both groups to see if there is shared ancestry.

 

[klf73]

well, my orps, swedish flower hens, cream legbars, and coro sussex roos all developed some frost bite this winter, the hedemora has none

 

[Jake Levi]

excellent !

What temperatures did it get down to there?

How much shelter do they have ?

 

[klf73]

well, my orps, swedish flower hens, cream legbars, and coro sussex roos all developed some frost bite this winter, the hedemora has none

excellent !

What temperatures did it get down to there?

How much shelter do they have ?

they had a regular uninsulated coop. I can't tell you the temp thing, I didn't pay much attention to the temps. my coro sussex roo lost pretty much all of the points on his comb, not quite looking dubbed but strange all the same. here is a pic of my roo and he didn't get any frostbite strangely enough(most of the roos had some degree on tips of their combs)

 

[Jake Levi]

Thanks, thats the kind of input that I was hoping for, it could be he has better circulation in his comb then other breeds. I would much prefer even no combs, such as the Breda.

My Icelandic SC did get very bad frost bite in his comb on the return to MI from Wa, but it was minus 20s in their trailer, and the RCs got touched a bit too,

I do like the looks of feathering on your rooster, although his tail is a bit less then I would have expected, how old is he?

 

[klf73]

he is almost a year old. The tail might have something to do with the polish roo that is in with him and also his placement where he perches, I think he breaks them off since he picks a spot close to the wall

. He is getting separated with his girls into a new pen soon so I will be able to tell if it is supposed to be fuller

 

[Jake Levi]

He is a beauty, I like the looks of his feathering, he looks like he is wearing a parka !

I am going to have to get some this year, and just grow them out beside the Icelandics.
I am also planning to get some Breda this year, these three should be fascinating to raise out in this climate we have here in Northern MI.

We are having some 20s nights again this week, days in the low 30s, it will be a great comparison for all three breeds.