Best Chicken Breeds for Extreme Temperatures

[SirPecksALot]

Hi! Where I live, sometimes the temperature will dip down to -20 degrees Celsius during the winter, and 30 degrees Celsius during summer. Often, some of my hens will be very cold during winter, and one of my hens even got pretty bad frostbite on her comb a year or two ago. Then, in the summer, they're all really hot, drinking tons of water, sometimes panting, and I usually have to bring cold treats down for them. I was wondering if there are many breeds of chickens that do well in both hot and cold temperatures.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Hi! Where I live, sometimes the temperature will dip down to -20 degrees Celsius during the winter, and 30 degrees Celsius during summer. Often, some of my hens will be very cold during winter, and one of my hens even got pretty bad frostbite on her comb a year or two ago. Then, in the summer, they're all really hot, drinking tons of water, sometimes panting, and I usually have to bring cold treats down for them. I was wondering if there are many breeds of chickens that do well in both hot and cold temperatures.

My temps are a bit more extreme, and I haven't had a lot of issues- just a Welsummer who didn't do well once temps got into the 100°+ F (40°+C).

My best adapted breeds are EE, Naked Neck, Spitzhauben, Brahma - and surprisingly - my Silkies.

What breeds do you have currently?

 

[SirPecksALot]

We currently have 4 production red hens, two Plymouth rock hens, 2 Marans cross hens, 1 Easter egger hen, 1 less fluffy Easter egger pullet, 2 really young Marans-Easter Egger cross pullets, 1 really young silkie of unknown gender, and a legbar cross cockerel. The production reds always seem to fare the worst. The hen who lost part of her comb was a production red, and they always seem to get really hot very easily in the summer.

 

[Aunt Angus]

We currently have 4 production red hens, two Plymouth rock hens, 2 Marans cross hens, 1 Easter egger hen, 1 less fluffy Easter egger pullet, 2 really young Marans-Easter Egger cross pullets, 1 really young silkie of unknown gender, and a legbar cross cockerel. The production reds always seem to fare the worst. The hen who lost part of her comb was a production red, and they always seem to get really hot very easily in the summer.

Frostbite is relatively easy to avoid if you can keep their coop well ventilated. You have probably already addressed this, but you might try adding ventilation in case you haven't.

Deep shade is probably the best way to keep chickens cool in hot weather, but some folks use misters, pans of cold water, or frozen water bottles for hot days.

But it sounds like you might need to avoid the production birds in your climate.

 

[alaskanchickies]

We currently have 4 production red hens, two Plymouth rock hens, 2 Marans cross hens, 1 Easter egger hen, 1 less fluffy Easter egger pullet, 2 really young Marans-Easter Egger cross pullets, 1 really young silkie of unknown gender, and a legbar cross cockerel. The production reds always seem to fare the worst. The hen who lost part of her comb was a production red, and they always seem to get really hot very easily in the summer.

We live in Alaska. We put either Vaseline or bag balm on combs and get. Don't have the coop too hot if they go outside. The sudden change can make them sick. We raise all breeds at some points.

 

[alaskanchickies]

We live in Alaska. We put either Vaseline or bag balm on combs and get. Don't have the coop too hot if they go outside. The sudden change can make them sick. We raise all breeds at some points.

Meant to say feet not get.

 

[Iluveggers]

Chantecler & Orloff should do very well in the cold, they don’t have the big straight comb so much less likely to get frostbite.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Chantecler & Orloff should do very well in the cold, they don’t have the big straight comb so much less likely to get frostbite.

I don't think chancteclers handle high temperatures very well

 

[Iluveggers]

I don't think chancteclers handle high temperatures very well

I googled Celsius to Fahrenheit conversion. 30C is about 86F. To me, that isn’t a high temp, especially if it’s only on occasion. Maybe it’s just perspective? In NY, high 90s is high. In Southern USA 100s is high.

 

[3KillerBs]

I googled Celsius to Fahrenheit conversion. 30C is about 86F. To me, that isn’t a high temp, especially if it’s only on occasion. Maybe it’s just perspective? In NY, high 90s is high. In Southern USA 100s is high.

Yep. For me 95f is normal summer weather.

Thanks for the advice! Some summers it does get quite a bit hotter than 30 degrees, and that's usually when the chickens are doing the worst, but around 30 degrees is when they start panting and drinking more. We tend to get pretty cold, damp winters, and we've already got quite a bit of snow on the ground. So we do have a few chickens- like our Marans crosses- that take the winters really well, but seem to be boiling in their feathers during the summer. So I'm just looking to see if there are any chickens that take both hot and cold temperatures well.

Brahmas are supposed to be quite tolerant of cold but they are also weirdly heat-tolerant.

The ones I've had here in central NC *do* spend more time dug into the ground staying cool in the summer than the lighter breeds, but seem to suffer less than the Wyandottes. I suspect that their thick feathers also insulate them from the sun.

I don't know how my beloved Australorps fair in severe winters.