BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[Beer can]

It's interesting that there are quite a few hot weather chicken breeds, but no really- cold- weather egg laying breeds. Single combs are everywhere... sigh.

There is rose comb Leghorns. Personally I don't think you can get a much better layer than a Rhode Island Red, and they can be had in rose comb also.
I've never had a problem with straight combs other than the tips of the roosters combs getting burnt and not bad, heal right up like they never had it in the spring. And we can get a few months of subzero and -25 or worse windchill. Good ventilation in the coop.
I had the red sussex get some pretty painful looking frostbite on their wattles, they were dragging them across the ice. Giant's have smaller wattles and didn't phase them.

 

[Beer can]

@Beekissed Love that roost pic, that's one for a calendar.

Your free range feeding is much like how my dad always raised his reds. He just fed them a little cracked corn. They grew good and had good eggs, must have got everything the needed ranging. He'd have a hen once and awhile hatch out a brood in the woods also. I guess chickens are smarter than we think, want to set and you keep stealing their eggs, they're going to hide them and hatch them out wether you like it or not Lol!
He always had more chickens than you'd want to count so missing one for a few weeks wasn't noticed till she came back with little ones.

 

[cyborg]

@Beekissed I think you should enter that family pic in the pic of the week contest. IMO it's a winner.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

What about the Pavlovskaya, Twentse and Swedish Hedemora? I think all three of those are known for being especially cold hardy and the first two don't have single combs.

There's actually a breeder of Fayoumis a couple hours north of where I live and I've considered checking out the breed. Egg size, bird size, and personality all matter to me though and I'm just not sure I'd be compatible with this breed.

True there are some other cold hardy breeds like the Appenzeller as well, but it's Just personal preference, I don't like crests or head tufts or vaults or anything like that, and I don't like feathered feet either. I like Brahmas except for their feet. The twentse is on my list of breeds to acquire eventually, but aren't available right now in Canada, that I could source.
I'm not keen on rose combs because of the fertility issues and many of the rose combed breeds have whopping great wattles which kind of defeats the whole thing.
As far as Fayoumis go, I hear ya......... I would probably cross them right away with Buckeyes............. I like my chickens somewhat lethargic

 

[ronott1]

We finally have a litter of 11 pups....3/4 Caucasian Ovcharka. I know a pup has been promised to one of dad's special friends and also a couple were spoken for by others as well but I can't find who they were. The pups are 2 days old and I think there are 7 or 8 females, two of which will stay here. Three pups have been SOLD to farmers in surrounding states but I'm certain dad told me that three were promised to people on BYC. If you are one of those folks and are still in need of a good protector, please let us know.

The sweet steadfast friend who has been waiting for her pup, please let me know if you are still interested and anyone else who has been in contact with hellbender about these babies, please let me know, either here on the the thread or dad's PM.

Sorry if this post seems disjointed. I'm almost catatonic from being awake for hours on end.

For those who want to know, dad is holding his own and there has been no calls for family to come. Most are here underfoot anyhow...(that's an effort at humor).

J.

ETA: One of dad's favorite pullets hatched out 8 chicks over night. With luck, that will be the last use of her as a brood hen. About half the chicks were by her, 50% DC and 50% Cornish Cross. The others are pure DC. They made me smile, even though the mammy, Angel is a hateful sow...guess that makes her a good mommy.

Dad was never one to post too many pics and neither am I but I promise, barring some national crisis, I will take/post pics of Angel and her chicks when the hateful thing lets them have a bit of free roaming time.

Thanks for the update! I hope Your Dad continues to recover.

I am looking forward to the pictures too.

 

[hellbender]

They are already roosting with wild mama in the coop each night, so I'm guessing they will adapt to coop life soon enough. They all do when the forage starts to get slim and the only good tucker is provided by the Food Bringer.

Here's the whole family....Dada, Mama and kids....



Below is a WR/BA mix bird with her small brood....they are only a couple of weeks old.



And this hen below had established a nest on our front porch behind a stack of firewood, hatched out 14 out of 16(2 were clears) and has been managing this big brood ever since. They are the oldest of the chicks this year by a week but she still hasn't taken them to roost....most likely because she feels the nights are still too cool and she can't cover them there. She was marked for fall cull before this episode but I'm rethinking that now....she was an excellent and smart broody and is a the same as a mother.





CB, if there is a breed that does well in the cold and continues to lay decent in the winter months, but has a single comb, why not use it? My Rocks and particularly the Black Australorps do VERY well in temps below zero and I don't get frost bite then either, though I think the frost bite issue may be more of a management issue than a comb issue for most people, but it would seem the birds that burn fuel at a nice, slow rate do extremely well in colder climates, be they single comb or not. If the temps are so extreme where you live that you get frostbite no matter what you do, I'd say let that breed self dub and carry on with them if they still do well and lay well for you.

Bee, I know you are an expert with broody hens. We had Angel in isolation in the summer kitchen when she went broody so not much happened that went unseen. I only know of three times that she left the nest during the entire period for feed and water. I feared she would die of thirst if not starvation. Plenty of fresh water and food was available but she just sat it out. Am I wrong in assuming she is a good broody (so far) or some kind of nut case?

J.

 

[Beekissed]

ALL broodies are some kind of nut case!!! Oh, boy....I am FAR, far from being an expert on anything, let alone on broodies, but I can tell you that all broodies are different.....but only the very best ones stick the nest that well.

Their whole metabolism changes when they hit broody mode so they need less nourishment and water....WAY less. I'm often amazed at how many days they will go without food or drink but they don't seem none the worse for wear from it all. I always get a chuckle when folks "force" their broody off the nest to eat and drink every day. I don't think they realize that bird is working purely on instinct and her body will signal when she needs to replenish....no need for humans to interfere at all.

I've had broodies that get off the nest every little whip stitch to eat, drink, stretch the legs and commune with the flock....those never seem to have a good hatch rate. The very best broodies stick that nest like glue and when they do get off, it's never more than 20 min.~ if that~ and only during the middle of their brood~not the first three or four days and not the last 3-4. "They" now say that those 20 min. intervals off the nest every now and again make for a better hatch rate and some commercial hatcheries now set their incubators for turning off for 20 min. each day to get a better hatch rate.

I wish you well on your broody hatch, Jason....should be fun to watch. Never gets old to me to see how chickens do it vs. how us humans think it should be done.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

They are already roosting with wild mama in the coop each night, so I'm guessing they will adapt to coop life soon enough. They all do when the forage starts to get slim and the only good tucker is provided by the Food Bringer.

Here's the whole family....Dada, Mama and kids....



Below is a WR/BA mix bird with her small brood....they are only a couple of weeks old.



And this hen below had established a nest on our front porch behind a stack of firewood, hatched out 14 out of 16(2 were clears) and has been managing this big brood ever since. They are the oldest of the chicks this year by a week but she still hasn't taken them to roost....most likely because she feels the nights are still too cool and she can't cover them there. She was marked for fall cull before this episode but I'm rethinking that now....she was an excellent and smart broody and is a the same as a mother.





CB, if there is a breed that does well in the cold and continues to lay decent in the winter months, but has a single comb, why not use it? My Rocks and particularly the Black Australorps do VERY well in temps below zero and I don't get frost bite then either, though I think the frost bite issue may be more of a management issue than a comb issue for most people, but it would seem the birds that burn fuel at a nice, slow rate do extremely well in colder climates, be they single comb or not. If the temps are so extreme where you live that you get frostbite no matter what you do, I'd say let that breed self dub and carry on with them if they still do well and lay well for you.

Lovely photos of your beautiful birds! It's true it's very much a management issue for me, our climate really isn't that cold but we do have some nights in early winter with high humidity and below freezing temperatures. My chickens are housed in a big old bank barn with stone foundation, and that doesn't help either. Even my Buckeye rooster got frostbite last winter, it was around 8 below zero (centigrade, not fahrenheit) with very high humidity- lots of hoarfrost in the morning. The barn actually had lower humidity than the outdoor air. I have some red sex link cross hens with single combs, they got nipped. The cornish were untouched, as were the Buckeye hens.
I have some new barred holland chicks, I'm a bit concerned for the rooster as I intend to keep one, we'll see how he fares.

 

[varidgerunner]

My broodies are some of the broodinest. Those games really have the instinct. I've got some here with their second brood. I have been sticking my yard birds under them. I affectionately call the hatchlings Dorkingtons and Dorkdottes, that's pretty much what they are. Some of mine leave the nest a good bit. I had one that was off so much I didn't think she would hatch anything, she just hatched 10 out of 10. I think it comes down to them having the instincts to know when they can be off. The weather plays a role. I'm glad that they leave squawking and flapping and make all of the roosters give the hawk alarm, or else I would never find all the nests, and I would have feral game chicks everywhere. Mine generally leave when they hear me feeding the hogs, even though they were raised completely free range, they like a good treat, and I always oblige.

I had one that I somehow goofed. She was sitting on about 8 eggs, (I've been setting small clutches because I only have seven hens of respectable breeds). I must have missed a couple of her eggs, had to reach back in the back of a vacant dog house, in the straw. So she hatched out two early, and left the nest with them when they were a couple days old. She free ranged during the daytime. I just thought she had a really poor hatch. Then I looked on the calendar. She was sleeping on those eggs with her chicks at night, I just left them. When her two chicks were a week old, two of the eight eggs I put under her hatched out. They couldn't keep up with the others that were a week older, so I stuck them under another that just hatched that day. So those eggs hatched, granted not well, with a hen that was off the nest all day in warm weather and setting them at night.

One of the Dorkings even decided she would go broody and seems to be doing a good job, her sisters have shown no inclination as of yet.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

I've been checking the eggs under the broodies, and put marks on them the day I stuck them under the hens. I've had to toss a few interlopers- the other hens must be sneaking eggs in there too, I want the eggs to hatch at the same time. I'm lucky that the hens all set in the coop, last year my favourite cornish went broody somewhere in the bush and I haven't seen her since :-(