I am no expert but I think messing with a breed designed and bred for a hundred years to be great in cold climates without winter heat by using A/C just isn't the right way to go. Not ecologically nor humanely let alone "breederly".
- What if the A/C goes out? Bunch of dead birds. And then there is your electric bill. One of the nice things about chickens (appropriate for one's climate) is the LACK of requirement for expensive climate controlled living quarters.
- They would have to be kept in the A/C coop ALL THE TIME when the temps are over what 80, 85F or the temps are up there and the humidity is high. How many months a year is that? They won't be happy chickens.
- How many generations/years/decades will it take to breed OUT the cold hardiness?
And when you are done, you don't have a proper Chantecler anymore.
I'm sure there are many heat tolerant breeds that would be better suited to your needs/wants.
Bruce
I'm going to catch so much heat for this, but I can't leave this alone. "Messing" with a breed "designed" for a specific climate is exactly how we got the Chantecler in the first place. The best traits of specific breeds were blended together to create mutts, mutts that were continuously rebred for their specific genetic mutations until, finally, some consistency started showing up.
If Gucci wants the Chantecler as his foundation breed then he ought to get it, but he deserves to know exactly what he's getting into. Even Purebred Chants are hatched without the correct traits or 'perfect' feathering and so on. He could create a Tennessee Walker Chantecler or some other rediculous local punned name. It wouldn't be the original, however it would be based upon, founded upon a solid breed with generally excellent characteristics.
It bothers me to no end that people say "I'm looking for a chicken that fits my ________ climate." Make one! Find the birds with the best traits, pick your foundation breed and go.
Gucci, it would only take one generation or one hatch to start to breed in some feathering that's less than tight. The white Wyandotte would be a good place to start loosening up those feathers while keeping with the foundation breeds. Of your crossed hatch, keep the birds with the cushion comb but fluffier feathering, try to look for the white colouring and general stature as well as the leg colours. Pick the ones with the traits that you like and keep working them through. As soon as you create the hybrid, there are traits you will find crop up easily, especially by using a foundation breed.
One of my favorite birds is a Chanty/blue orp cross that I have. Here feathering is tight but not as much so, and she ended up spangled with a silver face. She's just lovely, and I plan to breed her back to my Chanty roo (different genetics, though one inbreeding would be so bad, imho) to see what I get. She lays larger eggs, still the soft tan and perfectly shaped ones, but there are some traits I enjoy, and with a bit of selective breeding I can work the blue back out.
I have been doing this a minuscule amount of time compared to other people here, but I absolutely believe it does a breed JUSTICE to make it useful to you in YOUR area if it's what YOU want. People can call them mutts, less-than-worthless, whatever they want. These birds, however, still put eggs in your fridge (or on your counter, depending) and meat in the freezer, like every other purebred chicken out there. My 'mutt' mixed laying hens sold for the same price at auction as pure bred laying hens did. If you can make what is best for your area, you can not only establish your own line of 'impure' birds, but you can create something that is functional, long lived, healthy and adaptable to your climate and I 100% encourage you to do so.
I have 3 projects I'm working on, one of which will keep the Chantecler as pure as I can because they are suited to my area, but it will also create 2 more 'breeds' (with chanties as the foundation) I can use to achieve my goals, that can handle my conditions, my care, and my treatment. Don't ever let anyone tell you you shouldn't have a certain bird in a certain climate, or that it's unjust to work on breeding them for traits that aren't APA accepted, just be aware of what needs to be considered to make them comfortable and take into account extended power outages and so on. Providing shade and fresh, cold water with electrolytes will go a long way at keeping them cool, but be aware they may need more than that.
My greatest suggestion to you, Gucci, would be to find someone who is willing to ship some young birds to you that are 'cull' birds. Maybe their feathering isn't tight enough, legs not yellow enough, wattles are too big. Someone in a northern state will have something like that -- If they can make a couple bucks off of a bird that would have otherwise gone in the freezer, they're likely to work with you on getting you one. Traits like larger wattles wouldn't be a detriment in your area, nor would loose feathering (you'd actually want that) and a larger or off-center, maybe wrong comb type that cropped up, would also not affect meat or egg laying quality and can be bred out.
Best of luck
