Climate Change Chickens

[Amer]

As I've said, I'm in the planning phase right now. I'm still trying to decide where the best location and what type of coop to create for them. I've just recently started researching breeds and wanted to start with pure breed naked necks so I know exactly what's mixed in my flock once I start mixing genes.

That makes sense. Pure-bred ones can be hard to find, but otherwise you might end up with a bird you just don't know what to do with.

 

[varidgerunner]

X2 Leghorns are definitely a beneficial breed. Pendescenca have dark brown eggs, and a crele pattern that would blend in with their surroundings.
ETA: it might be helpful to add gamefowl as well, to mix more genes. Not sure how they handle heat.

American gamefowl can handle extremes at both ends of the spectrum probably better than any other breeds. The oriental games can take the hot end very well. There is undoubtedly oriental game in the turken's genetic history. They expanded the bald patches common in oriental games, but with all of the mixing with standard barnyard variety chickens, they put really fluffy feathers on all of the parts that still have feathers. This is in contrast to the very thin layer of brittle feathers we see in the oriental gamefowl.

The Ga Noi Don is from Vietnam. It is really hot and humid there. When used for their historical purposes, they are expected to undergo extreme physical exertion for a long duration at around 100 degrees and near 100% humidity. To give an idea of the duration, the physical exertion was often in periods of a half hour with a ten minute rest break, and the number of cycles it might take to determine who was the best at exerting himself might not fit into a single 24 hour period. So selection toward heat tolerance was a given.

This has gone on for thousands of years, and at one point there was a prince exiled to a tiny Island near Africa, probably had some Ga Noi with him, and they probably gave rise to the Madagascar game and later the naked necks. So if you are giving thought to crossing extremely heat tolerant Vietnamese gamefowl to better egg producers to get a heat hardy egg layer, give up now, the work has already been done, and we have the turken. Now a little outcrossing to put the brittle feathers back on the turken would be an interesting project. Turkens that were less fluffy would be even better in heat, but the ones we have now do fairly good in heat in most places, yet can survive winter without special housing needs in most places. I had to breed feathers onto my Ga Noi to get them to survive a Virginia winter.

 

[centrarchid]

You are messing with extreme dry heat. Water management will be very important. Turkens might be suited for that based on country of origin. Your free-range foraging will not be much to brag about for most of the year so you will either be running a chicken feed lot or the birds will be foraging a huge area if they do not get eaten themselves. I would go with drab browns for a compromise between cryptic coloration and heat gain caused by sunlight heating feathers. My black birds have much more trouble in direct sun on hot days as they over heat quicker than light colored birds.

 

[Amer]

American gamefowl can handle extremes at both ends of the spectrum probably better than any other breeds. The oriental games can take the hot end very well. There is undoubtedly oriental game in the turken's genetic history. They expanded the bald patches common in oriental games, but with all of the mixing with standard barnyard variety chickens, they put really fluffy feathers on all of the parts that still have feathers. This is in contrast to the very thin layer of brittle feathers we see in the oriental gamefowl.

The Ga Noi Don is from Vietnam. It is really hot and humid there. When used for their historical purposes, they are expected to undergo extreme physical exertion for a long duration at around 100 degrees and near 100% humidity. To give an idea of the duration, the physical exertion was often in periods of a half hour with a ten minute rest break, and the number of cycles it might take to determine who was the best at exerting himself might not fit into a single 24 hour period. So selection toward heat tolerance was a given.

This has gone on for thousands of years, and at one point there was a prince exiled to a tiny Island near Africa, probably had some Ga Noi with him, and they probably gave rise to the Madagascar game and later the naked necks. So if you are giving thought to crossing extremely heat tolerant Vietnamese gamefowl to better egg producers to get a heat hardy egg layer, give up now, the work has already been done, and we have the turken. Now a little outcrossing to put the brittle feathers back on the turken would be an interesting project. Turkens that were less fluffy would be even better in heat, but the ones we have now do fairly good in heat in most places, yet can survive winter without special housing needs in most places. I had to breed feathers onto my Ga Noi to get them to survive a Virginia winter.

Thanks. I figured games would work well in that climate, but I was uncertain.

 

[Pekin747]

White leghorns very good egg layers and lay for quit a while aswell