Creating An extra cold hardy breed - The Cold Weather Egger

[Chickens are awsome]

Being in northern Wi it gets really cold here like I'm talking -30 and under so I plan on creating a breed of chicken that is very cold hardy.

The plans -

Size : Medium to large
Temperament : Calm and Social
Comb + waddles : Smallest comb and waddles as possible like this cockerel's comb and waddles

Shank Color : White / Yellow
Skin Color : White
Number of toes : 5
Egg color : Blue & Olive

Male weight : 6 - 10 lbs

Female weight : 5 - 8 lbs

 

[SourRoses]

That's already been done, look at some of the Northern European breeds.

The Pea comb gene will yield the smallest wattles possible.

 

[3KillerBs]

Have you looked into the Chantecler?

It's a Canadian heritage breed: https://livestockconservancy.org/heritage-breeds/heritage-breeds-list/chantecler-chicken/

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Like people have said, there are already some really cold hardy breeds out there. I just got a Salmon Faverolles, which has feathered legs and is supposed to be good in the cold.

But why not have more cold hardy breeds? Let's see what you come up with! What breeds are you thinking of mixing together?

 

[Amer]

Sounds like an Ameraucana with different color legs, slightly bigger, and a slightly larger egg color range. Basically if you crossed a Buckeye or Chantecler with an Ameraucana, that’s what you’d get. I once came up with the same idea until I realized. And they were developed in part in Wisconsin. I in fact know Mike Gilbert.

 

[nicalandia]

Perfect breed would be Chantecler cushion cumb and no wattles with Orpington Fluff so a Cushion/Walnut Comb Orpington... Feathered Shanks, Feathered Crests and beards are really not helping on the Cold, those get wet and you are in trouble.

 

[AGeese]

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Here are my Buckeye's and Jersey's chillin. It drops pretty low here during the dead of winter, but usually with the added windchill is when it gets extreme. They survived sheltered in the garage mostly without, or negligible heat.

 

[DarJones]

Yellow legs is a high value selection trait for cold tolerant breeds as the trait is associated with cold weather tolerance. Yellow legs are from accumulation of carotenoids from vegetables and grass. Carotenoids have to be available for a chicken to produce eggs. They are what give the egg yolk yellow/orange color. Also agree that Chantecler already have most of the required traits. It would be fairly simple to introgress blue eggs into a good line of Chantecler.

Other useful traits would be very high normal egg production of 350 or more eggs per year and perhaps some work on comb/wattle size. There are a couple of undocumented genes that affect both comb size and shape and wattle size. One of them results in a very flat reduced size comb. The other severely curtails wattle size to bare nubs.

Straight comb causes a world of grief for both hens and roosters in a cold climate. Pea comb is better, but still susceptible to freezing. Rose comb is the next step followed by cushion comb.

 

[nicalandia]

Yellow legs is a high value selection trait for cold tolerant breeds as the trait is associated with cold weather tolerance.

Yellow Skin Color and Yellow Shanks is actually a trait that was a product of an introgression event derived from a Gallus sonneratii a Tropical Jungle Fowl, that this trait gives cold tolerance is a coincidence

 

[Chickens are awsome]

That's already been done, look at some of the Northern European breeds.

The Pea comb gene will yield the smallest wattles possible.

I know it's been done, I have some northern European breeds.