Oh how I envy the variety down there - I was very happy when Peavey started bringing up chicks from Hoovers - I just wish they would open it up to their whole catalogue of birds
Esp now they have rare breeds!!!!
Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock
- Thread starter BY Bob
- Start date
Esp now they have rare breeds!!!!
There used to be a breeder of Hedemora here in Manitoba but I think they have gone out of business.Well, it's said the smaller the comb the cold-hardier the birds are ~ pea, walnut, rose, V-shaped, cushion, strawberry, no comb/crested, bearded varieties usually.
Feather-footed not a good idea for snow/mud.
& larger straight-combs/wattles are better for moderate to hot climate zones.
TRIVIA:
I love the fluffy very cold-hardy Scandinavian Hedemora breed. Sweet calm birds that forage well in snow w/roos at 5 lbs & hens weighing 4 lbs. It has a smaller straight comb & a double coat of Silkie-like hair ~ but it would die in our brutal climate's heatstroke weather.
HEDEMORA
Hedemora feathers look more like clusters of hair than bird feathers.
There are private NPIP Hedemora breeders in USA that ship hatching eggs if anyone is interested in snow-hardy birds that are calm, medium-size, Silkie-soft chickens. Surprise! ~ Featherhead007 thought the only feather dusters were Silkies!
When Greenfire Farms 1st imported the Hedemora into the USA they took the flock to a Montana snow country reserve to provide the birds a suitable climate.
Yep, but if there's no grass or straw the mud dries hard on feathered toes. In wet snow icy weather the retained wet can freeze feet. Of course most owners of feathered feet birds are on top of things like that but all it takes is one time to delay bringing the birds in or forgetting till too late & the bird is a goner. Hinotori specializing in Partridge Silkies in the northeast USA keeps her Silkies out of the snow ~ I think it's mostly cuz of very low freezing temps rather than the snow on the ground.
We have no grass lawn or straw coop so if it rains (we have no snow) & the Silkies slosh about in the mud we have to check them frequently after they have their fun. A good paper towel dry on feet & body does the cleanup job.
Did someone mention floppy combs?
Actually, she sees quite well in spite of her comb.
I love her jaunty topknot
You need a pile of soft wood shavings for them to dig around in
Mine also love to fluff around in it
That there is the ideal floppy comb! This comb is a very good shape. Is she a Legbar? Really pretty hen!
Hens don't/sometimes can't look forward & your lady's comb is forward facing out of the way of side vision. A hen's right eye focuses things on the ground & the left eye focuses on things in the sky. I've noted how our hens tilt their head to look either up at the sky or focus intently on something on the ground.
A tilted head on a pullet. Is She looking up or down? Dunno
but she'll always have peripheral vision w/ her rose comb after it fully forms.
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Agathae has a huge floppy comb and sees very well as well, especially when it comes to food.
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That first pic .... put it in POW and the calendar contest when that starts again
I would love shavings or straw for them. Our problem is Santa Ana Winds & nightly westerly breezes that blow debris, leaves, street trash, redwood bark, straw, grass clippings, etc, all over the yard. The only thing that doesn't blow all over the yard is the chicken's sunken sand dustbath box.You need a pile of soft wood shavings for them to dig around in
Mine also love to fluff around in it
We live in a daily wind tunnel ~ some days gentle, sometimes whirlwinds. In any event the wind picks up for a while every day. It's no wonder I paver-stoned front & backyards to keep dirt, grass, flowers, decorative bark, & debris from blowing around the yards.
Straw? Shavings? The wind would blow it all away. The only place we can keep straw or shavings is inside the protected nestboxes, that's it. The coop floor is wire so shavings/straw won't work there. We're a mild climate so even in winter the floor stays wire. Only a really cold frost do we put down the solid floor tray. But the hens never use the coop all day except to lay an egg.
The chicken run even has paver stones so during rain both the chicken & we walk on pavers instead of mud when it rains. The little buggers love the pavers!
At least they have our two raised garden beds to dig around in & every night DH moves the trash bins & dog houses around to stir up a cricket chase for them!
We're pretty limited being a backyard rather than a farm but we do what we can to give them an open-air chicken life in the 'burbs.
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