All my birds seem to handle the heat ok. It does not get super hot or cold here. We get some days with a heat index about 100, but not many. I build my coops for summer and then take some steps to winterize them. I have literally hundreds of birds, so some level of mortality is to be expected. Any breeds that have abnormally high mortalities get sold out and I stop keeping them.
Gah, my pheonixes take almost a year and a half to get to that point. After that molt, it's faster, but I usually don't have them trailing before they're a year and a half old.
Okay, so theoretically any that I end up buying from you have been 'heat tested'? Our summers are usually between 80 and 100 most days
No, I try to put the best possible spin on this, but they are livestock more than pets and any that don't make it were not meant to be part of my breeding programs. I feel like I have made significant progress with several of my more intensive projects, like recreating Welbars from RC Punnett's work, and improving the line of Rees Legbar I got from Greenfire (bluer eggs, non-aggressive males, better longevity of laying). In those 2 projects especially, I have produced large numbers and culled heavily to get where I am today.
Were the males pretty territorial with you? I haven't seen that much with those I had. They were regular sized, not bantams.
This one has some nice hackle feathers, its a Badger ( Birchen) and, do you see the white fluff at the top of the tail? That's where I picked out the longer saddle, to enable breeding. So he is not in " full bloom" since is missing a bit of the saddle hackle. A very nice tempered rooster, that one, and good with the hens and chicks. He is the only adult Silver Badger I have, but he does have some chicks coming up.
I justified t really like the look of him, and the dense feathering. There is such a variety in Red Pyle from chicken breed to chicken breed, some with super distinct markings, other marked in coloration like a Red Shouldered Yokahamas with just a couple of patches but still considered Red Pyle. I wish they had picked a different name for the pattern than Red Pyle, though!
A name like Scarlet Scimitar or something flashy like that!
We had a lot of days in the 90's this year, never a problem. They always have shade and access to clean water. My main coop is on the east side of a large metal building. All 3 sides other than the building are wire, no solid walls. Roof is sloped, but quite low on the south side (4 ft). Many summer days I find it cooler inside the coop than outside in the shade, as there seems to be natural convection even when outside is dead calm.
When do you start taking orders, do you have to sign up for GHF in advance?
Did you read that page on Phoenix vs Onadagori? It makes it sound that having the heterozygous Mt gene is what slows down the Phoenix in the long feathering, but there is also a fast growing gene and a slow growing feathering gene as well. Reeder says if you have the time to wait on your roosters, having the slow feathering is not a problem and doesn't take muscling away from the bird, he sounds as if he prefers that. I guess fast feathering comes at the expense of muscling on the skeletal structure.
