Heat tolerant egg layer recommendations needed

[mark9199]

I posted this earlier in the breed forum and someone suggested that I try here as well.

My coop is about completed and I'm planning on getting 3 egg layers very soon (going tomorrow to look and see what's available). I'm in southeast Texas and it's a hot climate. What would be your choice of three breeds if your priorities were egg production and heat tolerance followed by personality. Egg color is not really a priority.

The farm where I'm going has the following breeds from time to time and I've numbered the list in the order that I think would do best. Any help or suggestions are appreciated.

1 Plymouth Rock
2 Australorp
3 Sussex- Speckled
4 Orpington
5 RI Red
6 Brahma
7 Wyandotte
8 Iowa Blue
9 Ameraucana

All responses are greatly appreciated!

Mark

 

[Kaugomu]

Hi there from San Antonio

I can tell you that in our flock we have a Plymouth Rock, Speckled Sussex, Orpington and Easter Eggers (Ameraucana by most farm standards)

Our EEs seem to handle the heat the best out of any of them followed by the sussex then the orpington and PR. The Orps and PR are just so FLUFFY that the heat can get to them fast. ON the other hand with the right temperature managment system in place there is no reason why any of these breads shouldn't be able to handle the Texas heat just fine - ours do.

Some really good strategies for summer flock care are in this post: http://www.fresh-eggs-daily.com/2012/03/beating-heat.html

 

[mark9199]

Hi there from San Antonio

I can tell you that in our flock we have a Plymouth Rock, Speckled Sussex, Orpington and Easter Eggers (Ameraucana by most farm standards)

Our EEs seem to handle the heat the best out of any of them followed by the sussex then the orpington and PR. The Orps and PR are just so FLUFFY that the heat can get to them fast. ON the other hand with the right temperature managment system in place there is no reason why any of these breads shouldn't be able to handle the Texas heat just fine - ours do.

Some really good strategies for summer flock care are in this post: http://www.fresh-eggs-daily.com/2012/03/beating-heat.html

Thanks for the info and the link for beating the heat. Good information! We're going pullet shopping later today. Very exciting

 

[4 the Birds]

If I lived in a region down south and wanted superb egg production then I would pick Leghorns. If you want more mellow birds then I would pick the Orps, RI, or Rocks. Good egg layers.

 

[donrae]

I've always thought the Mediterranean breeds were the ones developed to be the most heat tolerant. Mostly big-combed white egg layers, like leghorns and andalusians.

 

[tlagnhoj]

I've had Barred Rocks (Plymouths) for 2 years now. In our area we've had unseasonably high temps and droughts the last three summers. Spent most of the summer in the 90s and a week in the triple digits. Not normal for this area at all. They have done very well.

The biggest help I found was throwing a tarp over the un-roofed section of the run. It literally dropped the temp in the run 10 degrees or more. And I set a big box fan outside the run and aimed it to blow across the area they spent the most time, which happened to be under the coop. It didn't really cool things off, but kept the air moving. On the super hot days, I hung 2-liter bottles of frozen water inside the run right in front of the fan. Voila! Instant a/c via evaporative cooling. I mention these things because any breed that isn't heat sensitive can probably get through a hot season with a little bit of help.

And egg production didn't drop off one bit either!

 

[mark9199]

We went and got 1 each of Black Australorp, Barred Rock and Easter Egg. Thanks for the help, all. Much appreciated!

 

[Kaugomu]

Oh, that EE looks PRETTY!.