I don't currently have chickens but we have bought a house on a small piece of land and plan to get them. We have raised chickens before but at the time, we lived in the midwest and had Barred Rocks. Here, I am not sure they are a good idea. Can someone tell me what breeds would be best for very high average temperatures? I know there is a chart elsewhere on this site that mentions a couple of breeds that do well in heat -- but "heat" is a relative word. One person commented that to him, "heat" mean termperatures in the 90's several days a year. Well...here we have over 100 days of temperatures over 100 and since I've lived here, the highest has been 118. In the early 90's, it got to 122. 114 -117 for days at a time isn't that unusual. So I really want chickens that tolerate heat! If I will, of course, have shade available for them and an automatic water system so that they will never run out of that, no matter how much the dry air causes evaporation. If nec, I can even rig up a mist system to cool an area down but the less often I have to do that, the better. I prefer the strengths of Barred Rocks - they were calm, friendly, were great layers and were also good for eating. If I couldn't have both, I'd take the layers. I'd really prefer not to have the flighty type. But again, I don't know what can tolerate this heat and may need to compromise. Any suggestions? Any Arizona/California extreme desert dwellers/chicken lovers out there? i'd appreciate any tips. My chickens in in the midwest were free ranged -- can't really do that here, I don't think, at least not completely. What is the next best thing as far as feed?
Hi & from Petersburgh New York. Glad you could join us. Let me know if you need any advice, or, let any of us know for that matter.
Welcome to BYC. I think your Mediterranean type breeds would be your best bet...Leghorns and others. I'm not familiar with all the Med breeds. There are other BYC's that live in Arizona and other places that could recommend heat tolerant breeds. You can go to the "Where Am I, Where Are You" section in the forum and see if there's a BYC'er near you that could help you decide what type of chickens to get.
from Ohio Can't help much on breed selection for your area, but some do take the heat better than others. My guess would be Light or Buff Brahmas or any of the lighter color breeds. Actually don't see why BR wouldn't work as long as they are given plenty of shade. Just my two cents... Find a local feed store and ask what others in your area are keeping.
Welcome from Northern California. I live next to SF Bay so it doesn't get that hot very often. A few years ago we did get two days in a row of 113 degrees and we lost three chickens even though my wife spent the hottest part of the days spraying their area with a hose. You might want to checkout the Arizona thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=31227 Someone there is bound to help you. Good luck.
Welcome. Check out the Arizona Chicken page. Where in the state are you? I have Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds and Buff Orpingtons. They seem to do well here in the Phoenix area. The secret is lots of shade and water. Set up a lawn sprinkler to go off a couple of times in the day. They really love that. Don't let your chickens free range unless you have real good fencing. Otherwise, you are just feeding coyotes and dogs. Good Luck, Rufus
