Help! Need Heat Tolerant Breed... that's nice too?

[Faye]

Do you know of a breed that would do well in over 100 degree weather for weeks at at time AND be friendly to four middle school aged children ??? We have no snow here in CA and it gets 40 degrees in winter. White Leghorns were suggested to me, but I heard they are not nice.

 

[gritsar]

Hi Faye and welcome to BYC!

Here's is a handy chart that can tell you about the different breeds and how they do with heat and cold:

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

I personally would never own a leghorn. Spastic birds are not for me.
I chose brahmas because they are known to be docile and they tolerate the heat very well.

 

[tadkerson]

I would suggest buff catalana. They are big in South America.

Tim

 

[speckledhen]

Funny, I was just reading about Catalanas and decided they'd not be cold tolerant enough, being Mediterranean. They do very well in heat.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

Madagascar game or Turkens (naked necks).

 

[Faye]

Thanks....I forgot to say-- I do want 5/wk egg laying hens only, no roos.

I was thinking RIR hens... but are they nice??? Another lady also said Easter Eggers. We do have 12 acres of dirt and weeds,,, and in the winter 12 acres of mud. )

Faye

 

[EweSheep]

Buttercups will do nicely too. Blue Andalusians as well.

RIRs are very nice to have...all purpose birds, what more can you ask? Make sure they are not production reds which they are spazzy!

 

[Melilem]

How about production reds or some other laying hen? Those commercial laying houses get aweful hot, I know those hens have to have good heat tolerance bred in. And, they have great food to egg conversion. I have some red sex links now, and have had cinamon queens in the past, and they are some of the friendliest chickens I have owned.

 

[Frogdogtimestwo]

Quote:
I live in similar heat, except get monsoons for a few months in the summer. Having misters in the pen helps in the extreme heat. I have 3 RIR, 2 Easter eggers, and 3 black australorps and 3 Cuckoo Marans. All have done well. In the summer heat I change water twice a day, sometimes adding ice. Also we have our pens outside covered in 80% uv blocking sun shade which helps a lot!
*Forgot to mention our RIR were not nice until they started laying, now the sweetest in the bunch
the australorps have always been nice birds
the EE are shy but sweet
the Cuckoo marans are different than the others, not mean but keep to themselves. The roo is a handful.