Help With Breed Decision

[BovieVei]

Australorp: Meets all requirements but foraging
Brahma: Fits all criteria
Delaware: Fits all criteria
Houdan: Fits all criteria
La Flèche: Fits all criteria
Langshan: Meets all requirements but foraging

Hope this helps! If you want more specifics check out this app for the iPhone called PicknChicken!

 

[GammaPoppyLilyFlutter]

I suggest Sussex or Delaware

And Cochins are always good, though they can get hot in the summer. But my Cochin, Midge, is usually the last one to start panting

 

[CupOJoe42]

The Murray McMurray site has a chart that is easy to read.

 

[speckledhen]

Delawares are not as heat tolerant as most think; it's quite surprising to me, but from my own experience, my own suffer worse from the heat than my Orps and Rocks. Could be that they are such densely muscled birds. A friend who recently lost 14 birds in one devastating afternoon to heat lost both of her Delaware hens, while the 4 survivors consisted of 3 Orpingtons. Other than that, they're awesome birds. Never had one go broody, though.

 

[AuroraSprings]

Would I be better off with an Asiatic or Med. breed than one of the cold-weather birds? Our heat as been insane here this year and I don't expect the coming years to be any better. I want a chicken that's not only okay with the heat, but will still be out eating and adding weight in the heat of the day. At the same time, I'd like them to still lay in the winter. I may be asking too much, but I'd like to be as close as possible.

I've always admired Delawares, but I do worry about them in the heat.
I know very little about Houdans, Australop, or Brahmas, so I'll have to look into them.
I wanted Langshans & Javas for a while but the dark color worried me. Plus, I've heard they can be testy and aren't for beginners.
The Rocks are something I hadn't considered, mainly because I'm not particularly drawn to their pattern, but it would add camouflage. I'll give them another look.
Orps seem to be a dime a dozen. I know the original lines are probably harder to come by, but I like the idea of helping an endangered breed.

 

[AuroraSprings]

Looked through a few Brahma pages and I love them. They sound perfect except for these bits:

The feathering of their shanks and toes is a negative where the ground is damp and muddy – the mud clinging to the feathers and frostbite then being possible for their toes. It is not an ideal fowl for southern climates. Brahmas are not wide ranging fowl or as active in scratching as the Mediterranean breeds.


If I DO get a "wide-ranging" fowl, how do you keep them safe from predators? I know the ducks and geese will come back to the house at night, but will the chickens? To do just leave them to roost in trees for safety?

 

[speckledhen]

I have two hatchery Brahmas. They actually seem to do fairly well in the heat here, better than my Delawares. And my two roam into the woods pretty far, too. They're actually decent foragers.

Interestingly enough, I almost lost my Delaware rooster just now. He was following me to the pen like always and when I turned around, he was trying to catch his breath, turning purple. Had to wet him down to cool him off. He can't breathe well in high heat combined with high humidity and he's never been sick a day in his life (he's less than three years old).


Roosting in trees is actually one of the least safe places for them. Owls and raccoons easily get them there. They need a good predator proof coop to return to before dark.

 

[BovieVei]

Quote:
Oh... Whoops

 

[speckledhen]

You'd naturally think a mostly white, not-heavily-feathered chicken with a medium sized single comb would be heat tolerant, wouldn't you? They are densely muscled and I think therein lies the problem, being originally intended to be meat birds. Could be that hatchery Dels, who generally have had Columbian Rock blood infused in them, may be more heat tolerant than the breeder types who are more true to the original lines, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it. Hard to say for sure. I just keep seeing them listed as very heat tolerant and I don't find that to be necessarily true. They are fabulous birds, super friendly and great layers, but folks should be aware of this fact.

 

[Majestic Lane Poultry]

Quote:
They come in lots of varieties (colors)...barred, white, buff, black, partridge, just to name a few of the more common. My favorite being partridge. Mine were great foragers and blended in well with our woods.