If you ask Langshan people, you might get a biased answer! @3KillerBs answer is pretty thorough and well-rounded though.Hello, Langshan people! Do any of you also have Australorps? We're debating which breed to add to our farm! Which do you think would handle Wisconsin weather best? Or would a different breed altogether be better? We're looking for something all-black to hopefully help prevent hawk attacks!
I have had many breeds of chickens, and so far, my Langshans are still my all time top favorite. I did have a Black Australorp in my first group of chickens. I would say both are probably fine for cold winter climates. (Although Indiana winters do not compare to those in Wisconsin, so my experience with extreme temperatures and deep snow is limited to shorter time frames, not weeks or months on end. We usually get a thaw after we have a couple of weeks of blizzardy weather. And we rarely get below zero.)
Langshans do have smaller combs than Australorps, so that might be a point in their favor. Between the two, it probably depends on your overall chicken goals. My Langshans are decent layers, but I believe Australorps are better known for their production. Langshans are bigger, so that might be better for hawk deterrence. Or maybe consider Jersey Giants. (I know nothing about those except they are big.)
As far as feathered feet go, I hear it all the time that people don’t like them in the mud. But I have never seen it as a problem. I have had several feather foot breeds. I love my Brahmas, too! I have clay soil, and certain times of the year things are a terrible muddy mess. I don’t see my feather footed chickens doing any worse in it than my clean footed chickens. Yeah, they pick up mud. Yeah, it can be yucky. But it dries and gets knocked off. They don’t have any trouble getting around. I think muddy feathers bothers humans more than it bothers chickens. So I guess if seeing mud on their feathered feet will gross you out, then that’s something to consider. Muddy or clean, I love my feather feet chickens!
Two other less important things to consider: I just love the unique U-shape of the Langshans. No other chicken breed can hold a candle to the Langshan silhouette. And purple eggs. Yeah, I know, true Langshan purists contend that the eggs are brown, not truly purple, and that breeding for egg color could ruin everything else good and proper about the breed. But I love the rich, dark shade of brown of my Langshan eggs, and when the plum-blush bloom occasionally occurs on them, I love that even better. I think these are the two features that set Langshans apart from other breeds, and they are probably what draws people to them, so those are good things.
Of course, you can’t eat egg color, and pretty unique shape doesn’t make them more cold hardy. But in my eyes, and in my climate, I prefer them over Black Australorps.