Leg/Foot Feathering Questions

[Portia]

I'll have to look that breed up, not that I need another dog or anything.

I wasn't as worried about mud as I was the freezing rain we get around here. I used to have a shar-pei mix (dog) that had very long toe fur and she used to get ice balls stuck on the bottom of her feet and between the toes from snow, sleet and ice. I was concerned the feathered feet might have a similar concern, but that doesn't seem to be the case. So maybe these 'snow boots' are just what they need!

 

[Klorinth]

Totally reasonable concern I would say. Our dogs do get ice balls as well from time to time. But only in the weather you mention. Frost bite is more of a concern for us. That is why I was thinking about snowboots. Ptarmigan seem to do really well with theirs, and they have a lot of mud in the springs.

 

[Portia]

My favorelle has a full straight comb and frostbite is a concern. Rose combs and short straight combs do fine, but the larger combs need a bit of bag balm if you don't want frostbite in colder temperatures.

 

[Klorinth]

Frostbite is a major concern for everything here. At the moment we have been at between -25 and -38 celcius, for several days. Add to that the wind and we have hit -50 celcius. This is where exposed skin freezes in just a couple of minutes.

It is becuase of this kind of thing that I picked the Chantecler as my preferred breed to start with. I want them strong. But even the strong don't always make it these temps. Here is a pic of what the Prairie Chickens do in these temps. This is at -30 celcius. They are feeding on grain and napping in the sun. Notice the lookouts?

They are hard to see when they dig down into the snow. It is exactly this kind of behaviour and natural abilities that are interesting to me. If I can find ways of adding some of their traits, or those of the Ptarmigan, all the better. If I thought it might be possible to use them in a breeding program, I might. But that is not really an option. I don't think I can legally or morally. So I look at other options.

 

[Portia]

I don't do much with or for my chickens, rather I have let them rely on their instincts and they seem quite self-sufficient. Of course they love when I fill the feeders in the morning and bring them hot oatmeal (which I put in one of those heated dog bowls), but mostly they are just curious and as soon as I go back inside they go back to doing whatever it is that they do as chickens. Seems to me, if you have a hearty breed that you let fend for itself to a certain extent it will learn the ways of maintaining its body heat in such conditions. I was surprised that my broody and her chicks as young as 4 weeks have been running around free ranging and perfectly happy in temps less than 20 degrees. Chickens aren't nearly as fragile as we humans sometimes think. Sure you might loose a few, but the flock does seem to learn from such unfortunate members.

 

[Jenski]

Henk69, I checked out your web page ~ and I have to say you have the most incredible collection of plants and chickens I have seen in a very long time! Wow! Beautiful color patterns on your birds.

I also love your chicken genetics calculator! Thanks so much for sharing this on the web for folks who are serious about genetics ~ http://home.hetnet.nl/~h.meijers69/kruising.html .


Jenski

 

[Klorinth]

Henk69,

I have to second the compliment. Wonderful collection. The trees are exquisite. I have great respect for the patience that it takes to grow those. I am only in the very earliest stages of developing our property. Although, given the differences in climate I can only be envious.

The genetics programs are also interesting. I use a program from the UK for or dogs, Breeders Assistant. So far it is working quite well for us. I may use the same program for the chickens. I'm not sure if they have modified it for pigeons though.

 

[blackdotte]

Breeds with one Dominant foot feathering gene are Langshan & Marans
Breeds with two Dominant foot feathering genes are Brahma & Chocin
Only breeds with all three,2 Dominant & 1 recessive are Orloffs & Sultans.
You can breed any feathered breed with your birds, mate the chicks together pick the ones you like that have feathered shanks and mate them back to your original breed
David

 

[Henk69]

Quote:
You found the dog and pigeon calculators?

Everyone thanks for the compliments.

David, the orloff I googled don't have any footfeathering. You meant another breed?

 

[Klorinth]

Henk69,

I looked at yours. The programs for chickens and pigeons look to be useful to me. So far I have not been able to find a good database for them.

Here is where I got my program from: www.tenset.co.uk

It works well for the calculating that I need. I have the genetics portion, but have not entered all of the necessary data yet.