Most Popular Small-Flock Chickens -- Resource For Selecting Your Chickens

[Bullitt]

I am sure it gets colder in Wisconsin than 99% of Australia. The mountains of Australia may get colder, but I don't know.

I had a grandfather from North Dakota. He always talked about tying a rope from the house to the barn so no one would get lost in a blizzard. I do not want to live in a place where you have to tie a rope between the house and the barn to prevent people from dying.

 

[ozexpat]

I am sure it gets colder in Wisconsin than 99% of Australia. The mountains of Australia may get colder, but I don't know.

I had a grandfather from North Dakota. He always talked about tying a rope from the house to the barn so no one would get lost in a blizzard. I do not want to live in a place where you have to tie a rope between the house and the barn to prevent people from dying.

I am sure it gets colder in Wisconsin than 100% on Australia. 30% of the country is inside the tropics and the tallest mountain is 7300 feet.

The coldest temp on record is -23 °C (-9.4°F).

 

[Bullitt]

I am sure it gets colder in Wisconsin than 100% on Australia. 30% of the country is inside the tropics and the tallest mountain is 7300 feet.

The coldest temp on record is -23 °C (-9.4°F).

That is too cold for me.

 

[ozexpat]

That is too cold for me.

Too cold for anyone.

In comparison the lowest temp in the lower 48 is

Rogers Pass, Montana -70F -56.7C Jan 20, 1954

Here are the normal temps


Summer

Autumn

Winter

Spring
Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
Adelaide 61-86 62-86 59-81 55-73 50-66 47-61 45-59 46-62 48-66 51-73 55-79 59-83
Alice Springs 70-97 69-95 63-90 54-81 46-73 41-67 39-67 43-73 49-81 58-88 64-93 68-96
Brisbane 69-85 68-85 66-82 61-79 56-74 51-69 49-68 50-71 55-76 60-80 64-82 67-85
Cairns 74-90 74-89 73-87 70-85 66-81 64-79 61-78 62-80 64-83 68-86 70-88 73-90
Canberra 55-82 55-82 51-76 44-67 37-60 34-53 33-52 35-55 38-61 43-68 48-75 53-80
Darwin 77-90 77-90 77-91 76-92 73-91 69-88 67-87 70-89 74-91 77-93 78-94 78-92
Hobart 53-71 53-71 51-68 48-63 44-58 41-53 40-52 41-55 43-59 46-63 48-66 51-69
Melbourne 57-78 57-78 55-75 51-68 47-62 44-57 42-56 46-59 46-63 48-67 51-71 54-75
Perth 73-85 63-85 71-81 57-76 53-69 50-64 48-63 48-67 50-70 53-76 57-81 61-73
Sydney 65-78 65-78 63-76 59-71 52-66 48-61 46-60 48-63 51-67 56-71 74-60 77-63
All temperatures in Fahrenheit

 

[Bullitt]

Are those the average lows and highs? If so, Southern Australia would have winter weather about like where I live.

 

[ozexpat]

Similar climate too

 

[RingedTeal]

Thank you.

I see a couple of faults with the American Game.

"American Gamefowl are some of the hardiest birds that you will ever come across, and in our opinion, by far the most beautiful. They are known for being excellent flyers, very good foragers, and you can't beat them for broodiness. All of these traits make them an excellent choice for free ranging, until the stags come of age. Then they will need to be separated, as they will fight to the death defending their territory. This is something that is part of their nature, being "game," and nothing you do to them will change this unless you start mixing non-game breeds into them, and even then it doesn't mean you will not still have this issue to deal with."


The roosters will kill each other.

The hens also do not seem to be great layers. "Hen's lay mid-spring to late summer, but some will continue until early fall."

I am surprised this breed would be that popular, except for maybe people keeping them for other purposes.

The hens actually lay well and if you keep the roosters separate it's not a big deal. And these birds are mostly ornamental sine it has been outlawed.

 

[Bullitt]

I guess American Game chickens are popular because they are colorful.

What do you consider laying well?

 

[varidgerunner]

Laying well is a subjective term. If you mean laying 200 to 300 eggs per year under electric lights and shoveling in layer pellets, then no, gamefowl don't lay well. But if you consider laying well to mean plenty of eggs most of the year on a diet of bugs and cow poop goodies, then they do OK.

The big thing is the productive age. Many gamefowl live long productive lives, many times there have been 11 or 12 year old hens still laying eggs. Most production birds are developing some sort of health problem by age five, and few are able to lay eggs at 10 years old. Some game roosters have made it to 15.

The whole "penning them up before they kill each other" thing is over-rated too. Most of them are 5 months old before you have to worry too much about it. Many are eight or some even twelve months. In a homesteading application, they should have been in the freezer by then. I've heard that the meat is in-edible too. But if you consider gamefowl in-edible you probably wouldn't like grouse or pheasant much.

I wonder how much of the governments eagerness to condemn "bad breeds" has to do with the agribusiness lobby, rather than any real desire to promote animal welfare. A bird that lives 10 years and is resistant to disease could harbor all sorts of pathogens that would be harmful to a little, fat, white fluffball living out it's un-naturally short life in un-natural conditions. That cant possibly set well with the white suit, gas chamber crowd. I guess that is why I find them so interesting. But they aren't for everyone.

 

[Bullitt]

I wonder how much of the governments eagerness to condemn "bad breeds" has to do with the agribusiness lobby, rather than any real desire to promote animal welfare. A bird that lives 10 years and is resistant to disease could harbor all sorts of pathogens that would be harmful to a little, fat, white fluffball living out it's un-naturally short life in un-natural conditions. That cant possibly set well with the white suit, gas chamber crowd. I guess that is why I find them so interesting. But they aren't for everyone.

I agree that it is not good for a chicken to spend its life in a cage.

Most people don't use light in the coop to get 250 to 300 eggs a year from a productive laying hen.

I have not heard of the government condemning "bad breeds." I don't think government officials care what breed of chicken you have.