I have been watching my birds for only three years, but with having APA breeder quality orps, part English orps, and a few other breeds such as (hatchery) Barred Rock, Easter Eggers, Dark Cornish, and Polish, I've got to say this: The Orps don't seem to suffer any more from the heat than most breeds.
In fact my Barred Rocks start holding their wings out and panting when it's only 80, long before most of the others do. I can't talk about winter hardiness since we don't have cold winters here, but rather very hot and humid summers. So far this year we've only had one 107 degree day but last summer we had weeks and weeks of 110+ degrees. And through it all, the fluffy orps don't seem to have suffered any more than the other breeds, and even less than some. Of course I provide all the cooling I can for them and am fortunate to have some 50 year old oaks for them to gather under and catch a breeze and a dip in some shallow water. Never lost a one to heat.
So when folks rant about raising chickens in hot climates that aren't suited to them, I just shake my head, since the red sex links they have suffer just as much if not more. In fact most of the losses of layer flocks last summer from heat were sex links, and there were a lot of losses in this area.
I know you didn't say anything of the sort, Vickie, but this is a point I've been wanting to throw out there and you mentioned a heat wave.
PS - I'm not saying it's great to have any non-heat loving birds in the heat by the way. Just that it's no more 'bad' to have a fluffy orp than a more common breed here. In fact, I swear the hen in my avatar begs me for a water bottle squirt to the belly when I lock them up at night!
In fact my Barred Rocks start holding their wings out and panting when it's only 80, long before most of the others do. I can't talk about winter hardiness since we don't have cold winters here, but rather very hot and humid summers. So far this year we've only had one 107 degree day but last summer we had weeks and weeks of 110+ degrees. And through it all, the fluffy orps don't seem to have suffered any more than the other breeds, and even less than some. Of course I provide all the cooling I can for them and am fortunate to have some 50 year old oaks for them to gather under and catch a breeze and a dip in some shallow water. Never lost a one to heat.
So when folks rant about raising chickens in hot climates that aren't suited to them, I just shake my head, since the red sex links they have suffer just as much if not more. In fact most of the losses of layer flocks last summer from heat were sex links, and there were a lot of losses in this area.
I know you didn't say anything of the sort, Vickie, but this is a point I've been wanting to throw out there and you mentioned a heat wave.
PS - I'm not saying it's great to have any non-heat loving birds in the heat by the way. Just that it's no more 'bad' to have a fluffy orp than a more common breed here. In fact, I swear the hen in my avatar begs me for a water bottle squirt to the belly when I lock them up at night!
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