Silver-Laced Breed for the Heat?

[3KillerBs]

Yes, Sebrights are the original laced chicken. Laced Leghorns exist but not in the states. And that’s all.

Funny that such an attractive pattern is comparatively rare.

You could cross laced Orpingtons with brown Leghorns to eventually develop a laced Leghorn or laced mixed breed.

I think that heavy-feathered English Orpingtons would be even worse in the heat than my Wyandotte.

Mine lay like Champs (normal standard egg size at least 4 or 5 times a week) and have done good during the summers in Montana.

Spangled, so not at eye catching though

IIRC, you get some fairly brutal summer weather there, right?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Good question.

I'd love to be able to add a few silver-laced birds to my mixed flock without having to watch them suffer in distress when it's 95F with 95% humidity -- which is why I initially asked about a heat-tolerant breed with that coloration.

I really like my Australorps and think that it's a shame that, other then the blues, they don't come in more color varieties.

What I like about Australorps is a shape that fits my mental image of the word "Chicken", the consistent large and XL eggs, their rapid maturity, and their fitness for both my climate and my management system.

They weren't actually my first choice. I'd intended to get Delawares when I went to the farm store in 2020. But the hatchery didn't send any so I ended up with Blue Australorps, a California White, and SLW's in place of the Delawares I'd planned on having and really fell for the Australorps.

If I tried to created a heat-tolerant, Australorp-adjacent Silver-Laced bird I wouldn't want to lose the things I like about said Australorps.

Assuming you just want presentable lacing, not “perfect” lacing, I would probably use the wyandottes you have, unless you’re okay with getting a polish and introducing their body shape into the cross. If you prefer single combs and have a single combed wyandotte, you could save some time by using that bird.

 

[NatJ]

Hamburgs come in Silver Spangled (not laced), but they are pretty birds, fairly good egg layers, and should cope fairly well with heat. They have rose combs that are fairly large (like the rose combs of some Leghorns, not the little ones that Wyandottes have.)

You could try getting Silver Laced Wyandottes from several different hatcheries. One of them might have birds with a lighter body type and less feathering, and you might get extra-lucky and get one with a single comb too. (Single combs pop up fairly often in many of the rose comb breeds.) At that point, you would have a lot more details "right" for a breeding project with your Australorps.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Funny that such an attractive pattern is comparatively rare.



I think that heavy-feathered English Orpingtons would be even worse in the heat than my Wyandotte.



IIRC, you get some fairly brutal summer weather there, right?

Yeah. 80-110 for most of it. Some days it's better but some days, I do fear for the birds

 

[3KillerBs]

Assuming you just want presentable lacing, not “perfect” lacing, I would probably use the wyandottes you have, unless you’re okay with getting a polish and introducing their body shape into the cross. If you prefer single combs and have a single combed wyandotte, you could save some time by using that bird.

The one SLW I have is not a breeding candidate (and would already have been culled if she weren't my granddaughter's favorite), because she lays wonky eggs with excessive calcium deposits and sometimes wrinkles.

I don't think I'd want Polish because of the crests.

You could try getting Silver Laced Wyandottes from several different hatcheries. One of them might have birds with a lighter body type and less feathering, and you might get extra-lucky and get one with a single comb too. (Single combs pop up fairly often in many of the rose comb breeds.) At that point, you would have a lot more details "right" for a breeding project with your Australorps.

Maybe I'll get a few from Ideal since their breeding flocks are in Texas in a hot climate already.

 

[NatJ]

I don't think I'd want Polish because of the crests.

Crest is caused by a dominant gene, which makes it fairly easy to breed out. If you were willing to cut it short with scissors on the initial breeding stock, you could have offspring without it in just a few years.

Or maybe you could cross Polish and Wyandotte. Both come in Silver Laced, and I think between them they have all the right genes to produce the color and body type you want.

 

[3KillerBs]

Crest is caused by a dominant gene, which makes it fairly easy to breed out. If you were willing to cut it short with scissors on the initial breeding stock, you could have offspring without it in just a few years.

Or maybe you could cross Polish and Wyandotte. Both come in Silver Laced, and I think between them they have all the right genes to produce the color and body type you want.

I already have the Australorps.

Maybe if I order some SLW's from Ideal I'll get lucky and get a single comb with reasonably presentable lacing.

Oddly, though I can't breed Popcorn because of her wonky eggs, she's got quite nice lacing for a hatchery bird.

She was right at POL in that photo.

 

[3KillerBs]

Since I'm putting together a chick order from Ideal and want to include some of the SLW's, I'm playing with this in my mind.

The way to begin would be:

Breed my Australorp rooster over the SLW girls,
Breed their offspring to each other,
Choose any single-combed, laced girls that hatch to breed back to the Australorp males,
Breed those offspring to each other,
And repeat, going back to the Australorps as many times as necessary until the resulting birds are both laced and looking like a good Australorp, right?

Maybe more work than I want to deal with, but possibly fun.

I'll see.

I want to try the Ideal SLWs anyway.

 

[3KillerBs]

P.S. "Good" Australorp not necessarily defined as show-worthy, but as the same sort of "reasonable representative of the breed" as the rest of the Australorp flock.

My general goals for the flock as a whole are to have vigorous, productive, early-maturing birds who deal well with my climate and my management system.

 

[NatJ]

My general goals for the flock as a whole are to have vigorous, productive, early-maturing birds who deal well with my climate and my management system.

You could add a few Sebrights as well. They are small, and may not manage "productive," but they seem to fit several of your other points. They definitely come in Silver Laced, being bantams they are likely to be are early-maturing, and being small with not-fluffy feathering they would probably deal well with the heat in your climate.