silver phoenix chickens

[mkarner]

My son bought a silver phoenix rooster and 4 hens at the county fair. I found out on the web that they are not "winter hardy". Anyone with experience getting these birds through a Boulder, Colorado winter?

 

[blue90292]

napalongtails can tell you. she lives in oregon and has phoenix that she breeds and sells. i'm sure she'll find this thread and be able to answer your question.

 

[Frozen Feathers]

From Maine here and my Phoenix have been fine for 1 1/2 yrs. The roosters can have larger combs, making them prone to frostbite, but I think thy winter just well as most any other bird.

PS: Just make sure they have a good draft-free coop and I always keep a heat lamp on in the winter...as an attempt to keep the eggs from freezing more then anything.

 

[Napalongtail]

Yup Blue I saw it

Actually I am in the pacific Northwest about 80 miles from the Canadian border. My phoenix ladies were the ONLY breeds that I kept that did indeed lay eggs ALL winter. I only had 2 males develope mild frost bite on their comb tips. I must admit however that my stock is extremely spoiled. Yes they lived in heated quarters from November till March. So did I. I kept 2-3 girls with each of the fellas. They had rubber mats on their floors covered by pine shavings. I had to heat their waterers twice a day and I of course cooked them supper on most evenings that included some oatmeal and scrammbled eggs. But seriously you can keep them in a regular coop as many of the ladies did stay out with the big flock. I opened the door in the day enough for them to get out if they wanted to. The hen house had a heated waterer straw and shavings on the floor and as many nooks and crannies covered as I could. When we hit the below zeros is when I turned on the heat lamp at night. If you can tell me what sort of facilities you have I could maybe make some suggestions for you. J.J./Napalongtails