Sourdough Hens

[servant_of_fluffs]

Have you tried Chanteclers? I’m definitely not in the right climate to be giving personal advice and opinions, but I have heard good things about how they handle the cold

I have heard that they are good, too! I did have an "easter egger" that looked a LOT like them and she did pretty well. In my opinion, Chanteclers seem pretty similar to Wyandottes which is one of the base breeds for this project. (I don't know if you can tell, but I love Wyandottes!) The main idea for this project is for them to be as close looking to summer feathered ptarmigan as possible while also being unique, in case I'm ever able to free range them. If loose dogs ever stop being a problem

 

[fluffycrow]

I have heard that they are good, too! I did have an "easter egger" that looked a LOT like them and she did pretty well. In my opinion, Chanteclers seem pretty similar to Wyandottes which is one of the base breeds for this project. (I don't know if you can tell, but I love Wyandottes!) The main idea for this project is for them to be as close looking to summer feathered ptarmigan as possible while also being unique, in case I'm ever able to free range them. If loose dogs ever stop being a problem

I honestly don’t know enough about Wyandottes to be able to comment on that, but they do appear to have at least a few differences.
Their comb types, most notably. Rose combs can get quite large and do hold a lot of surface area, so perhaps a cushion comb is more well-suited for the cold.
Partridge Chanteclers are also similar-ish to the summer feather colours of a Ptarmigan, so that’s another plus!
@Canadian Wind (apologies if you don’t want to be tagged, Wind!) has kept them, so he might be more useful here.

Hopefully you get the dog situation under control. I’m sure they’ll love ranging

 

[servant_of_fluffs]

I honestly don’t know enough about Wyandottes to be able to comment on that, but they do appear to have at least a few differences.
Their comb types, most notably. Rose combs can get quite large and do hold a lot of surface area, so perhaps a cushion comb is more well-suited for the cold.
Partridge Chanteclers are also similar-ish to the summer feather colours of a Ptarmigan, so that’s another plus!
@Canadian Wind (apologies if you don’t want to be tagged, Wind!) has kept them, so he might be more useful here.

Hopefully you get the dog situation under control. I’m sure they’ll love ranging

Sorry, I meant that they both have similar dual purpose natures and both are known for being friendly. I agree about the partridge looking pretty similar to ptarmigan. Hmmm I wonder what mottling would look like on them...

 

[BigBlueHen53]

"Alaskatarian," I love it!
Also love the look of the bird in your OP. Is thst a real bird or a rendered image of what you hope to produce?

 

[Canadian Wind]

I was summoned!

Yes, Chantecler are great in the cold. They were developed for the Canadian winter and mine did wonderful. Then again, so did my backyard mutts. But, the Chanties layed consistently through the winter on top of everything, so that's a bonus.

 

[servant_of_fluffs]

"Alaskatarian," I love it!
Also love the look of the bird in your OP. Is thst a real bird or a rendered image of what you hope to produce?

I literally had to double check what OP meant It's a picture of a ptarmigan in summer. It's plumage looks quite a bit like lemon millefleur or just normal millefleur to me.

 

[servant_of_fluffs]

Hawk (hatched 2020?)
She's a little shyer than some of my other girls, but not in a "OMG it's going to EAT ME!!!" way. This girl has heterozygous muffs and a pea comb. She's an "easter egger" mutt and lays lovely blue eggs. Her definite son is Abby, my current roo, and she either has Jinu or Romance as a daughter (I'm leaning towards Romance.)

 

[servant_of_fluffs]

Jinu (hatched August 2025)
Jinu is the daughter of Griffin and either Beauty (most likely) or Hawk. She has a pea comb and lays greenish eggs with brown SPECKLES! I love speckles! This girl is VERY VERY small. I haven't weighed her, but I'm pretty sure she only weighs 2-3 lbs. She does very well, though, so I don't care much. She is very friendly and has just the hint of gold/mahogany leakage on her head feathers.

 

[servant_of_fluffs]

Cranberry & Croatia (hatched 2025?)
I'm putting these guys together since they are at least half-sisters and look a bit similar. Their dad is Griffin and their mom is probably one of my Wyan/Aussie mixes (Velociraptor or Vengeance). Their mom could also be someone else, but the Wyan/Aussie mixes are most likely with how dark their coloring is. Cranberry is the upcoming boss hen as far as I can tell. Croatia is a bit more shy towards me than Cranberry. Either one or both lay nice sized speckled brown eggs. They are very fluffy girls and quite hefty (in the politest way possible!). They should produce tasty eating roosters. You can definitely tell that their single combs are getting a little frost nipped unlike their rose combed sisters.

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Cranberry has incomplete lacing along with the barring.

Ignore the wall: it needs to be repainted
Cranberry in front; Croatia in back

 

[servant_of_fluffs]

Abby (hatched August 2025)
My current (only) main rooster. His dad was Griffin and mom was Hawk. Abby's a pretty little guy, probably only 5-6 lbs. He has very fluffy hackles like a Russian Orloff. He's not very popular with the older hens, but he's ok with his hatchmates and half sisters. He's barred, but also seems to have some sort of spangling? (Not mottling, but spangling) He probably got that from Hawk. He has heterozygous muffs and a heterozygous pea comb. He probably carries one blue egg gene. If paired with one of my heterozygous rose comb girls he will produce 1/4 rose combs, 1/4 pea combs, 1/4 walnut combs, and 1/4 single combs (let me know if I calculated that wrong!) I'm going to just keep either very friendly or rose/walnut-combed muffed chicks. So I will end up with about 1/4 chicks that are "keepable" and will only keep the hens or a very very good cockerel. The rest I will sell to my community who definitely need some more chickens. He seems to have both gold and silver (or maybe silver and mahogany?), judging by the leakage on his head. He definitely has silver, though. I am kind of wondering whether maybe maybe he has a very small heterozygous crest from his possible grandma, Chainsaw. It's hard to tell, but the head feathers are kind of suspicious looking.

Yes, they are eating ribs. What can I say, they like protein!