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I used to keep Vorwerk Lakenvelders and they had the massive flags- I had to really work to teach them to tuck their heads to sleep...seriously never want to have that problem again.
My Marans have smaller combs than that, and they tuck pretty well. One guy is going to lose some of his points, though.
We really have the worst of the temps here, with negative F˚ in the winter and 100˚+ for at least 20 days each summer, in 70%+ humidity. The birds HAVE to be able to handle that 120˚ spread to survive, so there's some natural selection during the extremes.
Wellies do well here, but lose some points off of their combs in the winter. Barnies have an even smaller comb and do great, but their girth is heavier and they can get too hot. They don't really lay all that dark, either.
In summer, it's really crucial the birds have microclimate areas with perma-shade, so the areas don't get sooooooo sun-beaten. I like to allow dense areas of evergreens, prairie grass, and sunflower forests. Red sumac helps, as does butterfly milkweed- neither are attractive to the birds so they don't molest them.
We have soaking wet springs with nary a drop in July and August. Then it's soggy starting in late October. It's hard to catch a break because it's always one extreme followed by another.
We really just have mitigation built into everything.
Right now it's sunny and windy, so I have plastic huts set up everywhere to give them greenhouses to protect from the wind, but heat up nicely. In the snow, the huts work the same, and give them a spot without snow to poke around and scratch. In the rain, it will offer them a dry area. In the heat, I trade the clear huts for plywood lean-tos and white billboard vinyl tents that reflect the sun.
Ahhhh...nice to think about the heat. I'm wearing a hat and jacket inside.
