Which breeds handle the heat?

[Flock In Texas]

I live in NE Texas. Temps vary between occasional teens in the Winter to several days of 100+ in the Summer. I will be beginning construction of the coop soon, but I need to know what breeds handle the heat best or at least what breeds I need to avoid.

 

[theoldchick]

Avoid Silkies. Those fluff balls can't be temperamental when it comes to climate extremes. Game fowl are a hardy breed but they may not make good eating. Stay away from the rare breeds and try to buy from a local source whose chickens are tried and true to your area. In any case your concern will be the heat- keep your coop well ventilated, roomy and shady. Even in the winter you will need air circulating as chickens produce lots of moisture and CO2-not to mention the feces producing ammonia and other odors.

Hope this helps.

 

[donrae]

Mediterranean breeds are all from hot climates, so they'll be good. Leghorns, Andalusians, Mincoras. Thing is, they're all pretty much white egg layers

. One or two is nice, but most of us backyard folks don't want all white eggs.

Most of your dual purpose birds will do well. It sounds counter-intuitive cause they're black, but Australorps were developed for the Aussie desert and heat, and they do well. Rocks, sex links, Reds, those are all good.

If the naked neck thing doesn't skeeve you out, you might look at Turkens. Not only do they have the naked neck, they're supposed to have less feathers overall, so they'd be cooler.

 

[Turk Raphael]

Mediterranean breeds are all from hot climates, so they'll be good. Leghorns, Andalusians, Mincoras. Thing is, they're all pretty much white egg layers

. One or two is nice, but most of us backyard folks don't want all white eggs.

Most of your dual purpose birds will do well. It sounds counter-intuitive cause they're black, but Australorps were developed for the Aussie desert and heat, and they do well. Rocks, sex links, Reds, those are all good.

If the naked neck thing doesn't skeeve you out, you might look at Turkens. Not only do they have the naked neck, they're supposed to have less feathers overall, so they'd be cooler.

If I lived in a very hot climate, I'd have nothing but Naked Necks. The cold desert nights wont bother them either.

 

[Kiki]

Black Australorps are good layers.
Production Reds are made for anything...my friend has not but PR's and they have been laying year round in Houston's Heat.


Do you want chickens for pets, eggs,meat?

 

[Kiki]

Hey Flock...
You might want to check out this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/44/texas

There are many people from all over Texas on it.
If you asked this question there ...I bet you would probably have neighbors(your area) on that thread who can tell you what they have.