The comments are almost more instructive than the post if you are looking for particular types of chickens especially for cold! Here are the breeds from the comments that are cold hardy... Being located in a snow belt region of upstate New York, I’ve definitely thought this one over. We are in the process of a move ourselves, and while I am planning to hatch out another generation of the mutt chicken flock I’ve had since ’04 (which is now a lovely, scrubby melting pot of the Barred Rock, Rhode Island Red, Delaware, Buff Orpington, and the single Old English bantam hen who hatched out chicks for me every year), I would like to add the traits of a couple of other breeds to my flock – mainly, the Buckeye (developed in an equally snowy portion of Ohio), because of their tiny combs, and the Icelandic (developed in.. er.. Iceland), because I’ve heard they’re a very hardy landrace breed. I am torn, though… do I simply cross for the traits of these two breeds into the flock that has worked well for me over the years, or do I try to set up an actual breeding program and maintain the Icelandics separately, since they’re still a fairly rare breed, and I would be amiss to dilute their bloodline? By the way, I highly recommend this book for the sustainably-minded small-scale poultry owner … it basically takes Joel Salatin’s principles and applies them to the homestead for those of us who aren’t necessarily looking for a business venture: https://goodreads/book/show/11375502-the-small-scale-poultry-flock?ac=1 We’re located in upstate NY too! We live in Rochester. I’m looking to get some new breeds- Americaunas and Wyandottes this spring and Being in NE Ohio, we had to choose cold hearty and it sure paid off big time with this POLAR VORTEX that just came through. All the hens, RIR, Barred Rocks, White Leghorns and an Auracana all made it through without a problem, no heated coop either!
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 13:12:24 +0000
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