Top 20 Cold-Hardy Chicken Breeds

Top 20 Cold-Hardy Chicken Breeds

October 3, 2021


(The flock free ranging on an early rainy morning!)

Chickens tend to be cold-hardy in general, handling the winter months far better than the heat of the summer. But certain breeds, like those with large combs and wattles, with smaller body masses and some of the more fragile breeds don't do as well in the winter as the breeds considered cold-hardy.


    My top 20 cold-hardy breeds include:

    • Ameraucana  
    • Australorp 
    • Barnevelder  
    • Brahma  
    • Buckeye
    • Buff Orpington  
    • Cochin
    • Delaware 
    • Dominique  
    • Easter Egger  
    • Faverolle  
    • Jersey Giant  
    • Marans 
    • New Hampshire Red  
    • Plymouth Rock  
    • Rhode Island Red 
    • Silkie
    • Sussex  
    • Welsummer  
    • Wyandotte

    Fun fact: Some of the names of these breeds are a tip-off, as is the case of the Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire Red, Plymouth Rock, Buckeye (named for the state of Ohio) and Jersey Giant.
    If you live in a warmer climate, then consider some of the heat-hardy breeds instead. Most will do just fine in cold weather, but are better equipped to handle the summer heat!

    Comments

    Post a Comment

    Popular posts from this blog

    Lafayette ~ From Runt To Rooster

    Image
      Lafayette ~ From Runt To Rooster September 20, 2020 (Lafayette in front of the coop!) The French Maran breed is a very beautiful breed of chicken. The roosters and hens are colorful alike! The roosters have very glossy feathers with streaks of gold here and there. The hens are also black in color, but they do not have any gold feathers. Hens lay chocolate-colored eggs. French Marans are also known to be very friendly. The hens are very docile, and the roosters are barely ever aggressive. This is no different with our French Maran rooster. Lafayette is the sweetest rooster on earth! (At first, he was the runt. From a previous post, you may have remembered that he eventually turned out to be a roo!) He is a delight to hold, and even my mom, who would never go near a chicken before, (let alone my dad), actually picks up Lafayette now!  Whenever you put him on the ground, he will sit down and wait for you to come back before he stands up again. If you leave him alone in the coop...
    Read more

    The Great Eggscape

    Image
    The Great Eggscape January 2, 2022 (A chick making the Great Eggscape!) Ever since starting to raise chickens, I had in the back of my head to try hatching eggs one day. And so I decided to do so over Christmas break! Unfortunately, Angelica isn't the best broody hen (she will sit on her eggs for a few days, then abandon them forever!). Fortunately, we were able to borrow a Brinsea incubator from a friend and so I got started! The plan was originally to hatch the chicks on Christmas day (cool right?), however, we got the incubator a little too late to set them for Christmas, so we eventually set them for December 28th, my grandpa's birthday!  Since Lafayette kindly provided us with some fertile eggs, we decided to use those for hatching! How exciting it will be to have mixed breed chicks!  If you are hatching with a Brinsea incubator, or are just starting out your journey of hatching eggs, Brinsea's Incubation Handbook is a great place for info! As soon as I collected th...
    Read more

    My Independent Science Experiment 2021

    Image
       My Independent Science Experiment 2021 April 4, 2021 (A screenshot of my computer screen as I worked on my lab report!) As you all know, around Christmastime, I had to do an Independent Science Experiment for school. I decided to do: "Advances Of How Music Has An Effect On A Chick". I think my experiment turned out really well. The results were shocking! The experiment got 2nd place in a county science fair! Plus, I want everyone to see the results of how music affects the brain. So, without further ado, I give you my lab report on my Independent Science Experiment! Advances Of How Music Has An Effect On A Chick Purpose : To find out whether classical music actually has an effect on a chick’s brain, and whether it might have an effect on a human’s brain. Hypothesis : I hypothesized that the chick that was exposed to music would be mature in size, wingspan, weight, and behavior, because of exposure to constant classical music, and the chick that is not exposed to music ...
    Read more