Old and Rare Breeds

[Lacy Blues]

Why not just obtain some Rose Comb Minorcas or some Rose Comb Leghorns?

Because, I LOVE my blues!

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Because, I LOVE my blues!

Fair question. Fair answer. There's always dubbing.

 

[Lacy Blues]

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Yes, I know. The thought does make for the queezies, but there's no use in denying that it was one of the methods of matching single combs and the cold. Good people dub, and good people don't. I can't imagine that I'd want to dub Andalusians as a hobby.

 

[Lacy Blues]

My kids had old english game bantams a few years back so I'm familiar with the dubbing. I just can't see doing it to an Andalusian. I know the standard calls for a medium sized large comb...

but I think for the benefit of my birds and living where they have to live, I will be selecting for smaller combs and wattles from now on. I don't show that much and the comb isn't worth that many points so I think this will be the way for me to go.

Bob teased us on the Heritage thread about putting roosters in cardboard boxes on really cold nights. I've asked about it on the thread and I've sent a PM asking specifics but I guess he's busy. Perhaps next winter I will have figured it out on my own and can implement a practice for the sake of my boys. Right now, their pens are only 4' high and I can't crawl into them to grab boys off perches and stuff them into a box so that will be the first thing to remedy.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Bob teased us on the Heritage thread about putting roosters in cardboard boxes on really cold nights. I've asked about it on the thread and I've sent a PM asking specifics but I guess he's busy. Perhaps next winter I will have figured it out on my own and can implement a practice for the sake of my boys. Right now, their pens are only 4' high and I can't crawl into them to grab boys off perches and stuff them into a box so that will be the first thing to remedy.

I asked him about it on the phone. He said to vaseline up the comb and put he cock in a box with a female or two. Honestly, I think it's worth a shot. You might even buffer the box/boxes with a little straw, but I bet the body heat would be effective.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

He said to vaseline up the comb and put he cock in a box with a female or two. Honestly, I think it's worth a shot. ..., but I bet the body heat would be effective.

Must be a big box. Sounds like a lot of work if you have very many roosters and a lot of cold nights. The things we do for our chickens.

I never recommend heat but I have finally relented and to ward off frostbite, for the first time this year, I moved all the roosters to their own coop that has electricity. I do this the first day it will get into the low 20sF and keep them there till the long range forecast calls for warmer nights. Whenever it will drop below 25 I turn on a small ceramic heater on low. That is usually enough to keep it close to 30 when the outside temps go to 10. In single digits or below 0 I have a small tank top propane heater that warms it up better. I've only had to use that a couple times this winter but the boys' combs are looking pretty good. It is a little costly for the electric and thanks to global warming not as necessary as it would have been years ago.
Long range forecast looks like I'll need the heater about 4 more nights this year. That should let me move the roos back with their flocks by the end of the month. That should get me some fertile eggs in time to hatch for Easter.
I think that building is a little too tall for that method to be ultra effective. This year I'm running electric to a building with smaller units and less headroom where they'll reside in the future.

 

[saladin]

I'd dub before I went thru all that crap. LOL.

 

[capayvalleychick]

This may be a very stupid idea, but I have heard of an old cowboy method for keeping water from freezing. Dig a pit, fill with manure, put water trough into pit, surrounded by manure. Supposedly, the heat from the decomposing manure keeps the water from freezing.
So, using that theory, if you put fresh manure & straw in the pen, do you think that the heat from the composting would keep combs from freezing?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

No.
The volume isn't sufficient to generate heat and the fresh manure would increase humidity contributing to more frostbite.
If you could create a huge compost pile and park the coop over it, theat would work for a month or so.