Cold hardy chicken breeds are the way to go for northern homesteads! While chickens can naturally handle cooler weather better than hot weather, when it comes to brutal and severe winter weather… having a few extra features to help conserve body heat can help. This guide to cold hardy chicken breeds should help you find some breeds that will be a good fit for your homestead! I’ve also included some tips on how to care for chicken breeds who may not be as cold hardy during severe winter weather. Choosing chicken breeds who are cold hardy can help you keep a healthy and happy homestead flock during the winter!
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Chicken Breeds with Facial Feathers
Facial feathers include muffs, beards, and tufts. In the chicken world, muffs and tufts are the feathers that grow out from a chicken’s cheeks right below the eye. Only one chicken breed recognized by the APA (American Poultry Association) to have ear tufts is the Araucana breed. A beard is the feathers that grow beneath a chicken’s beak in some breeds, usually in place of wattles or accompanying very small wattles.
Chicken breeds with muffs and beards are often more cold hardy since they don’t have large comb and wattles. Many muffed breeds have small combs and bearded breeds often have little to no wattles. Combs and wattles help a chicken control its body temperature. The blood that flows through those appendages is cooled, which can help a chicken stay cool during hot weather. However, during cold weather, those appendages can contribute to body heat loss and are prone to frostbite when circulation is restricted to conserve heat.
Here are some good cold hardy chicken breeds that are bearded and/or muffed:
- Ameraucana
- Araucana (ear tufts)
- Easter Eggers (not an official breed)
- Faverolle
- Booted Bantam & Bearded d’Uccle
- Orloff
- Sultan
How to Care for Muffed & Bearded Chicken Breeds
Chicken breeds with muffs and/or a beard may need a little extra attention due to their cheeky facial feathers. The facial feathers are often prone to getting wet when a chicken drinks from an open water source. In cold weather, the wet feathers can freeze and become uncomfortable for the chicken.
Wet feathers can also collect feed when a chicken eats after drinking. When feed gets stuck to the facial feathers, the chicken becomes a walking buffet for other flock members. While they may not intentionally be pecking to bully the chicken, other chickens will be curious about the food stuck to the chicken’s facial feathers. This can lead to the other chickens pecking out the facial feathers in attempts to eat the food stuck to the feathers.
You can help prevent muffed and bearded chickens from getting wet facial feathers by using a closed water source. Water systems like poultry nipple waters can often be a good choice for muffed and bearded chicken breeds during the winter.
Aside from wet feathers and food sticking to the feathers, muffed and bearded chickens will look different from other chicken breeds who lack those feathers. This can sometimes lead to bullying. It helps to raise all your flock members together from a young age when you have chicken breeds with special characteristics like muffs, beards, or a crest. You can also follow proper integration methods when introducing new birds to your flock and learn how to deal with a bully hen in your flock!
Chicken Breeds with Crests
A crest is the feathers that grow on the top of a chicken’s head. A crest is not normal head feathers. Crest feathers often stick straight up, and if they are long enough, will droop to the side as well. Chicken breeds with a crest often have small combs. The size and shape of a chicken’s crest often depends on the chicken’s breed. Some crested breeds have a short, tight crest. Other chicken breeds have tall, loose crest feathers.
Crested chicken breeds are usually cold hardy because they have small combs. The smaller the comb, the less heat loss that occurs during cold weather. Small combs are also less prone to frostbite.
Here are some cold hardy crested chicken breeds:
- Crevecoeur
- Houdan
- Polish
- Sultan
How to Care for Chickens with a Crest
Chickens with a crest can often draw unwanted attention from other flock members who don’t have crest feathers. The different appearance of the crested chicken can lead to bullying and feather pulling. When raising crested breeds with non-crested breeds, it helps to raise everyone together from a young age. That way the other birds are accustomed to the different appearance of the crested chicken.
It also helps to have several crested chickens in your flock versus just a single chicken with a crest. The more varied your flock is, the more accepting the flock members will be of differences in appearances. Check out these other ways that you can prevent bullying in your homestead flock!
Chicken breeds with tall crests can sometimes have their vision affected by their crest feathers. Crest feathers that droop down and cover the eye will limit the chicken’s ability to see properly. When the crest starts interfering with eyesight, the chicken can become more flighty, startle easily, or even run into objects accidentally.
If the crest starts interfering with the chicken’s eyesight, you will want to trim back the crest feathers. Don’t trim the feathers close to the base, where the feather follicle may still have blood flowing to it. Just trim the tips so that the chicken can have clear vision.
Chicken Breeds with Feathered Feet
Feathered feet, toes, and shanks are other features that can contribute to a chicken’s cold hardiness. Feathered feet and toes are exactly as they sound… feathers that grow from between the scales on a chicken’s feet and toes. A ‘booted’ chicken breed means the chickens have feathers not only on their feet, but feathers also grow down their shanks (leg) as well.
Feather footed and booted chicken breeds can be cold hardy as the feathers help protect their toes and legs. The extra insulation can help conserve body heat and encourage proper circulation to the feet and legs.
Here are some cold hardy chicken breeds with feathered feet:
- Brahma
- Faverolle
- Langshan
- Sultan
- Hedemora
Not all feather footed chicken breeds are cold hardy. Choose feather footed breeds that also have lots of body feathers and a small comb and wattles.
How to Care for Chickens with Feathered Feet
Even though feather footed and booted chicken breeds can be very cold hardy, the feathers on their feet and legs can become a health hazard too if they are not properly cared for. Feathers on a chicken’s feet and legs are more prone to getting wet and muddy. During cold weather, the wet feathers can freeze and create a frostbite hazard to the toes.
Keeping your flock in a dry enclosure is essential for ensuring your feather footed breeds stay dry and safe during the winter. Having a thick layer of straw in the enclosure can help keep the ground dry and insulated. Limit where your feather footed chickens can forage as well. Mud puddles and wet ground can be detrimental during the winter.
The feathers on a chicken’s feet and legs are also more prone to breakage. They can be extremely difficult to keep ‘looking nice’ as a chicken goes about its natural activities of foraging. Feather breakage on the feet and legs only becomes a problem if a feather follicle is torn while there is still blood in the follicle. You will then need to stop the bleeding and ensure the follicle heals before returning the bird back to the flock.
Chicken Breeds with Lots of Feathers
As you can imagine, lots of feathers is a wonderful asset for cold hardy chicken breeds! The more feathers a chicken has, the more insulated it can be against the cold air. Chickens stay warm by puffing out their feathers and trapping warm air against their body with their feathers. Lots of feathers means more trapped, warm air!
Not only do feathers come in all shapes and sizes, but certain chicken breeds can be feathered differently than others. Some breeds are tightly feathered giving them a smooth and sleek appearance. Other breeds are loosely feathered, giving them a more fluffy look.
Chicken breeds can even vary in the amount of feathers they are known to have! Cold hardy chicken breeds will be known to have lots of feathers, especially extra down feathers that lay under their outer feathers. Down feathers are loose and fluffy, perfect for insulation, but not good for trapping air. Lots of outer feathers over the down feathers are also important since they can trap the air better.
Many heavily feathered chicken breeds were developed with cold hardiness in mind. Which means heavily feathered chicken breeds usually also have feathered feet and small combs and wattles.
Here are some loosely, heavily feathered chicken breeds are that are cold hardy:
- Australorp
- Brahma
- Cochin
- Orpington
- Wyandotte
How to Care for Chickens with Lots of Feathers
Having lots of feathers is great for staying warm during the cold weather! However, having lots of feathers is not so great in wet conditions or during hot weather. When feathers get wet, it takes a while for them to dry out, especially fluffy down feathers which don’t have any waterproofness at all.
If you have lots of heavily feathered chickens in your homestead flock, you will want to make sure they can stay dry and cozy during wet weather. Having a roofed enclosure is helpful so that your flock can get outside in wet weather but still stay dry.
If your region is known to have cold winter weather but hot summer weather, you will want to consider how you can help your heavily feathered, cold hardy chickens through the hot summer temperatures. Here are some tips for keeping chickens cool during the summer! If you homestead in a region that has mild winter weather and hot summers, avoid getting heavily feathered chicken breeds.
Chicken Breeds with Small Combs
Like I’ve mentioned previously, a chicken’s comb and wattles is one way that it uses to stay cool during hot weather. When a chicken is hot, it increases the blood flow to the comb and wattles, which are more directly exposed to the air since they are not feathered parts of the body. The air helps cool the blood which in turn helps regulate a chicken’s body temperature.
This natural cooling system is great during the summer, but not so helpful during the winter! Chickens breeds with small combs and wattles will be able to conserve heat better than chickens with tall combs and large wattles. Smaller combs and wattles are also less prone to frostbite since a chicken will not need to restrict blood circulation to those appendages if they are not dissipating body heat.
There are generally 9 different recognizable comb types. Some of the comb types are naturally small and compact, which make them ideal for conserving body heat during cold weather. Other comb types are tall and large, which aid with heat dissipation.
Here are some comb types that make a chicken breed more cold hardy:
- single comb (small)– Barnevelder, Maran, Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island Red
- rose comb– Dominique, Wyandotte
- pea comb– Brahma, Buckeye
- walnut comb– Orloff
- cushion comb– Chantecler
- v-comb (small)– Crevecoeur, Houdan, Polish
The single comb type is one of the most common types of combs and it can be a variety of sizes. A chicken breed with a single comb can still be cold hardy if it is known to have a short, small single comb. Chicken breed’s with tall V-combs, carnation combs, large buttercup combs, or spiked rose combs can be more prone to frostbite.
Chicken Breeds with Small/No Wattles
Just as large combs help dissipate body heat, large wattles function in the same way. Which is why chicken breeds with small wattles, or not wattles at all, are more cold hardy. Many chicken breeds who have a crest or beard and muffs will also have a small comb and small wattles or no wattles.
Here are some chicken breeds with small wattles or no wattles at all:
- Buckeye
- Ameraucana
- Faverolle
- Java
- Crevecoeur
Care Tips for Non-Cold Hardy Chicken Breeds
As you may have already guessed, not all chicken breeds are cold hardy. If you homestead in a region that experiences extreme winter weather or cold temperatures, choosing cold hardy breeds is the best way to help your flock stay healthy all year round.
However, you may still find yourself adding a few breeds to your flock who aren’t quiet as cold hardy. Non-cold hardy chicken breeds will be affected more by temperatures that dip below 40-50°F. They will often experience cold stress sooner than cold hardy chicken breeds and may need special attention during extreme winter weather.
Here are some characteristics of non-cold hardy chicken breeds:
- tight feathers with fewer down feathers– don’t trap body heat or insulate the chicken very well
- large comb and wattles– dissipate body heat and are prone to frostbite due to restricted circulation
- small bodied– less body mass to stay warm
- frizzle or silkie feathers– these feather types don’t allow for heat to be trapped close to the body
If you do have some breeds in your northern homestead flock who aren’t quite cold hardy enough to handle your region’s winter weather, you will want to take some measures to reduce the affects of cold stress. Keep in mind that the following tips can also help cold hardy chicken breeds during severe winter weather or when they are experiencing cold stress.
Here are some tips you can implement to help non-cold hardy chicken breeds during the winter:
Free-Choice Heat Box
A free-choice heat box can be safely installed in your flock’s enclosure to give them access to supplemental heat if they choose to use it. A safe heat source to use in the heat box is a small animal heat pad. Learn more about a heat box in this article on preventing cold stress in chickens.
Winterized Coop
Even cold hardy chicken breeds benefit from a winterized coop, however, non-cold hardy breeds often benefit from a more insulated coop that can maintain a warmer internal temperature. The coop should be safely insulated but still allow for plenty of ventilation and air flow. Ventilation is important for preventing moisture build-up which contributes to frostbite.
Indoor Temperate Conditions
Many breeders who specialize in non-cold hardy chicken breeds will raise their birds in indoor temperate buildings. This would only be an option if you had the resources to build a coop that could be safely heated. It would also have to be powered by a generator if the electricity went out. When chickens are used to moderate temperatures, sudden exposure to cold temperatures can be dangerous.
Straw
Using straw in both the chicken coop and the chicken coop enclosure can provide insulation and even generate some heat if the composting process is stimulated. Straw is helpful for breeds who can handle some cold weather but are not super cold hardy.
Frostbite Prevention
Knowing how to prevent frostbite is essential, even for cold hardy chicken breeds. Chicken breeds who have large comb and wattles will benefit from a salve being applied to their comb and wattles on nights that get below 20°F. Some chicken breeds that are considered cold hardy will have roosters who have large combs and wattles. Roosters of any breed who have large comb and wattles will benefit from some additional frostbite prevention care during cold days and nights. Keep in mind that moisture, reduced circulation, and exposure are the leading causes of frostbite.
Make sure you check out this guide on frostbite for more tips on preventing frostbite in both cold hardy breeds and non-cold hardy chicken breeds.
As a northern homesteader, I surely do like having cold hardy chicken breeds in my homestead flock! A majority of my flock is comprised of breeds that have small combs and/or lots of feathers. I also like to choose rare and heritage chicken breeds who were developed in regions known to produce cold hardy chickens. During the winter, I only have to apply frostbite prevention salve to my rooster’s comb and wattles. My cold hardy flock can handle occasional temperatures below freezing while experiencing minimal cold stress thanks to their winterized coop, plenty of straw, proper winter diet, and cold hardy features. Choosing breeds that can adapt to your region is one way to raise a happy and healthy homestead flock!
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by Alexa
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