Chicken sweater. Yes or no.

It's not just crocheting either, they have a cotton lining. But each their own. I can't bear to see any animal freeze or suffer from the cold or not based on an opinion. That's cruel. They wear the sweaters at night, take them off during the day. But it depends on the owner the breed and the zone.
 
It's not just crocheting either, they have a cotton lining. But each their own. I can't bear to see any animal freeze or suffer from the cold or not based on an opinion. That's cruel. They wear the sweaters at night, take them off during the day. But it depends on the owner the breed and the zone.
I know my chicken, Cleopatra, wouldn't be able to stand it, but she has very thick and fluffy feathers. I do agree that at night a sweater won't hurt, and it'll make them warm, but 24/7 isn't very nice because then they can't clean themselves and spread out their oils. The easier option (I think) is to just bring them inside and keep them in a crate or a "special room."
 
Putting a sweater on a chicken takes away the ability of the chicken to regulate it's own body temperature, they cannot raise and lower the feathers depending on whether they want to trap heat next to the body by fluffing the feathers or cool off by lowering them. Chickens are quite cold hardy, they have more trouble with warm weather.
 
The sweater is likely to function like snow gear that is too tight. I ride a motorcycle even when temperature is below -10 F and I have no protective shield. My attire is more like that used by riders of snow mobiles than motorcycles which means I am exceptionally well protected. I have to be careful in how the clothing is worn. The snow mobile suite is a good insulator and wind break that approximates the chicken sweaters discussed here. Under that are layers of cotton and wool as well as thermal undergarments. When outer outfit is too tight it causes two issues. First, trapped air between layers is lost reducing insulatory value which can get me cold to core. Second I can restrict blood flow to extremeties (arms and legs) making it hard to keep them warm even with best gloves and boots. Another challenge is that if my attire gets wet the only part that insulates well still is the wool and it generally is not good enough. The chicken sweaters compress the feather layers forcing out the insulatory air and could be very bad news if bird is exposed to a lot of precipitation or even heavy frost. I suggest exploring other approaches to keep the birds warm first. Wind breaks, lost of straw and some sort of heat source tested for fire risk would be first approaches. The sweater approach would be used only in conjunction with the previous three and bird would not get outdoor time. I have had game roosters that got seriously de-feathered fighting in muddy hog lot. Sweaters would have been applicable there but birds would still need to be kept in tight but dry quarter and simply given lots of food. Additionally the broken feathers are pulled to promote rapid regrowth. Doing the sweaters for the cute factor is putting your birds are risk.
 
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The sweater is likely to function like snow gear that is too tight. I ride a motorcycle even when temperature is below -10 F and I have no protective shield. My attire is more like that used by riders of snow mobiles than motorcycles which means I am exceptionally well protected. I have to be careful in how the clothing is worn. The snow mobile suite is a good insulator and wind break that approximates the chicken sweaters discussed here. Under that are layers of cotton and wool as well as thermal undergarments. When outer outfit is too tight it causes two issues. First, trapped air between layers is lost reducing insulatory value which can get me cold to core. Second I can restrict blood flow to extremeties (arms and legs) making it hard to keep them warm even with best gloves and boots. Another challenge is that if my attire gets wet the only part that insulates well still is the wool and it generally is not good enough. The chicken sweaters compress the feather layers forcing out the insulatory air and could be very bad news if bird is exposed to a lot of precipitation or even heavy frost. I suggest exploring other approaches to keep the birds warm first. Wind breaks, lost of straw and some sort of heat source tested for fire risk would be first approaches. The sweater approach would be used only in conjunction with the previous three and bird would not get outdoor time. I have had game roosters that got seriously de-feathered fighting in muddy hog lot. Sweaters would have been applicable there but birds would still need to be kept in tight but dry quarter and simply given lots of food. Additionally the broken feathers are pulled to promote rapid regrowth. Doing the sweaters for the cute factor is putting your birds are risk.
Exactly...but chicken sweater sellers aren't gonna want to believe, or want anyone else to believe it, as it would decimate their business.
Denial of animal biology in favor of anthropomorphism will continue to run rampant no matter the facts presented.
 
There is a simple experiment to show what material you want to wear in the cold and in elements. One of those learning guides we did back in Boy Scouts before our week of wilderness survival in winter.

Take a garment made of cotton and another made of wool. Shirts work well. Soak both in water, even room temperature. Now put on each shirt and compare. If you've wet cotton in the elements you will freeze to death. The water wicking, insulative air trapping that wool does is much like the other natural material of down and feathers, they work in conjunction for effect. Feathers stop wind and water and down keeps warm like a down jacket.

Funny thing to add on that cotton vs. wool shirt experiment. I lucked out and got the wool shirt. It was cold and uncomfortable. Then we switched. Could barley stand to get the freezing cotton on and quickly removed it. The other kid who'd suffered the cotton first was embracing the wool as it actually was warming him he almost didn't want to take it off! LOL
 
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I think very fluffy wool wouldn't be bad for a chicken. Just don't make it skin tight, and they can fluff up if they want, or keep their feathers flat.
 
I think very fluffy wool wouldn't be bad for a chicken. Just don't make it skin tight, and they can fluff up if they want, or keep their feathers flat.
Oh I agree. Anything other than what the chicken naturally has wouldn't be good. I guess that's opinion but...there are many facts contributing to it.
 

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