Mother-Hen-Michele
Crowing
Birds do die in winter, we find them in the woods after a cold snap. They make nests inside trees or in barns/house roofs. Animals or bugs eat the dead.. My feeling is if a chickadee or wren can live with no coop, my chickens will survive just fine
And chickens are not bred to live outside, they are bred to give an unnatural number of eggs and make minimal feathers. (Feathers cost feed and don't increase sale price of flesh or eggs.) My Leghorns lay 365 days a year, but they have lots of bald spots and no fat on them, two of them never have belly feathers, 3 are molting at the moment. (The timing is not genius, my RIRs did their molt weeks ago) Where my RIR have nice fluffy butts, they do not lay as often, and sometimes stop for a while younger than my LH.
Don't forget wild birds lay only to breed, in the spring, and put on a layer of fat before winter. They sleep through the cold temperatures by hibernating. They are not equal.
Last edited: