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It's call selective breeding--those individual birds that didn't do well in the cold were lopped off the family tree. The same thing works for other animals like cattle, goats, sheep and horses that originated in warmer climates--not to mention humans. And, despite having evolved from...
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I just limit the number of boxes in winter. That way the eggs always have a heat source of 110 degrees on them
Last winter, when we had 6 weeks of 30 below, I maybe had a handfull of frozen eggs. Maybe less.
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Its not about considering them to be livestock rather then pets.
What happens when you have a power outage for more then an hour or so? Never mind several days! The chickens that have been acclimated to warmer temps all of a sudden have to deal with temps that their bodies are not...
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The bolded is why your chickens are cold in winter.
If their bodies are adapted to warmer temps, then there is no way they can handle the outdoors, or anything below the temps you keep the coop at.
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We partially insulate. DH and I did add a wee bit of heat last year when it hit 30 below fpr 6 weeks straight , but that only brought the temp up 5 degrees maybe.
Going to try not doing it this year.
Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :
It dipped to 0F this morning. I knew it was coming, so I added fresh shavings to the pen, added a pile of hay in the corner, wished them well and said good night.
Did I run around running extension cords from the house to plug in 500 watts of heat? No.
Did I add...