Keep in mind that feed gets less nutritious if it gets older. Some vitamins disappear. Some grains can get moldy if not kept under the best circumstances. The general advice is: don’t stock for more then 3 months. And never buy over dated feed.
Yes. Chickens certainly need to be fed in winter in most climates and also when they have limited access to fertile and vegetated soil free ranging.
In the mild climate where I live temp is no problem to survive. There are some area’s where feral chickens live that have been dumped. But they...
I have 7 small bantams. They eat (and poop) way less than normal sized layers.
A neighbour cat often visits the net covered run to keep the mice out.
Only small songbirds can fly through the netting to eat from the grains I scatter in the run every day.
Other things I do that save money are...