I have three types of containment for my chickens during the winter. First is the typical arrangement where birds are confined and protected from wind at relatively high densities and fed layer pellets offered free-choice. Birds in the first setup are expected to produce eggs. Second system has birds also confined but protection from wind is minimal, the number of birds per square foot is lower and food is offered at a fixed rate although as wind chill goes down the addition of scratch grains to the base ration goes up. Birds in second setup are simply being maintained for a constant healthy weight with no expectation of egg production. The third group is not contained and gets much of their nutrition by truly free-range foraging and having access to feeding stations, each with a different type of feed supplied in total to exceed what birds will consume in a day. Latter group still consumes all feed in two out of three feeding stations each day. Last group is smallest and serves to proved insight into how they adjust to changes in their environment. The third group tends to produce eggs only when temperatures are not extreme.
The third group is of greatest interest here. Generally, as temperature drops and / or wind increases, or snow accumulates the free-ranging birds make all sorts of adjustments. When temperatures drop without snow accumulation they spend more time foraging and loaf almost exclusively in protected locations from wind and predators that are also exposed to the sun. Pattern without sun when temperature is low falls apart with seeking of any sort of cover increasing but no effort is made to loaf in sunlight which does not provide warm spots I notice anyway. The interesting stuff involves snow accumulation. When snow first accumulates, they consistently go a couple days where they visit only one feeding station and their consumption appears to be restricted to what they consume from it. They then return to roost usually with empty crops. After a couple days of this they then resume hitting all feeding stations and again go to roost with full crops. When snow is deep enough to fully cover ground they literally fly distance between feeding stations which can be 125 to over 200 feet. These guys are either at least part red jungle fowl or American game so such flights are easy for them. When temperatures really dip down, instead of seeking cover in sunlit locations, they begin to hunker down under debris such as stacked wooden pallets or in heavy brush where sunlight does not penetrate well. They also tend to scratch down to dirt. Movement, during such extreme cold times with feeding stations, is limited to between roost and feeding stations and heavy cover with much of that involving flights. What really catches my attention is the couple of days where they voluntarily restrict their feed intake. Are they doing this to drop weight making flights easier? I have not tracked weight during these times but I can easily since birds roost on front porch not 30 feet from scale and they are used to routine handling.
The third group is of greatest interest here. Generally, as temperature drops and / or wind increases, or snow accumulates the free-ranging birds make all sorts of adjustments. When temperatures drop without snow accumulation they spend more time foraging and loaf almost exclusively in protected locations from wind and predators that are also exposed to the sun. Pattern without sun when temperature is low falls apart with seeking of any sort of cover increasing but no effort is made to loaf in sunlight which does not provide warm spots I notice anyway. The interesting stuff involves snow accumulation. When snow first accumulates, they consistently go a couple days where they visit only one feeding station and their consumption appears to be restricted to what they consume from it. They then return to roost usually with empty crops. After a couple days of this they then resume hitting all feeding stations and again go to roost with full crops. When snow is deep enough to fully cover ground they literally fly distance between feeding stations which can be 125 to over 200 feet. These guys are either at least part red jungle fowl or American game so such flights are easy for them. When temperatures really dip down, instead of seeking cover in sunlit locations, they begin to hunker down under debris such as stacked wooden pallets or in heavy brush where sunlight does not penetrate well. They also tend to scratch down to dirt. Movement, during such extreme cold times with feeding stations, is limited to between roost and feeding stations and heavy cover with much of that involving flights. What really catches my attention is the couple of days where they voluntarily restrict their feed intake. Are they doing this to drop weight making flights easier? I have not tracked weight during these times but I can easily since birds roost on front porch not 30 feet from scale and they are used to routine handling.