day length and activity

[centrarchid]

I have not seen a repeat of nocturnal activity (on ground) associated with full moon but they are more talkative as I walk by. Observations over last year that may be related deal with interactions of photoperiod, feeding activity and crop fill. The following charts repressent 24 hour diel cycles with light and dark periods denoted by yellow and blue, respectively in the outer circles. Periods of active feeding are indicated by reddish colored slices. Periods where crops appear to contain food indicated by green circles. My birds have two periods of heavy feeding, 1) approximately 3 hours after sunrise and 2) last 3 hours or so before sunset. During middle of day they will feed opportunistically on insects and such but generally they stay within patches of cover. I think they would be out more if not pressured by hawks. My birds are truely free range with no barriers between them and potential predators other than chicken behavior and usage of available cover. In morning it takes solid hour of feeding before crop begins to fill. Once crop filled and feeding stops, roughly six hours required for crop to empty. At around spring and fall equinox the birds have roughly 12 hours of activity in daylight and crops are have something in them or feeding is taking place almost 2/3 of diel cycle. At around summer solstice some food is in crop almost around the clock. It is around winter solstice that a problem is apparent. The chickens have a nearly 12 hour period where the crop is empty and probably nealry as long a period where digestive tract is not providing energy. This could be a problem for the birds, especially when challenged by increased need for energy with low temperatures. Empty crops might stimulate increased interest in feeding at lower light levels. The birds may also compensate during day by consuming more and going into night with more heavily loaded crops. If options exist, then they may also target more nutrient dense foods. I have observed them to reduce energy requirments by moving to locations less exposed to wind and more heated by sunlight.

 

[Mrs. K]

Dang this would make a very good science project if you are still in school! Very well done.

I think a point that you briefly mentioned, is the calorie dense food. High energy feed should be fed to hens in cold temperatures. many people feed the same amount of food to animals all year long, and that is a mistake. Hens have much different requirements when the temp is - 15 compared to 50 degrees F. Energy is equivalent to heat. The more energy a hen is eating, the more body heat the hen can produce. Cold and hungry is not a good position.

Also, how many windows do you have in your coop? My coop is pretty dark at night, and would only have a full moon shining on the window side, east , for very few hours a night. The position of the moon, compared to the position of your windows in the coop would also have an effect. The moon 'moves' in the night sky depending on the time of year, as well as when the night progresses.

MrsK

 

[centrarchid]

All this is a science project of sorts.

Nutrient / energy dense food is very much key. I have two management systems; first with birds confined to pens not unlike coops and runs used by most BYC'ers were bulk of feed is supplied by me, and the second were birds are free ranged with little or no lockup at night. It is the latter group for which most observations are made. They are either totally responsible for their own nutrition or take advantage of some suppemental feedings of a grower formulation mixed with some black oil sunflower seeds. I am starting to see things within latter management system that should direct better care of birds in first. As temperature drops, either range and duration of foraging increases or birds spend more time around supplemental feed. My free range birds even when not supplmentally fed and roosting on coldest nights of year in trees without leaves can survive. Only thing that causes real problems is when snow is deep or ground covered by freezing rain. Even then they can make it by greatly increasing their range of foraging. This range of adaptability exhibited best in my American games but at least some of the American dominiques are capable of some degree of adaption. Problem for latter is that if increased foraging range required, they are more vulnerable to predation since their capacity for flight is limited. If birds not able to compensate by increasing feed intake, then frostbite of comb and toes shows up before loss of weight.

My coops are open except for translucent light blue tarp covering on top to keep direct rain and wind from hitting birds on roost, therefore moonlight, even though indirect easily affects the amount of light birds are exposed to.

 

[centrarchid]

I see now how free range birds respond to reduced daylight. During daylight, feeding activity is more intense and of longer duration relative to days with more light. Feeding activity comes at expense the following; day roosting, sunbathing, and social interactions. Feed is also processed faster enabling greater amounts of energy intact / 24 hours. Birds making considerable effort to stay in microhabitats with some at least of following characteristics; warmer, less wind, sunlit, and less contact with cold ground. Physical activity not directly related to feeding greatly reduced. When temperature dropped below 10 F for first time, they forgo feeding to stay in warm microhabitats for up to two days. The coldest part of winter is yet to come, what will their response be?

 

[feathersnuggles]

Quote:
Very cool! Thanks for sharing. I think I'm seeing some of the same thing in my flock, especially the more intense and concentrated feeding activities near the coop, hanging out in available rain/wind sheltered spots, and not as much straying to forage on open ground or roost in lower branches of trees. I'm going to observe them more closely. What do you mean by "feed is also processed faster"?

 

[centrarchid]

Quote:
Say you have two identical birds, with one a very cold environment and the other in warm or more comfortable environment, you then and feed both the exact same amount. One in cold will empty crop and digestive tract faster than bird in more moderate environment.