Well, it's possible they miscommunicated, which is what I hope. If you don't feed your birds and expect them to forage, a little corn goes a long way for example. But maybe they are just willfully ignorant. There's a lot of that out there... Flat earthers, anti-vaxxers, breatharians, you name it. Some people just believe what they will, willy-nilly, evidence be damned or corrupt. It's easy to discredit an idea if you WANT to discredit it in your own mind. And if you believe something you tell other people. It happens. Always be skeptical on the internet and do research on your own.
Winter depression is just kind of a term for the down-time that the chickens spend in winter not laying. Because a molt is specific (the loss of feathers and growing them back in) but under equatorial conditions where daylight hours are constant, after the molt they'd just start laying again. Up here in North America, chickens go through laying cycles. Our days alternate between being too short to lay (winter) and so long that chickens lay more frequently than normal (summer) so they kind of almost need that down time in the winter to take a break from laying. So often times our chickens molt in the fall and stop laying and then don't start again until we get longer days in the spring. The shorter days combined with the cold and lack of exercise and enrichment basically leads to a malaise that doesn't go away until spring kicks in again, and it's an important time for the chickens to eat, sleep, and recharge for their intense summer laying schedule.
You can create an artificial environment with lights and toys and extra feed to get them laying more, but ultimately it's a very natural cycle chickens go through when you start getting north of the equator. And chickens that get their winter rest before summer laying tend to live longer and lay for more years.
Mealworms, sunflower seeds, tuna, and other high-protein snacks are good options. Think about what build muscle and healthy tissues and go from there.
Try to avoid empty calories/simple carbs unless it's just a small amount.
Winter depression is just kind of a term for the down-time that the chickens spend in winter not laying. Because a molt is specific (the loss of feathers and growing them back in) but under equatorial conditions where daylight hours are constant, after the molt they'd just start laying again. Up here in North America, chickens go through laying cycles. Our days alternate between being too short to lay (winter) and so long that chickens lay more frequently than normal (summer) so they kind of almost need that down time in the winter to take a break from laying. So often times our chickens molt in the fall and stop laying and then don't start again until we get longer days in the spring. The shorter days combined with the cold and lack of exercise and enrichment basically leads to a malaise that doesn't go away until spring kicks in again, and it's an important time for the chickens to eat, sleep, and recharge for their intense summer laying schedule.
You can create an artificial environment with lights and toys and extra feed to get them laying more, but ultimately it's a very natural cycle chickens go through when you start getting north of the equator. And chickens that get their winter rest before summer laying tend to live longer and lay for more years.
Mealworms, sunflower seeds, tuna, and other high-protein snacks are good options. Think about what build muscle and healthy tissues and go from there.
Try to avoid empty calories/simple carbs unless it's just a small amount.
