Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

The next thing we know about is the temperature/climate comfort range of chickens. I've stated before, there is no such creature as a cold hardy chicken. I can say this with some confidence because there haven't been any consistant measurable changes in the chickens physiology that might influence this to any great extent.
One very easy indication is where chickens establish feral populations from escaped domestic breeds.
The ideal range seems to be from 20 centigrade to 35 centigrade. Anything below 20 centigrade I think it's safe to assume that the chicken feels cold. This doesn't mean they drop down dead, it just means they are out of ther comfort zone. Many creatures will survive in conditions outside their temperature comfort range provided they have sufficient fuel to generate heat.
A more interesting question is should we try to keep chickens in these out of comfort conditions.
I live in a climate where chickens can form feral colonies (see previous post on the Hollywood Freeway Chickens), and nighttime temps only rarely dip below 50F, 10C (and it is a BIG deal to us soft locals when it does) - we're mostly 60F in the winter and 70-80F in the summer. The most I saw my hens do is sit closer together on the roost during "cold" spells ( I have to put "cold" in quotations because I feel guilty about you folks in the negatives right now).

I hope @K0k0shka doesn't mind me reposting her pictures, but I have enjoyed reading about her chicken adventures. Now, she has massive English Orpingtons with loads of feathering and are as "cold hardy" as you can expect. But look:

The flock on a warm summer night:
3F13BF07-8100-4F99-8356-4E3CF2C7FB1E.jpeg


Flock as the temps cool:
1635258522868.png


Flock at 58F (14C). K0k0shka was thinking her hens were being overdramatic at those temps, but the pic doesn't lie, they were feeling the cold even at that temp and that isn't even considered cold for most of the US and Canada. Her hens were fine even as the temps dropped even lower, but certainly wouldn't have been without her well-designed coop. They don't go feral where she lives.
46B9FDDA-6128-4277-B71C-613D85C98951.jpeg


Anyway, I guess I am seconding Shad that the whole "down parka" thing doesn't mean they don't feel cold, even if they survive unscathed. They are not eider or arctic ducks.
 
These two were what we might call an item. The rooster is Harold who I've mentioned before and next to him is his partner BlueSpotwith a chick under each wing.
BlueSpot has recently hatched the two chicks in a partioned space in the tribes coop. Harold hasn't seen the chicks yet and in this picture he is waiting for BlueSpot to show him the chicks so he can inprint them.
Lets see the kids then Blue Spot.JPG
 

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