Understanding How Well Feathers Insulate

[Florida Bullfrog]

Tropical ranges offer something many keepers don't have... deep, dense shade from complete forest canopies. They also get a lot of rain, providing moist, cool, bug rich soil. The temperature down there is going to be a lot different than out in the cultivated land and cities where people put out thermometers.

I’ve never been to Asia, but I’m told by people who have that Florida’s heat, humidity, and vegetation are very close to Vietnam’s. Our summer humidity is brutal because of the constant rain we get. Even for a multi-generational native like myself it gets rough to bear in the deep woods. There’s enough similarity between the American Southeast with the natural range if the red junglefowl that the Feds and State wildlife agencies made an effort to stock them in the SE for hunting during the middle of last century.

There are definitely parts of the RJF range that is more cool and temperate. And other parts that are probably nasty hot like an inland Florida summer. The answer may simply be that the birds are adaptable across a variety of climates, and that may be why they took to domestication so well.

 

[SourRoses]

I’ve never been to Asia, but I’m told by people who have that Florida’s heat, humidity, and vegetation are very close to Vietnam’s. Our summer humidity is brutal because of the constant rain we get. Even for a multi-generational native like myself it gets rough to bear in the deep woods. There’s enough similarity between the American Southeast with the natural range if the red junglefowl that the Feds and State wildlife agencies made an effort to stock them in the SE for hunting during the middle of last century.

There are definitely parts of the RJF range that is more cool and temperate. And other parts that are probably nasty hot like an inland Florida summer. The answer may simply be that the birds are adaptable across a variety of climates, and that may be why they took to domestication so well.

Yeah, I'm in Ocala, so we definitely feel the heat. We have a lot of oaks and our place is almost under a full canopy as we're right next to woods.
Because of the shade, we do better with the breeds we like such as English Orpington than the breeder who's local and had to give up keeping them.
But even this canopy doesn't compare to a real jungle, and the tropics get even more rain than us.
Hawaii's chickens seem to do quite well, lol.
Not to argue, just continuing the thought.
I didn't know they stocked Florida on purpose. It's interesting. I wonder why their numbers stayed low enough that people don't really go wild chicken hunting?

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Yeah, I'm in Ocala, so we definitely feel the heat. We have a lot of oaks and our place is almost under a full canopy as we're right next to woods.
Because of the shade, we do better with the breeds we like such as English Orpington than the breeder who's local and had to give up keeping them.
But even this canopy doesn't compare to a real jungle, and the tropics get even more rain than us.
Hawaii's chickens seem to do quite well, lol.
Not to argue, just continuing the thought.
I didn't know they stocked Florida on purpose. It's interesting. I wonder why their numbers stayed low enough that people don't really go wild chicken hunting?

It was disease. The pure red junglefowl couldn’t handle North American sicknesses. Or at least the ones they brought couldn’t. RJF are so wary that they couldn’t trap but very few and the thousands they bred at the RJF hatchery in Fitzgerald, Georgia all came from a genetic bottleneck of those few. If those few had a quirk such as an extra level of susceptibility to Marek’s, the project was doomed from the start. The surviving stocking-project birds that private hobbyists kept became the Richardson strain RJF.

I’m from Ocala. Florida has jungle. Its called hammock. Just not near as much as we used to. Development killed most of it back in the early 2000s. Through the 1990s everything north and west of Ocala was pristine.

 

[kmk]

I couldn't figure out which forum would be most appropriate. I settled on Flock Management, as it may make a difference how you consider dealing with extremes in temperature.

I recently got a thermal rifle scope after a trespasser invaded my farm at night several weekends ago. No harm came of it, but I realized I didn't have a way to search for someone at night that might be making themselves hard to find. I've been familiarizing myself with the scope, this being my first thermal scope/camera. It's fascinating what it's showing me about my chickens.

View attachment 3596780

It has different vision modes. All of the modes highlight heat. In this first mode, heat is represented by white. The next pictures are with a more traditional heat view where red represents hot and cool colors represent corresponding cooler temperatures.

View attachment 3596788
Hens on metal gate.

View attachment 3596781
Pullet in a coop.

View attachment 3596782
Hen in a fig tree.

For comparison, a dog at close and far range:
View attachment 3596784View attachment 3596785

Mammal hair and feathers have fundamentally different properties in how they insulate, at least compared to the short haired hound I have. I'm sure some dogs with adaptations to northern climates may look differently. You can see a chicken radiates most of their heat off their faces and their legs. Some heat is found on their feathers compared to the background environment but nothing like their unfeathered areas. I think this is fascinating.

Thanks for sharing. Way cool!

 

[Scissors65]

I couldn't figure out which forum would be most appropriate. I settled on Flock Management, as it may make a difference how you consider dealing with extremes in temperature.

I recently got a thermal rifle scope after a trespasser invaded my farm at night several weekends ago. No harm came of it, but I realized I didn't have a way to search for someone at night that might be making themselves hard to find. I've been familiarizing myself with the scope, this being my first thermal scope/camera. It's fascinating what it's showing me about my chickens.

View attachment 3596780

It has different vision modes. All of the modes highlight heat. In this first mode, heat is represented by white. The next pictures are with a more traditional heat view where red represents hot and cool colors represent corresponding cooler temperatures.

View attachment 3596788
Hens on metal gate.

View attachment 3596781
Pullet in a coop.

View attachment 3596782
Hen in a fig tree.

For comparison, a dog at close and far range:
View attachment 3596784View attachment 3596785

Mammal hair and feathers have fundamentally different properties in how they insulate, at least compared to the short haired hound I have. I'm sure some dogs with adaptations to northern climates may look differently. You can see a chicken radiates most of their heat off their faces and their legs. Some heat is found on their feathers compared to the background environment but nothing like their unfeathered areas. I think this is fascinating.

I was looking at the dates, it is amazing how cool they are especially how hot it has been here. Thank you for sharing, this was interesting.