so why do they need a winter rest?
Because they no longer live there? I think the key word is "winter". My birds are moulting right now and will not have regained their full feathering until well into January, if the past is any indication. Trying to keep warm~when far from the equator~requires extra energy. Add the normal lay on top of that and you have a chicken who needs a slow down in production or an increase in nutrients. I feed the same all year round because it fits my budget...if I need to increase feed standards or even heat a coop, I've defeated the purpose of producing more eggs. We eat or sell the eggs to defray the cost of keeping the bird, but if keeping the bird rises in cost and the power bill as well, the sell of eggs does not defray the cost at all.
Besides, I see this as a chicken's normal process of adaptation to being far from their natural habitat of tropical environs and I see no point in messing with that natural ability to regulate their lifecycles to maintain adequate homeostasis.
Because they no longer live there? I think the key word is "winter". My birds are moulting right now and will not have regained their full feathering until well into January, if the past is any indication. Trying to keep warm~when far from the equator~requires extra energy. Add the normal lay on top of that and you have a chicken who needs a slow down in production or an increase in nutrients. I feed the same all year round because it fits my budget...if I need to increase feed standards or even heat a coop, I've defeated the purpose of producing more eggs. We eat or sell the eggs to defray the cost of keeping the bird, but if keeping the bird rises in cost and the power bill as well, the sell of eggs does not defray the cost at all.
Besides, I see this as a chicken's normal process of adaptation to being far from their natural habitat of tropical environs and I see no point in messing with that natural ability to regulate their lifecycles to maintain adequate homeostasis.
