I’ve seen people with chickens in outside in winter and was wondering whether that’s a good idea. Don’t they also need some kind of heating or warmth? My expectation was for their livable temperatures to be from 10-35C or something.

  • JubilantJaguar@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    8 days ago

    It’s uncited but this is what the hive mind has to say:

    Gallinaceous birds are well adapted to regions with cold winters. Their larger size, increased plumage, and lower activity levels help them to withstand the cold and conserve energy. Under such conditions, they are able to change their feeding strategy to that of a ruminant. This allows them to feed on and extract energy and nutrients from coarse, fibrous plant material, such as buds, twigs, and conifer needles.

    Then again, the chicken is directly descended from the red junglefowl, which lives in steamy hot tropical forests. Personally, if I were a chicken I’d be pretty pissed at having to endure freezing temperatures without central heating but presumably this is just a projection of my weak constitution as a domesticated humanoid.