It's been ridiculously cold for about 2 weeks now! I have gotten several calls and a gazillion messages, emails and DMs asking me if I think chickens can be warm enough without heat. Especially considering the extreme low temperatures as of late! Many parts of the country are having subzero weather conditions right now which is obviously very concerning.
Of course I firmly believe they can keep themselves warm as I've mentioned before. I even wrote about it in Should I Heat My Chicken Coop? Since this is a question that comes up every winter though, I decided to do a little experiment to prove just how warm chickens really are.
Chickens stay warm by fluffing up their outer feathers and trapping air underneath them. This air is trapped in the soft, downy feathers next to the body. That also explains why chickens sometime look all puffed up when it's cold out. This air warms up and acts like insulation. Knowing this, it's only logical that the air next to their body would register as much warmer than the air around them, if I could measure it. Luckily, I can do exactly that!
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Are your chickens warm enough?was originally posted by Favorite Chicken Blogs
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