Quote:
Originally Posted by octothorp
When I was growing up on a farm, we had ours wintering in a simple coop with no heating. Just take the ice off the water dish every morning. They were very low maintenance. That's assuming they're all adult, of course.
And honestly, few things from childhood were as fun memories as when one of the cardboard boxes would arrive from the Co-op filled with 24 squeaking little yellow day-old chicks. When you've got the young-uns, a heating lamp is really important, as even in springtime you'll lose a few to hypothermia.
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Chickens might "survive" without heat, but that is about all. When chickens are not housed in some facility that has heat at a constant temperature, their bodies compensate and shut down. That is just nature protecting the chicken so most bodily functions go to keeping it alive.
So then, yes, the chicken might "live" under those conditions, but you won't get eggs on a very regular basis whatsoever. Egg laying becomes very sporadic and under very cold conditions, ceases completely. And in that case, why would one keep chickens in our climate, when you will only get egg production for half the year, unless you provide warm living conditions for the winter?