Chicken sunbathing – a luxury or necessity?

Do chickens sunbathe? Yes, frequently. Here they are trying to get a little warmth from the winter sun, at least that is how I interpreted their behavior.

However, I was surprised when this activity persisted in the middle of our summers, even at temperatures of 104 F (and higher). Just imagine, here it is hot as hell for chickens and as soon as I let them out to free range, they head for the sun, plot themselves down and spread their wings. Some people claim they lay in the sun and spread their wings because they want to cool down. I can see that spreading wings could have a cooling effect, but also laying in a cool shady area would make a lot more sense to cool down. According to the British Trust for Ornithology, sunbathing in birds serves to help spread vital oils along the feathers. This might explain why inevitably they also tend to, at some point during their sunbathing session, stand up and start preening. Second, the heat might help to drive out any parasites that may be feeding on the bird’s plumage. Whichever it may be, chickens love to sunbathe and it seems to be important for their health to be able to do so.