Are your birds light sleepers?

[frog522]

My chickens are finally sleeping in their new coop! They have slept in there two nights now. I'm relieved that they have automatically started roosting on the roost bars and not in the eggboxes like I worried about.

My question is, my two chickens (only have two) appear to be light sleepers. I have read that chickens are supposed to be very deep sleepers and most of the time won't be disturbed. My two girls grew up as chickens with a infrared heat lamp running 24 hours a day for 7 weeks. During that time they would eat, drink, and sleep at all hours of the day since they had "light" from the infrared heat lamp.

Afterwards, I had to move them to a container in the garage. We sometimes did laundry at night, and they would be alone in the dark while the washing machine or dryer were going. They didn't seem to mind. Now they have been in their coop for two nights now. Just to alleviate my worries I check on them at night from outside the coop peering inside. They somehow hear my very light footsteps and this appears to awake them. Now I'm starting to wonder if the sounds at night in our suburban neighborhood will wake them up at night (cars driving by, sounds from neighbors car remote locks, night birds, etc.).

Will they eventually become deep sleepers? How many of you have chickens that are light sleepers?

 

[hudsonhousechicks]

Mine seem to be light sleepers, at least the few times that I've gone out late at night and shined a flashlight in their feathery little faces they stirred rather easily. I would too, no doubt. I would like them to be heavy sleepers cuz I'd eventually like to slip a few more chicks in the coop with them while they are sleeping but I'm afraid to right now cuz I'm just sure they'll be on to me.

 

[Mahonri]

Give them two weeks. They'll be fine.

My roo and a couple of hens awake at the drop of a hat... and we live next to a semi-busy road so there is traffic passing by the coop frequently.