@ ChicksOgHazzard, I have a little story to tell of my son, nearly 45 years ago. He was one of those kids that absolutely insisted on staying up at night, he was two years old, and if we tried to put him in bed before he was tired enough to go to sleep he would cry his eyes out. When we went into his room to 'comfort' (or yell at) him for making so much noise, he would be standing at the foot of the bed/crib, mouth wide open and just crying to beat the band. We'd stop what we were doing and pick him up, comfort him and take him out to the living room and let him stay up, normally this lasted until midnight or later. It was a real strain on all of us, since both my wife and I worked and had to get up in the morning.
He had an appointment with the doctor one day and his Mom couldn't get the time off work so it was up to me to take him. She reminded me that I was to ask what we could do about his crying, so I asked.
The doctor's answer was shocking. He stated ... "You're not going to like what I tell you. Buy some cotton balls and stuff them in your ears."
WHAT?
Stuff your ears so you don't hear him, let him cry out out.
When I got home, my wife said we would try it and see what happened.
What happened almost ruined our marriage.
When we put him to bed that night he immediately started crying. He cried so hard and shook the bed/crib so hard that there was a hole in the wall.
After nearly an hour, I looked at her and there were tears falling from her eyes. She told me I was the most cruel and inhuman person in the world, but we let him cry. It took nearly three hours that night, and started an argument between us that lasted for a long time.
The second night he cried again, for over an hour, and when we checked in on him, he was still sniffling and sobbing, but he was laying down.
The third night he cried for ... maybe ... five minutes?
And after that he never cried again.
What I came to recognize at that time is ... parents train their offspring, or they are trained BY their offspring, and in your case, you "train" the chickens .... or they train you.
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