Ba-gawking at 3:30 am from my hen?

[Jster]

We have three pullets, and this morning one of them (who has had the reputation among us of being behind the pack mentally...okay, we've thought of her as rather dumb in the past) made a huge racket at about 3:30 am. Went on for a few minutes, then she settled down. None of them have laid yet...but this one (we call her Mama, my 3yo's idea) has gotton a bit louder lately. She will reprimand us (and the cats when they walk by totally ignoring the chickens) with sort of growly noises.

What's up with her? Could she be taking the alpha chicken role? She does seem to be slightly more difficult in terms of getting her back in the coop when we go inside (they can only free range when we're out with them) and more inclined to try to escape the yard. But if she starts making a racket in the am, our neighbors are going to get upset! Mostly because she woke up the neighborhood dogs who then were barking for at least a half hour.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

I would guess either alpha role or she is getting ready to start laying.

 

[SeaChick]

Wow. My chickens totally sleep through the night. Are you sure that she wasn't reacting to something that disturbed her, like a predator? I'll be interested to ehar what other more long-term chicken owners say about this....

 

[akcskye]

That was my first inclination, too, Sea...was that something disturbed her.

 

[bills]

Do you leave a light on in the coop all night? If so perhaps there was a squabble between them. She might have been thinking of laying, but the noise usually comes after they lay.

If it was dark and she was getting noisy at that time of the morning, I to suspect a rat or something got her going. I doubt that she would be trying to establish a pecking order at that time, usually it happens when they first go to roost. My birds will get to squacking if the roost order is out of synch, but once that is straightened out they are quiet till the light comes on. It's always very quiet after darkness falls.

 

[Jster]

Thanks for the thoughts everyone! I'm thinking it may have been something disturbing her as well, although I didn't see anything, but maybe she heard something in the trees above?

She slept fine last night and everything else seems to be in order...I'm glad she's speaking up if there are shady characters in the neighborhood...we have some stray cats but they usually don't come in the yard (our own cats ignore the chickens) but I haven't ever seen even a squirrel in our yard otherwise, although I've seen them down the road, haven't noticed any raccoons or other critters.

Thanks again!

 

[beaker]

When my son was two-ish he would wake up crying in the middle of the night (every night...) and in the summer when the windows were open my rooster would start crowing. So maybe she just heard something funny.

 

[greenmulberry]

They only time I have ever heard bawking from my girls at night was when one of them was getting torn apart by a mink at 2am.

My coop is right next to my bedroom window so I hear everything that happens out there.

 

[silkiechicken]

Yep, only time by birds make noise at night is when they are under attack or something is trying to get in such as a coon or possum circling and pulling on their cage. However, they are pretty smart, and if the coon is in a have a heart trap, they walk right by like it is not even there.

 

[S n M Poultry]

I have a roo that crows at exactly 1:30am evey night