Chickens not sleeping

[showjumper_girl2002]

ok, I swear it seems like my chickens aren’t sleeping. I have a camera in the coop and no matter what time of the night it is, most if not all (I have 5) are standing on the roosts and awake. And I mean ANY time of the night. I’ve checked tirelessly for mites or lice and have found no traces. They act perfectly normal during the day with plenty of energy and all are laying an egg every day.

I’m at a complete loss. They used to sleep no problem. The only thing that has changed is I opened a window that’s by one of the roosts and they can see out of that when they didn’t used to be able to. They’re fall chicks so first time I’ve had to open it. I’ve since closed it in case they were not comfortable being able to see outside and maybe didn’t feel safe but that didn’t seem to work.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated! I’m worried about them.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

They probably are sleeping enough to get the rest they need. Chickens snooze during the day sometimes too.

I used to have a camera in my coop and no matter what time of night I looked, someone always seemed to be awake, looking around or listening.

I don't really worry unless I have a bird that is not well - lethargic, isolating itself, hunched up, not eating/drinking, etc.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

How much light is there in the coop? How long ago did you close the window? How much are they moving while they're awake, do they seem to be focusing on anything in particular?

 

[Asha_Gail]

I'm no expert, but mine always fidget in the night. I'm up late always and if I pop in at 3am some will be awake and shifting on their perches. I think they get sleep in little batches, they are prey animals after all and so it makes sense they'd be light sleepers, or sleep in spurts. Or maybe they're part night-owl!

 

[thecatumbrella]

Just an FYI, I'm pretty sure these cameras use infrared to see in the dark, and I know chickens are sensitive to that. I keep the IR off unless I really need to see into there at night for some reason.

 

[showjumper_girl2002]

How much light is there in the coop? How long ago did you close the window? How much are they moving while they're awake, do they seem to be focusing on anything in particular?

There’s no light. I just closed the window back up a couple nights ago. Their fall chicks don’t seem to be focused on anything. They just stand and sometimes preen lol

 

[showjumper_girl2002]

Just an FYI, I'm pretty sure these cameras use infrared to see in the dark, and I know chickens are sensitive to that. I keep the IR off unless I really need to see into there at night for some reason.

Oh I’ll look into that, thanks!