A Swede in France
Songster
Hi everyone,
My chickens look tired and nap a lot during the day... like proper head under wing napping not just chilling. And I've been wondering... how much sleep do chickens need at night? I grew up at 58 degrees north where the length of the day varies wildly between summer and winter. Now I live at a more moderate 42 degrees north, but still... now so close to summer solstice, they go to bed close to 10 pm, and are up and and out again by 6 am. Considering that in the winter, they go to roost at around 5 pm and get up at 8.30 - that's significantly less time snoozing. Could they simply be short on sleep?
The weather has been unstable, but not very hot - the gang is more likely to be wet than to be overheating.
I am more curious than worried, but have checked a lot of other parameters - Egg laying is normal. Nobody is molting or looking scruffy. When they are not napping, they show now signs of weird behaviour. I have checked for mites - none, lice - none, dewormed them 5 months ago and see no overt signs of internal parasites. I add vitamins to their water. They freerange in a large green area and forage a lot, and our place is full of greens and insects etc (ocassionally they catch a lizard) to add to their usual food - which I have not changed in the past year.
What do you think - are short summer nights making your chickens nap more too?
My chickens look tired and nap a lot during the day... like proper head under wing napping not just chilling. And I've been wondering... how much sleep do chickens need at night? I grew up at 58 degrees north where the length of the day varies wildly between summer and winter. Now I live at a more moderate 42 degrees north, but still... now so close to summer solstice, they go to bed close to 10 pm, and are up and and out again by 6 am. Considering that in the winter, they go to roost at around 5 pm and get up at 8.30 - that's significantly less time snoozing. Could they simply be short on sleep?
The weather has been unstable, but not very hot - the gang is more likely to be wet than to be overheating.
I am more curious than worried, but have checked a lot of other parameters - Egg laying is normal. Nobody is molting or looking scruffy. When they are not napping, they show now signs of weird behaviour. I have checked for mites - none, lice - none, dewormed them 5 months ago and see no overt signs of internal parasites. I add vitamins to their water. They freerange in a large green area and forage a lot, and our place is full of greens and insects etc (ocassionally they catch a lizard) to add to their usual food - which I have not changed in the past year.
What do you think - are short summer nights making your chickens nap more too?
