I have chickens and my next door neighbor also has chickens. Over the last couple of months, about once a week or maybe a little more often his hens will all wake up at a random time of the night and start up with a lot of noise, but it doesn't sound distressed. We are in a close suburban neighborhood, so the predator count is low and the only critters who might cause trouble are rats and maybe possums, but not really a danger to the hens. It's the same kind of noise I've heard both my hens and his make when they wake up in the morning and just get a little excited about the new day and all have something to say about it loudly.
I've been wakened by his chatty hens at 11:30pm, 1am, 3am, 5 (pitch dark still).... There's no consistency. The first time it happened I got up to make sure it wasn't my hens and saw him out there with a flashlight, but it didn't seem like he found anything. Now he doesn't go check and they usually fizzle out after 5-10 minutes, but it's not great for my sleep. I know I can go talk to him, I'm not here to complain, I just wanted to see if anyone knows why hens might do this in the middle of the night or if anyone has had a similar experience.
I've been wakened by his chatty hens at 11:30pm, 1am, 3am, 5 (pitch dark still).... There's no consistency. The first time it happened I got up to make sure it wasn't my hens and saw him out there with a flashlight, but it didn't seem like he found anything. Now he doesn't go check and they usually fizzle out after 5-10 minutes, but it's not great for my sleep. I know I can go talk to him, I'm not here to complain, I just wanted to see if anyone knows why hens might do this in the middle of the night or if anyone has had a similar experience.
