hens waking up in middle of the night

[mollygrace]

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.

 

[azygous]

Chickens are light sleepers. A light coming on in a house nearby can wake them and cause them to make noise. But I suspect there is a serious rat problem behind this.

Having been a state park ranger assigned to some pretty primitive housing, I've been awakened by rats running over my head at night. No joke. Rats have no social skills.

So picture a rat or two or three running all over the coop and perches during the night. Of course chickens will be awakened by this activity. Look up bucket roller traps on Amazon. These traps are safe around chickens and they do not need to be emptied or reset to keep working after multiple rodents fall into the bucket of water.

Solve the rodent problem, solve the nightly noise problem.

 

[Debbie292d]

I agree they're getting woken up from something. Perhaps another neighbor has a solar motion light that lights up part of that neighbor's yard. Dogs, cats, rats, etc. could be triggering it.

One thing that you could suggest to your neighbor that you're also concerned his hens don't lay as much as they could. When a hen isn't getting enough sleep, they won't lay as much or not at all.

He could try putting curtains on the windows.

In case it's unknown if he has rats, after the chickens are perched for the night, he could sprinkle flour lightly around the feeder and check for tracks in the morning before the chickens get up.

 

[azygous]

Every city neighborhood has rats. The more thick landscape vegetation there is, the more rats you'll have. One place I lived long ago was in a high-end neighborhood in a rented room. There was a backyard and front yard full of English ivy. The rats, as large as cats, would climb up a tree outside my two-story window at night and run all over my room at night.

If your neighbor has them, so do the rest of the neighbors, including you. You can make a bucket trap using a five dollar plastic bucket from any hardware store, and the roller can be purchased online for around $10. Get two, one for your neighbor and one for yourself. You'll be amazed at how many rats you'll catch. They drown in the water in the bucket, and disposal is a piece of cake.

 

[McChooky]

My coops built on top of a cinder block wall buried a couple ft so it stops most everything but rats and bears.They're a force to be reckoned with. My advise is get a rat proof automatic feeder to discourage rats.Btw they can kill chickens if they're hungry enough

 

[Ridgerunner]

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. 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 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.

My first thoughts are light. Is some motion detector light coming on and shining in through a window. Less likely but are lights from passing automobiles waking them up? Maybe some type of security light? You said it is pitch black but is it really? Is it a moonlit night? They may think morning has arrived.

I guess it could be something disturbing them even if they sound like they are just waking up. It doesn't have to be a predator, could be human activity or something else.

Good luck on figuring it out.

 

[JPadronMiami]

Every city neighborhood has rats. The more thick landscape vegetation there is, the more rats you'll have. One place I lived long ago was in a high-end neighborhood in a rented room. There was a backyard and front yard full of English ivy. The rats, as large as cats, would climb up a tree outside my two-story window at night and run all over my room at night.

If your neighbor has them, so do the rest of the neighbors, including you. You can make a bucket trap using a five dollar plastic bucket from any hardware store, and the roller can be purchased online for around $10. Get two, one for your neighbor and one for yourself. You'll be amazed at how many rats you'll catch. They drown in the water in the bucket, and disposal is a piece of cake.

hello, this is informative thank you, i managed to reduce the rat issues around the coops and runs by eliminating feeding the chckens past a certain time in the evening to avoid rats from coming in later in the eve to eat, also, although i havent found resource indicating its helpful on the internet, I noticed that rats find the smell of oregano unpleasant, I always leave natural Oregano in the coops and runs, chickens like it, its good for them, and helps "freshen up" the air in the area. Problem is now the rats have moved into my Tack room, i keep everything in tin drums, except the shavings and hay, of course the rats will chew threw the bedding bales, and they eat the Alfalfa and T&A. I tell ya it never ends!!!

 

[McChooky]

hello, this is informative thank you, i managed to reduce the rat issues around the coops and runs by eliminating feeding the chckens past a certain time in the evening to avoid rats from coming in later in the eve to eat, also, although i havent found resource indicating its helpful on the internet, I noticed that rats find the smell of oregano unpleasant, I always leave natural Oregano in the coops and runs, chickens like it, its good for them, and helps "freshen up" the air in the area. Problem is now the rats have moved into my Tack room, i keep everything in tin drums, except the shavings and hay, of course the rats will chew threw the bedding bales, and they eat the Alfalfa and T&A. I tell ya it never ends!!!

Automatic rat proof chicken feeders are the best remedy.The babies can't reach adulthood or reproduce more rats if they aren't fed daily

 

[JPadronMiami]

Automatic rat proof chicken feeders are the best remedy.The babies can't reach adulthood or reproduce more rats if they aren't fed daily

thank you for your reply, Ive tried those the rats are so bold and brazen that they will jump in and eat with the chickens, once the chickens step off the lever ramp it drops the lid and rats are trapped inside the container eating, and contaminating the inside of the reservoir with their urine and poop, there's no getting rid of them, they are part of the environment, they go elsewhere as you suggested if there is no food for them in the coops.

 

[Debbie292d]

thank you for your reply, Ive tried those the rats are so bold and brazen that they will jump in and eat with the chickens, once the chickens step off the lever ramp it drops the lid and rats are trapped inside the container eating, and contaminating the inside of the reservoir with their urine and poop, there's no getting rid of them, they are part of the environment, they go elsewhere as you suggested if there is no food for them in the coops.

Have you heard of or tried that spinner thing you can put on top of a 5-gallon bucket? They crawl up there, fall in, and drown. We don't have rats, and that sounds gross, but if I did have them, I'd try it. The neighbor farmer uses those and catches tons, then tosses them out for the other varmints to eat.