hens waking up in middle of the night

[JPadronMiami]

I stand corrected ! You'll need to build them a permanent predator proof coop with an apron and an automatic feeder to prevent it again

lol, if you want to know the truth, am not sure what happened?, I dont let my hens brood, started out with 15 Austrolorps, ...someone told me its called "chicken math" I cant seem to pass up day old chicks at the feed store and scoop up a bundle of em...I gotta stop this!!!!!

 

[JPadronMiami]

I don't know how many chickens you have but it shouldn't be too difficult to move them temporarily so you can kill this colony out

love those Angel's Trumpets in your picture

 

[McChooky]

love those Angel's Trumpets in your picture

Thanks! My chickens weren't happy until they killed them all.They dug them up by the roots one spring and they've never grown back.

 

[McChooky]

lol, if you want to know the truth, am not sure what happened?, I dont let my hens brood, started out with 15 Austrolorps, ...someone told me its called "chicken math" I cant seem to pass up day old chicks at the feed store and scoop up a bundle of em...I gotta stop this!!!!!

I was going thru a 50lb bag a month but I'm using a lot more since one of my hens hatched 5 chicks.Their numbers can creep up fast lol

 

[JPadronMiami]

I was going thru a 50lb bag a month but I'm using a lot more since one of my hens hatched 5 chicks.Their numbers can creep up fast lol

Im using 2 bags of Purina Flock Raiser pellets per month and 1 bag of the Purina Flock to Farm now, and the occasional meal worms, fruits veggies, and herbs...I dont let my hens brood. pricey!....not to mention the Omolene 200 for the horses, alfalfa, T&A, and Orchard grass when I can get Orchard at the feed store.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

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’m glad that it was mentioned just above: you and your neighbor should both mount coop cams to find out what’s going on!

They don’t need to be fancy.

 

[McChooky]

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.

The ONLY time my chickens wake up randomly and chatter is cats running across the roof or predators trying to dig in which terrifies them. My coops close to the house so the latter is a rare event.I keep a light on for my chickens and it doesn't make them chatter at night

 

[Mamagirl3]

The ONLY time my chickens wake up randomly and chatter is cats running across the roof or predators trying to dig in which terrifies them. My coops close to the house so the latter is a rare event.I keep a light on for my chickens and it doesn't make them chatter at night

Always told that chickens need totally dark for certain amount of hours to get the proper balance for the best laying and for the health of the bird. Also, if in darkness they do not move around and should not be "chattering" at night unless they are being disturbed--- maybe hear a critter around or a mouse ran across their foot, etc. Not trying to tell you what to do --- evidently what you are doing definitely works for you!! but if being in darkness stresses them because they cant see what is going on around them... then light would be better than stress! If the dark vs light is even an issue... then with light they may be sleeping with one eye open sorta thing... not really sleeping solidly?? please dont think my comments are judgemental-- do not mean it that way!