How late do your chickens stay up?

[chicksurreal]

Funny story - when our chickens were young, we usually let them free range around our large yard, and we usually get them back into their coop before dark. One night,we forgot to get them back to their coop - we do the 'pied piper thing' - they follow us as we throw them bits of bread. WELL, on this night, it got dark and they hadn't learned to get to their coop before dark. We went out to find them scattered around the yard, and had a really hard time getting them in their coop (we didn't realize their eyesight was bad in the dark!) We ended up picking up each one to return them to their coop. It was really quite a sight seeing us rounding them up!

Now that they are older and 'wiser', they always go back to the coop before dark on evenings when they are still free ranging. I guess they learned something from that one night, and so did we!

That's so funny! Ours are the same way, whoever is still out after the sun goes down has to be carried into the coop. I put a little flashlight in there until they can get up on the roosts for themselves. Our SS Hamburg Cockerel always grumbles about being carried like a baby into the coop. I tell him if he would round up the ladies and lead them in before dark he wouldn't have to be humiliated this way.

 

[Smiling Angel]

That's so funny! Ours are the same way, whoever is still out after the sun goes down has to be carried into the coop. I put a little flashlight in there until they can get up on the roosts for themselves. Our SS Hamburg Cockerel always grumbles about being carried like a baby into the coop. I tell him if he would round up the ladies and lead them in before dark he wouldn't have to be humiliated this way.

We had our rooster at the time, and he was the hardest of all to get backinto the coop. He didn't want to be picked up, but he sure was having trouble getting himself back into the coop! We had to 'coax' him back to the coop with a long broom. For the rest of the time we had him (he was given to a friend that had a farm) he would stay near the coop as it started getting dark, calling to the ladies to get their butts back to the coop! They listened, too!

 

[chicksurreal]

We had our rooster at the time, and he was the hardest of all to get backinto the coop. He didn't want to be picked up, but he sure was having trouble getting himself back into the coop! We had to 'coax' him back to the coop with a long broom. For the rest of the time we had him (he was given to a friend that had a farm) he would stay near the coop as it started getting dark, calling to the ladies to get their butts back to the coop! They listened, too!

Sometimes ours will listen to him, at other times they just ignore him. They are all fairly young, not yet 11 months old, so I assume things will change as he matures and they do too, they've already changed so much since they started to lay. He's a real sweetie most of the time, but when 13 pullets totally ignore him, he gets a little frustrated. His wing feathers are all ragged at the tips from dragging them on the ground when he tries to get the girls to do what he wants. Lol!