Vocal 6 week old chicks at dusk!

[Sassy13]

Hello everyone,

We recently got 6 weeks old chicks. We have a buff orpington, brahma, australorp, welsummer and cuckoo maran. They all seem to be getting along, figured out how to use the waterer and feeder. They also eat well, have dust baths in the evening. They have a total of approximately 55 sq.ft of space, under the coop and the run together. We have enclosed the whole run with hardware cloth. We have been picking them up and putting them in the coop at night.

However, for the past two days, our chicks get really anxious and loud at dusk. Ginger, my buff oprington, jumps and flies up to the fencing to the run. They all congregate around the door where we go in and out.

Our run is 6 feet tall, so we usually can stand in the run.

Are we doing something wrong?

 

[JaeG]

That's very normal and chicks seem to go through a phase where they yell their heads off when they should be going to bed, especially at the age yours are. It might last for a few weeks but they will start to settle down more quietly eventually.

 

[Sassy13]

Okay, lets hope. Cinnamon, my wlesummer almost flew at me and I believe me attacked me when I tried to put her in the coop tonight!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Okay, lets hope. Cinnamon, my wlesummer almost flew at me and I believe me attacked me when I tried to put her in the coop tonight!

She may have been wanting to be with you, perch on you? Like they would with their real momma - on her and under her, all snuggled in with her for the night. That's my theory anyway....My Buckeyes are 4 weeks old, one I think is 5 weeks. For a few weeks now they have been doing a wailing type of peep at dusk, a desperate, wanting sound. Doesn't matter if I go and hang out with them and try to comfort them or just check in with them for only a little while, they do it no matter and then settle down eventually.

Some evenings have been quiet, mostly not. When I've gone and hung out with them they crowd around and try to snuggle in on my arms and front - recently I've even seen one try to "part the feathers' of my T-shirt. When they were a bit younger I would try to put them under the MHP in the brooder but that didn't satisfy them; now I put them on their perch in the brooder and they may or may not stay there, or they try to fly and land on me, peeping all the while. If I'm going to hang with them a bit I wear earplugs as it's very loud! My DH calls it "bedtime yelling". I don't know if it's good for me to be there or not, as I figure they have to learn to settle themselves down sooner or later. Am I delaying that?

 

[eaking]

Our BOs did that EVERY night until they got into their coop. It's so funny. The sun starts setting and they lose their minds going "AHHHHHHHHHMAAAAAAGERRRRRRRRRRDDDDD THE DAY IS ENDING!!!!!!"

 

[Sassy13]

Yes, I agree, that was a phase and thankfully it has passed! They are all now between 10-12 weeks old. They have finally figured out where their coop and where to roost at night.
As soon as it is dusk, they all line up to go up to the coop on their ladder. It is like clockwork.

While inside the coop, they still chirp and fight for the best spot and it is noisy until it gets really dark and they all settle in.

No one has tried to fly at me again. They all have calmed down and they all gather around me when I am in the run with them. So yes, I think they were all just trying to perch on me!

My husband and I had to manually put them in their coop for about a week or so before they started going in on their own.

 

[Sassy13]

and cinnamon, my welsummer is very intelligent. She is at the top of the pecking order now and she really calls any stragglers left behind to get in the coop at night.

 

[Ryguy3684]

Okay, lets hope. Cinnamon, my wlesummer almost flew at me and I believe me attacked me when I tried to put her in the coop tonight!

Mine do this if I enter the coop at bed time. They are trying to roost on me because I'm the highest point. Mine don't make noise , but at dusk they congregate by the outer run door then trickle into the coop.

 

[Ryguy3684]

Fighting over the top roost spot is normal. As long as it's not too aggressive, they'll work it out. Everyone wants the highest perch.