Weird and really random question about chickens sleeping.....

[andreanar]

My chickens are the same, wide awake every time I look in on them. I have often wondered if they sleep. It seems all they care about on the roost is jostling each other and trying to get the best spot. I love the photo of those sleeping birds, with their heads all tucked in!

 

[AKchicken1]

They do sleep alright. Without sleep most animals will actually die. It is a necessity for the brain. Birds are different from mammals in their sleep in that some birds are capable of resting one side of the brain at a time, a useful adaptation for a critter that is on everyone else's menu. However, at night they go down deep enough that they get very, very docile, into a state of torpor akin to hibernation (though far less extreme).

 

[centrarchid]

Yes! I think because it's dark they don't move from where they are, but they are awake. I wonder how much sleep chickens need? I would assume they don't need very much since their instincts tell them wake up all the time.

I have a lot of chickens. Once they become habituated to my disturbances they go to sleep. They sleep most of the night. Birds up and moving are disturbed, so learn how to get sneakier or spend more time with them.

 

[JensChickies]

They do sleep alright. Without sleep most animals will actually die. It is a necessity for the brain. Birds are different from mammals in their sleep in that some birds are capable of resting one side of the brain at a time, a useful adaptation for a critter that is on everyone else's menu. However, at night they go down deep enough that they get very, very docile, into a state of torpor akin to hibernation (though far less extreme).

I know of that trance you are talking about. Eyes arnt closed but they have that look like they are in a trance.

Very interesting info. Thank you!

 

[centrarchid]

They do sleep alright. Without sleep most animals will actually die. It is a necessity for the brain. Birds are different from mammals in their sleep in that some birds are capable of resting one side of the brain at a time, a useful adaptation for a critter that is on everyone else's menu. However, at night they go down deep enough that they get very, very docile, into a state of torpor akin to hibernation (though far less extreme).

Chickens do not appear to be among the group that employs torpor. They come to full activity levels too fast.

 

[AKchicken1]

In a warm environment with lots of food, no they probably do not enter torpor daily. However, I believe chickens can go into torpor. Not sure if they employ monocular rest or not butcwould be surprised if they are not capable.

Chickens do not appear to be among the group that employs torpor. They come to full activity levels too fast.

 

[centrarchid]

In a warm environment with lots of food, no they probably do not enter torpor daily. However, I believe chickens can go into torpor. Not sure if they employ monocular rest or not butcwould be surprised if they are not capable.

My chickens go to roost with full crops and sleep at temperatures well below zero F with minimal wind protection are thus operating at near the thermal minimum for chickens. They do not exhibit torpor at any point of the night. I have encountered species that employ torpor and flight. Once disturbed during periods of normal sleep they require a few minutes before they are able to generate power needed for flight. In animals like bats the body feels cool at beginning of the warmup process.

 

[AKchicken1]

Mine too go to roost with full crops and even when the hen house is warm, which it seldom drops below 0F even at -50 F outside temps, I can go in grab my skittish birds and band them and fully inspect them long before they wake enough to be able to anything about it. Torpor? Maybe not. They feel warm, but birds run hot, so I doubt I would feel the slight change in body temp that coul

My chickens go to roost with full crops and sleep at temperatures well below zero F with minimal wind protection are thus operating at near the thermal minimum for chickens. They do not exhibit torpor at any point of the night. I have encountered species that employ torpor and flight. Once disturbed during periods of normal sleep they require a few minutes before they are able to generate power needed for flight. In animals like bats the body feels cool at beginning of the warmup process.

d be occurring.

 

[centrarchid]

Torpor involves a larger drop in temperate than what we or most animals undergo at night. Temperature drop with torpor is enough to greatly reduce the capacity for immediate physical activity as a consequence of core temperature. My birds can be startled at any time during the night and they then fly from roost a hundred yards and then run freely. Both activities would be severely degraded if metabolism reduced. I am a zoologist by training with all the degrees and well schooled in comparative animal physiology.

 

[AKchicken1]

Good to know. I am not a zoologist but a practicing biologist for the last 20 years or so. I only have a handful of degrees and did not pursue anything after my MS. Like I said, not a zoologist or a physiologist for that matter. I agree with you, if your birds take off in flight instantly, they are not in torpor at all, similarly, I said that well fed birds probably don't go into torpor when temps are within their TNZ, but that chickens were capable of it. According to the literature, they are. My birds do not wake up as yours do. That's all I am saying. Being a schooled zoologist you are aware of the varying degrees of torpor exhibited by many birds and mammals from those that exhibit it daily to allow for rest, like hummingbirds I believe, to more extreme seasonal scenarios like bears and ground squirrels. Instead of hijacking the thread we should probably continue this privately if you prefer. i think the only real disagrementbis whether or not chickens can go into torpor? Not hibernation level torpor. Any way it has been interesting.