When do your chickens wake up??

[mickey328]

Ours wake up now when the light comes on at about 4:30a, LOL. If we don't have the light, they tend to wake up just at dawn...not full sunup, but once it's sort of grey out and they can see. There's never an egg for us then...they tend to come out, eat and scratch around some, then one by one will head back in to lay. Even with the light, they rarely leave an egg till after we've let them out and they go back in. We'll get a couple reasonably early...by 8 am or so, and then usually by noon or 1pm, they're done laying for the day. We do check fairly often though...I like to fetch them as soon after laying as I can. We have one or two who like to sit on them, and they all use the same box, so I'd rather they didn't get squished or walked on any more than necessary. Once we remove the eggs, the "sitters" leave the coop, so it frees up the box for the others. Why they don't ever use the other box, I'll never know...it's just the same but...chicken brains!??

 

[7 Biddies]

My girls are late sleepers. The pop door opens automatically around 7am, but they sit on the roost talking to one another in soft voices for a half hour or so before coming out. Maybe it's because the sun hasn't come up over the mountains yet, so even though the sky is getting lighter, the sun isn't visible.

They've been laying at all hours; starting sometime in the morning around 8 to 9ish, and done by 3pm or so.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Mine are up as early as 5:30am.

 

[Chirp4Chickens]

Does anyone know when a 2-month chick goes to sleep and wakes up? Thanks!

 

[JanetS]

Is your chick in the coop outside yet? When they are outside they do learn when it starts getting dark they need to find a roost or a safe spot to sleep. Chickens have poor eye sight in the dark. Sunrise is when they wake up. If your chick is still in the brooder inside under a light they will stop and sleep when they get tired but its usually only for a short time and then they're up and going again.

 

[wsmith]

I think its fun when older threads get re-started..

At our place we don't have any supplimental lighting at all. The closest thing to a street light is about a mile away...

My chickens, chicks included, start moving around, etc about 45 min to an hour before sunrise. Abraham (my avatar) starts crowing about an hour before sun-up. They are usually out of the coops and moving around about 20-30 minutes before sun-up, unless the weather is bad.

The mature birds normally go into the big hen house about 30-45 minutes before dark, and start their evening rituals, before going to roost. My chicks pick this up pretty quickly, though when younger it takes them a little while linger to settle down. Just like kids.

Tuesday I was out with them in the evening. About 20 minutes after sunset they were all in the coops, and when I left it was dark enough that I used a flashlight inside the coop to make sure the young Bronze turkey poults that are still getting used to the main pen, were settled in. It was still light enough outside to see, but getting dark quick.

 

[nok13]

i have some house chickes that have taught themselves to go to sleep in a plastic box that i have outside where they area raninging in the garden (with hidey holes everywhere to escape the cats)... ive noticed that if i dont come to get them and bring them upstairs while still light, they all go in to their box , sleep in a clump and i can carry the box back up to the apartment to sleep. in the mroning, at around 7 they are still asleep in the box but starting to wake up (the dogs are up also, as are all the neighbhrohood dogs, my neighbor's aviary, tractors, kids, and the usual background noises of a semi agricultural village.