Winter is coming to the south

[Henpecked Dad]

Our winters are not harsh but the stupid time change makes me wonder if I should start acclimating the chickens to going to bed a little earlier and getting up a little later...

 

[Acre4Me]

They will do that on their own! No worries!

 

[KreetchaKeepa]

I'd think they'd do that on their own. It's my first winter with chickens so I could be completely wrong.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Good thing chickens can't tell time!

 

[SilverBirds]

They'll do that on their own.

 

[3KillerBs]

Chickens don't care about human clocks or schedules. They get up when they have enough daylight to suit them and they go to roost when the light dims.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Our winters are not harsh but the stupid time change makes me wonder if I should start acclimating the chickens to going to bed a little earlier and getting up a little later...

I don't know of any way you could acclimate them to do that. Their clock is the sun so they will continue following that, regardless of what we call the hours. They will keep the same schedule relative to sunrise and sunset.

What does change is what we call that time. Since you have your schedule set by the clock instead of the sun you will need to change your schedule. If you are opening the coop in the morning at a certain time by your clock you can probably keep doing that unless you have to leave at a certain time. But they will go to bed when the sun goes down. You may have to alter when you lock them up by your watch.

 

[3KillerBs]

You may have to alter when you lock them up by your watch.

Yes.

In the summer I impatiently wait for the chickens to go to roost at 9pm or so because I need to go to bed in order to get up at 5.

In the winter I shut them up just after dinner and have to ask my homeschooled son to let them out in the morning because it's still dark when I leave.

 

[lori_smith99]

They will do that on their own! No worries!

Yup I agreee! Mine have already started

 

[rosemarythyme]

An auto door can help a lot if you have a hard time adjusting your schedule to match the chickens due to work, kids, etc. Light sensor if you don't want to mess with a timer, timer if you want more control over when the door opens/closes.

My chickens might be "up" at sunrise but I choose to not let them out of the coop until 7:45 AM. They're in as early as 4:30 PM in winter, to 9:30 PM in summer, and I adjust the timer to match, so doesn't matter if I'm awake, at home, etc.