[Curlytop]

Hi All

As we are fast approaching the longest day, what time do your Hens go to bed?

I have 4 Hens all of which are tucked up in bed between 7 - 7:30pm I open up the coop at 6am and don't shut it again until 9pm but they are all asleep well before then. If they carry on like this I am concerned that come winter when it is darker earlier they will only be getting up for a couple of hours. I have only had them for 6/7 weeks and they have always gone to bed at this time, I just thought as it stayed lighter in the evening they would stay up longer.

Am I worrying to much?

[8doubles]

Do you give them a bit of mixed corn before they go to roost ? If you  leave this last feed till 20.30 - 20.45 they will stay out till they get it.
The only time my girls will go to roost early is if the weather is really bad.

[janity u]

hello ct, i'm new to all this too and i find myself worrying about allsorts of stuff i never dreamed i would worry about!! maybe though it's just wanting to know the chickens are normal. if it's any help my chickens are up and raring to be let out of the coop into the run at 6am when i get up. apart from 1 who prefers a lie in. at night they are all up by sunset, and at different times from each other. i'm not sure if this order is by pecking order (bottom first) or just that they get tired in that order. but it always seems to be the same.  I've also noticed that the weather affects when they go to bed.  i'm assuming come winter they will be up at sunrise and asleep at sunset, but i see what you mean, there doesn't seem a lot of daylight hours in winter. so now i am also curious to know.  j x

[Tazzy]

You will find that the chucks love the light and will often stay out until it begins to get dark. When we had really heavy cloud the other day but little rain, they tucked themselves up early. I tend to keep mine in their run (they free range as they have a lot of space and I don't have to keep them in their coop) during the morning until they have given up their little presents so that I don't have to search for them under bushes. They not only settle earlier in the winter but also lay less eggs - even more so when they go into moult.

[Curlytop]

Thank you for your responses

I can understand when the weather is bad and cloudy as this makes it darker anyway, but even last week when it was hot, sunny and bright they still went off to bed at 7:30pm.

I don't always give them corn everyday but the other day I did go up to the coop thinking I would give them some to scratch around after in the hope that they would stay up longer, it was 7pm and I found one already in bed who did make an appearance when she saw what I had but they all quickly finnished that off and off to bed they went.

I don't remember the children being so easy to pack off to bed   

[Livinhope]

During the very hot weather we didn't shut our chickens up (they are ten feet from the back door and near my bedroom window).  It was almost dark when they went to bed and they got up just after 4 in the morning, with the birds!!! 

[Aunt Sally]

You have hit the wrong button sjkjsm click in the reply button at the bottom of the page to post a reply

[hendreary]

Mine are up and out by 4.30 am. I normally poopick before 5.00. They stay up until dusk whatever time that falls.

[Curlytop]

4:30!! And I thought 6am was early

[Livinhope]

Chickens are birds they do bird things.

[compostqueen]

Mine are having lie-ins at the moment. I'm not though as I keep getting up to get them up only to find they're still asleep and don't want to be disturbed   

[gsc]

My first coop and run has no pop-hole door so they take themselves to bed when they are ready.

Only one laying at the moment so don't want to swap houses just yet. 

[Trisha]

The first week my chooks arrived they went to bed at 7.30 but the second week of being here its been 8.30-8.45.   

[newatthis]

hi, my lot go to bed around 9ish then it lock down till 6.30 in the morning, then i hang around both at night and in the morning, due to mr fox walking past my pen the other night as we drove past the plots we stoped, and he(mr fox),  was just standing there in the long grass watching the girls, ( all we could see was he tail LOL), then he just walked on past my pen(about 4ft away) then went to the other side of the allotments, we have seen him do this at least 3 times in the last 2 weeks that we know of, so after lock down we hang around till 10ish  and the same for the mornings now hang around till 7.30 then home for brekkie and a cup of tea... 

[Curlytop]

I have started to get up and let them out at 5am, hey are still asleep but at least it gives them the option of getting up if they want to. As they aren't far away from my bedroom window I can go back to sleep for a couple of hours and as they are in an enclosed run plus I have 2 dogs I don't need to worry about Mr Fox. They are still tucked up in bed by 7:30pm though, guess I should call them the Lazy Bunch!!