[SamT]

On a morning when they come out the shed (i have 3 chickens) they whine and moan until they are let out of their pen which is starting at 6am at the mo but will shortly start at 5am. I have asked about this before and tried the advice of just leaving then to moan and eventually they get used to being left inside if they realize no one is paying attention, which works initially but now they will moan for an hour before stepping up the volume to a screech which is when for the sake of the neighbours I let them out.  We are due to go away soon and our chicken sitter will not be getting up at these stupid hours to let them out so is there anything else we can do to try and get them used to the pen. When they do come out of the pen they often wander round for five mins before sitting under their shelter near the patio doors for the next couple of hours or on the floor in front of the doors so it's not that they are desperate to roam the garden. What kind of distractions can I put in their pen? The other issue is that the bluebell always screeches twice before going in to lay her egg which I don't think there is much I can do about that apart from pick her up and take her into the nesting box pronto, and she will also start hollering when our black pearl goes in to lay an egg but yet she's not bothered if the maran goes in to lay an egg. I gather this will be to do with their roles in the gang. I feel I have very clingy chickens !!! If I were to make the shed totally dark inside as there are currently some chinks of light they can see would they accept this and keep quiet until they were let out or do they know it's light outside as I notice some people let their chickens out at 8am but mine kick off still when they see daylight? Any advice, suggestions or volunteers to come and get up at 5 am gratefully received as its getting very tiring and worrying (that we are annoying the neighbours). Thanks

[nerdle]

Have you considered an auto pop hole? It was a life saver for me when I was away - much less hassle for hen sitter.

[joyfull]

sometimes just hearing traffic can set them off as they then think everybody else is up and therefore they should be up.
I agree with Nerdle, if they go quieter as soon as they are let out then perhaps investing in an auto pop hole may help.

[splash101]

Even if you managed to block all of the light, you cant quieten down the dawn chorus so my guess is they would probably know its time to get up just by the noises going on outside 
Have you spoken to your neighbours or have they mentioned the noise at all?

[SamT]

At the moment we leave their hatch open so they can come out of the shed into the pen when they are ready as we thought this would help but then they want out of the pen. We have asked the neighbours either side who say they rarely hear them but I'm not sure if they being polite as they both have dogs who bark occasionally. I may be extra sensitive to the noise as a parent would be to their kids as I wake up at the slightest cluck but now it's getting warmer and people will be sleeping with their windows open they may notice it more.  A pop hole could work to keep them in the shed a little longer so if they do then make noise when they go in the pen it wont be quite as early. But as you say if they know people are up they want to join in.

[helens-hens]

The basic auto pop hole opener is light sensitive so will open very early because of the lighter mornings. You can get a timer to connect to the auto pop hole opener so that you can choose what time it opens but that won't necessarily stop them making a noise.

At the moment I am letting my hens out at about 0715 but they started complaining a good half an hour before, but at least the noise is muted slightly by them being in the hen house.

There have been a few posts recently about vocal hens and I am wondering if it is something to do with it being spring?

[ANHBUC]

I let mine out of the coop at 7 am which they get used to, if you keep up a routine they should be fine.  I would close your pop hole on a night so that you control when they get up.  They may grumble but as helens-hens said the noise is muted with them being in a shed/coop.

[SamT]

Yes I noticed a lot of noisy hen comments. I don't remember this happening last year but they have gone through their first moult too so they getting older and grumpy maybe. I think controlling their exit from the shed is a good option until I get a pop hole at least I might get a little longer in bed.