feemcg Posted April 19, 2008 Share Posted April 19, 2008 My chooks are locked in their run at night but with the eglu and cube doors open so that they can come out when they please in the morning. 3 times in the last fortnight I've been woken up at 5.30 with an almighty chorus of alarmed, squawking chickens, and have run downstairs and outside to see what was upsetting them - and to hopefully get them to shut up! Each time they've all been lined up against the mesh, all squawking at once - my neighboure must be delighted I don't know if a fox is paying them a visit on it's way home at dawn, but whatever it is, it seems to unsettle them for the rest of the day. So tonight I've shut the doors on the eglu and cube (I had to lift Belle down from the roof of the cube where she sleeps and put her inside). I feel rotten as it's not what they're used to but I'm going to end up getting a complaint. It also means I'm going to have to get up and let them out in the morning ....or maybe they all think they're cockerels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted April 19, 2008 Share Posted April 19, 2008 Oh dear . One of mine was squawking loudly this morning so I chucked a conker that happened to be on the bedroom window sill onto the roof of the run. That shut her up . (Probably traumatised her too .) Can you cover the run mesh somehow so the light doesn't get in but they can still "get up"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strepsy Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 Mine were bokking loudly yesterday morning at about 8. Nice wake up call for neighbours on a Saturday. lol. They were in the run but I'd gone back to bed after letting them out of the Eglu I think they must have been telling me that they'd broke an egg because when I went out half an hour later (I did check on them from the window) there was a yolky mess in the straw of the nestbox and a small amount of shell left.. Hoping it was just accidental breakage as they all try and clamber into the nextbox at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 Fee I had this happen last summer too. Up till then I always left the eglu door open 24 hours (as I'm a lazy bones). It was mid Summer and starting to get light at 4am. I had extremely loud bok boking twice in one week so I decided to lock them in after that in case I got complaints. They are fine locked in and I open them up at 7.30am but this morning when I was still asleep at 8am I heard the bok boking through the closed eglu to be let out..... whoops..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helen&Lee Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 I've gone the opposite way - mine were locked in, but the noise they were making by 6am (even in Feb ) made me give up and all seems to be calmer now I leave it open... Anyway, we have lambs in the field one garden away at the moment and they are way louder than any chook could be Helen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallina Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 It sounds as though a fox is paying early-morning visits: this is very common. Do keep them locked up at night: they will be much happier, and there will be no risk that the fox will swipe one of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feemcg Posted April 20, 2008 Author Share Posted April 20, 2008 I got up at 7.30 ( ) and let them out into the run - they were all very subdued and I still haven't heard a peep from them this morning - maybe the long-lie did them good! I'm fairly confident a fox couldn't get in the run but it could still be eyeing them up. There's also a squirrel that likes to walk round my deck rails from time to time, so it could be that too. I'll carry on with locking them in for now (till they get fed up and start pulling each others' feathers out - solving one problem always seems to create another for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 this is the reason I shut my girls in at night. Otherwise they would wake the whole village up! They get let out at 7am weekdays and later on the weekends and I bought the purple cube so its nice and dark inside and we can see from our chicken cam that they are still asleep when we go to let them out - so shutting them in is fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddie Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 The glorious advantage of a stone built hen shed!! It stays dark until I stumble out, and the girls are quite quiet! BUT... I get up at 7 most days, as I feel guilty if they dont get a Full day, esp in winter.. You cant win, can you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 Just thinking ahead (ie I haven't actually got them yet!! (June 5 = C day!) Summer is OK , but I normally leave for work at 7am for 3 days a week. In the winter, it's dark when I go - so I'll have to open the door before dawn! Do you think that will be a problem? (for the other 4 days a week, it will be much more civilised as I'm at home). Jill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 Hello JM No, that won't be a problem. My OH lets our girls out any time between 6am and 7am whatever the time of year. They seem happy to come out of the eglu even if it's dark in the mornings. They also seem content to stay inside quietly even if it's daylight outside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feemcg Posted April 20, 2008 Author Share Posted April 20, 2008 Well, in protest to the 'lock down' my girls have laid 6 eggs today (I usually get 10/11 every day! I can just here the conversation " right girls, try hard and hold it in - she needn't think she's going to lock us in here every night, so we need to show her we don't like it" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillfamily Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 and who says they don't rule the roost Gerty, one of my exbatts, calls to me every morning at 6.30 to be let out of their cube i think she loves her freedom so much she just wants to enjoy as much of the day as she can On weekends if I have the chance I have mastered the 'let them into the run go back to bed myself' routine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meezers Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 I'm up early during the week - leave for work at 5am so I open the pop hole then, the chooks don't come out though as it's still dark. At the weekend I get up at 6am to let them out ( hope to God the lads next door haven't looked out and seen me in shorty night shirt and slippers leaning into the chook run to top up the feed ) the girls are out straight away then and I'm back off to bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New2this Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 I'm beginning to think my girls are fabulously odd! I've had them for a week and half now and most days they don't get let out 'til 8-8:30 and even gone 9 at the w/e. But no protest from them yet. There're quiet as a mouse and leisurely come out. Could it be because the cubes are darker than the eglus I wonder? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pudding hill Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 I leave them in until 8am. The hens seem quite happy with this. Please shut alll the doors to the Cube. Warmth is an important consideration, but rats and weasels [or stouts] can get in through the mesh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feemcg Posted April 20, 2008 Author Share Posted April 20, 2008 No, they just haven't learned how to manipulate you yet - give them another couple of weeks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...