Elderly cat breathing difficulties when purring

[Tinkerbell]

What time should I open the Eglu door in the morning? Do I have to send my husband at first light?

[Hen Watch]

Mine get up 10 mins after my alarm clock goes off....

 

Weekdays I let them out usually from 7.15 - 7.30 ish.

 

Weekends a little later to give myself more of a lie-in 7.30-7.45 ish.

[Sarah B]

For the first time ever I have left my Eglu door open for not only my first ever night but also the last 3 nights! This was mainly 'cos I was ill with flu thing and couldnt get up.

 

I was worried about doing it but they have been ok every day fingers crossed and they are laying much earlier!

 

[Gamebird]

I don't have an Eglu or a Cube but I have a wooden ark where the chickens roost upstairs and they have a run area downstairs. I leave the ramp down so they can go up or down as they please.

 

As the mornings get lighter, the girls are up and about earlier and earlier each morning. At the moment it's 5.30am (I know this because when nature calls I look out the window to see what they are up to).

 

If I shut the ramp up each night that would mean I would have to get up at the crack of dawn to let them out. I love my chickens to bits but getting up at 5.30am is above and beyond the call of duty.

 

I know that lots of omlet owners don't shut their Eglu/Cube doors at night thus allowing the chickens to rise when they want to.

 

It's all a matter of choice but there is also the matter of Mr Fox and how secure your set-up is.

[Egluntyne]

I don't close my Eglu doors.

 

They seem to get up at sunrise.

 

However early I get up, they are up before me.

[Gallina]

Hens like to get up at first light, which I imagine is about 5.30am now.

 

I try to let mine out just before 7am at the moment, and they seem to know they have to wait, because they only make a racket if I am late.

 

If I wake up extraordinarily early, I do not let them out until the usual time, because they are creatures of habit.

[psapie]

I like the sound of leaving the Eglu door open, so that they can retire and rise as they like.

 

Does anyone keep the door open all year round or just in the finer weather?

 

Thanks,

[Gallina]

You need to read all the threads about leaving the Eglu/Cube door open before you make a decision.

 

If you do leave the door open, you have to have good anti-fox protection, because the run is not fox-proof, only the house, and only when it is locked.

 

There are a lot of foxes about at around 5am before anyone is up but the hens.

[alih]

from about February to about November I leave the door open - it's only shut if it's very cold or windy - and the chickens are snug as bugs

[Ain't Nobody Here]

We always shut our eglu door and OH opens it most mornings at about 6.30-7am. The girls are very quiet in the morning so we can leave them later (at weekends) and they're fine.

[Chickaboo]

I am a bit of a mean chicken owner - mine get up at around 7am when I'm at work, but weekends it can occasionally be as late as 9am It honestly doesn't seem to bother them, and if I get them up earlier than they're used to they are quite put out (as you would be).

[Suzie]

I'd prefer to leave the eglu door open, but we have foxes and I'd rather they were safe. I open the eglu door between 6.30 and 7am on weekdays. I try to get up early on weekends, but make sure that I open it by 8am at the very very latest.

 

If I do get up early then I have been know to then go back to bed

[Fur 'n' Feathers]

Whatever you choose to do they will get used to a routine.

 

We let ours out at 7am every morning before we leave for work, then at weekends we pop down at 7 to let them out then go back to bed

 

They seem fine with this. Routine is probably the most important factor.

[meezers]

I always knew there was an advantage to starting work at 5am - just didn't realise what it was until I got chickens ! I open the pop hole just before I leave for work, on the weekend I let them out when I first wake - usually 5.30/6am.

[Mutrix Farmers]

My son has made it his job to open the Eglu door when his alarm clock goes off at 6.30, although he did have a lay in on Saturday and I opened them at 7.30. It's so dark in the house with the door closed (I'm not speaking from experience, meerly surmising as the Eglu doesn't have a picture-window to let the light in) that I don't think they realise it's light outside. Or do they?

[DW]

I tried leaving the eglu door open at the weekend, but found that the girls were a bit too keen to wish me (and our neigbours) good morning..... at 5.30 am

 

So last night I left the eglu door open only an inch or so. This seemed to do the trick. I think they woke up a bit later as it was darker inside, but still managed to barge their way out into the run, independently....and before I got up.

 

However, not sure if this was a one-off. Will continue with this experiment for a week to see if it really works!

 

D.

[Suzie]

I think they do realise when it's light. My eglu (a mark 2) has 4 holes across the top above the door that allow light in.

 

Like in this picture on the omlet website:

 

[chelsea]

I always shut the door,

 

Weekdays they are let out 6.30-7am and weekends we get a lie in - so a bit later. I'd rather have my girls safe and shut in and let our when we say otherwise they would be out at 5am waking up the whole village

[One_Box]

Between 6AM and 6.30AM every day even on my birthday - how sad is that