4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Larkspurs]

As it's winter now I'm letting them out 730am as it's starting to get light. As summer draws closer and the daylight hours extend do you have to let them out at 5am or would they mind a lie in?

[thewhitehouse]

Good question - I'm looking forward to the combined expertise of the omleteers. I had thought about leaving the door open when the weather gets better so they can let themselves out. What do people think

[mccroft]

having lost 4 chickens when fox got in the run and then lifted the wooden door up I will never leave the door open.

 

However, that was a wooden coup and I got the cube to protect my hens. I've never let my hens out until 7.30 in the summer and they did't mind.

[chelsea]

winter cube door opening hours = 7am work days, 7.30 non work days

 

Summer cube opening hours = 6.45am work days " " non work days.

 

I close my cube door at night and have to do this all year round as otherwise my tribe would be out at 5am in the summer waking the neighbours. I put a dark cover over the cube in the summer to help block the light and this makes them sleep for longer.

[Larkspurs]

Thanks all. That sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

 

Very interesting tip about the blanket Chelsea, I never thought of that...and I also forgot to consider the noise at 5am! Also, I'm with mccroft on not leaving the door open as you just never know.

 

So now that you've all reassured me that they can oversleep, that is what they will do! With us on different work shifts we can manage to open the doors from about 630am onwards. I was getting worried in case I had to get up silly o'clock!

 

Cheers,

John.

[badgerbluebadger]

God I have very lazy girls - mine are still sometimes asleep at 7.45am when I open them!

[Cyber Chook]

My experience is a bit different. We're all late sleepers in our household, and aren't up and about until 8am during the week and 9am at weekends. Consequently, I've never closed my Cube door, and the girls just do their own thang, summer and winter.

 

During the really icy cold days we had recently, I half-closed their door to keep the draughts to a minimum, leaving just enough of a gap for them to squeeze through.

 

Noise-wise, they took a while but have now settled down, and rarely do the old bok bok BAAAAK, and when they do, it doesn't seem to particulary be horribly early in the morning. If it is, I just open my bedroom window and sort of whisper-shout to them down the garden to be quiet, and now they know my voice they stop their racket almost straight away

 

Caroline

[Cyber Chook]

P.S. I suppose, as well, that something to take into consideration is what happens when you go on holiday, and ask neighbours to come around and do the chooks. If the chooks are used to being let out very early, mightn't they get cross and complain loudly if they're not let out at the same time by your neighbours? Just a thought. I wonder what others have found?

[Egluntyne]

They like to be up at sunrise.

 

Mine let themselves out.

[mostin]

My experience is a bit different. We're all late sleepers in our household, and aren't up and about until 8am during the week and 9am at weekends. Consequently, I've never closed my Cube door, and the girls just do their own thang, summer and winter.

 

During the really icy cold days we had recently, I half-closed their door to keep the draughts to a minimum, leaving just enough of a gap for them to squeeze through.

 

I do exactly the same, I love my chickens, but I don't get out of bed on a weekend for anyone

[Cyber Chook]

I drank too much tea yesterday and have been up all night Ironically, for the first time I now could let my chooks out if I had shut them in.

 

I can't resist other people's chicken pictures, Mostin, and the one of (?Dolly) in a tree is my favourite.

 

And your cats really are beauties

 

Caroline

[Chillicat]

Being early birds (us, not the chickens ) we let them out when its daylight. Cube door is always closed at night and we do that "Are the girlies locked up?" thing over and over until either of us says "YES.....I did it at so-and-so-time!"....."But are you sure?"......."YES" " . Have to be sure to be sure, ya know. Recently we've seen presence of rats and I'm sure if they could they would jump on the cube ladder and I can't be having that.

So, to answer your question..........we let them out at daylight........and yes even in the summer at 4.30am if they are squeaking to be let out.

[mostin]

I drank too much tea yesterday and have been up all night Ironically, for the first time I now could let my chooks out if I had shut them in.

 

I can't resist other people's chicken pictures, Mostin, and the one of (?Dolly) in a tree is my favourite.

 

And your cats really are beauties

 

Caroline

 

Thank you very much, unfortunately my cats seem to know how beautiful they are and take full advantage of it .

 

I love that picture of dolly up the tree too. It makes me laugh too because it reminds me that the very next day Dolly chased Tilley the cat up the same tree and wouldn't let her back down. We found all 3 hens circling the bottom of the tree and had to rescue the cat . Silly Tilley though, she still loves to come and play out with the chooks.

[Valkyrie]

British summertime = 9 o'clock. Winter = 8 o'clock, so it will be the same for them all year round, although there have been some mornings recently when they have complained about being let out too soon! As I miss my lay-ins, they didn't get much sympathy - I'm up so you can get up too!

[Gamebird]

My girls come and go as they please all year round.

 

I have a wooden ark within electric fencing.

 

This morning when I got up and looked out of the window to watch the chickens I noticed a fox watching them too.

 

However, it has probably been stung by the fencing on a previous occasion because it kept it's distance and slowly walked away. The chickens were not at all bothered so I presume it's a regular occurrence.

[Mazzarina]

Mine get let out at 7-7.15 on workdays, and 7.30 at weekends (I seem to have lost the knack of sleeping in). Sometimes they totter out at 7.15 looking bleary-eyed, and on others there's quite a commotion as I fill up their water - they must hear me doing it - and then they all crash out together. This seems to be when one of them has decided to lay before sunrise, which happens quite often.

Once spring comes they'll have the door left open. Partly because I'm not getting up any earlier, and partly because I'm expecting a baby in May. I'm already worrying that I'll be rushed off to hospital while the chickens are shut in, and that the midwife will think I'm delirious when I start shouting 'The chickens! The chickens need to be let out!'.

[ruth1]

Usually 8 am during the week and between 8-9 am at the weekends. i am considering leaving the door open when the summer comes this year and seeing how it goes, I closed the door last year for fear of noise for the neighbours but the girls are fairly quiet apart from after the egg shout.

[Hen Watch]

i am considering leaving the door open when the summer comes this year and seeing how it goes, I closed the door last year for fear of noise for the neighbours but the girls are fairly quiet apart from after the egg shout.

 

I am really lazy and I used to leave the eglu door open all the time. But promptly stopped after a 4am summer wake up call from all 4 chooks "bok boking" like mad when they saw a duck in the garden. Then a week later if happened again twice again at 4am, so loud it woke me up.

 

In the end I thought if I can't stand the noise then surely the neighbours can't either, so from then on they got shut in till 7-7.30 depending on when I get up. It's a shame but I felt I had to do it. They don't complain at all. When I'm on holiday I leave the eglu door open all the time and just hope that they don't choose that week to annoy the neighbours.

[Cyber Chook]

the midwife will think I'm delirious when I start shouting 'The chickens! The chickens need to be let out!'.

 

She might be a bit worried you're about to give birth to a flock of chickens.

[Mazzarina]

She might be a bit worried you're about to give birth to a flock of chickens.

Ouch!

[Cyber Chook]

Eggscruciating