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

[adeandsu]

Hi all

 

Long time no post - sorry about that...

 

We've been happily getting on with things these past few months. That is, until Spiderman died suddenly and Cinderella became top chook. Now she makes it her business to bok and/or crow at 5am every morning (whether she is shut in or not).

 

We've tried covering the Eglu, and even covering the run, but no luck. Unfortunately there is a fair bit of fox activity around, so we can't ever be sure whether she is really spooked or just being noisy for the sake of it. Most mornings when we go out there is no sign of a fox.

 

So, for my family's health and sanity (I don't really do 5am!) has anyone got any suggestions please?

 

Failing that - anyone live on a farm in Sussex and want a Heritage Skyline (white eggs)? - yes - it has got THAT bad...

 

Cheers

Ade

[AJuff]

I can sympathise with you there. I woke at 4.30am with my marans yelling at the top of their voices and wondered how long it would be before the neighbours paid me a visit.

 

I did read somewhere to make sure the blanket covers the grey bit at the bottom as that lets in light. Always worth a try. Good luck.

[Patricia W]

Two things. Make sure she goes to bed with a good snack to keep her going through the night and are you covering them effectively? We've found an enormous difference when we started using a BLACK cover. Also, I don't know what colour eglu/cube you have but the rate at which they let in light varies. For instance, red is lighter inside than the green one.

 

Not sure if this helps!

[Jewels]

I know how you feel, about a month ago my son came into our bedroom at 5am to say the girls were making a "right racket", (his bedroom is at the back ours is at the front so I didn't hear them at first). I went down and threw them some corn, as at the time I was leaving the cube door open for them to come out in the light mornings themselves.

I tried putting them on the grass at 5.30am but still they made a racket, in the end I had to shut them inside the cube, they were quite then. However I do now shut the cube door. I was so worried about them starting up again the next morning I actually woke myself up at 4.30 and did so for days afterwards. I did buy a dark green ground sheet and covered their cube and run with this. It seems to work (fingers crossed) but i did seriously consider rehoming them because of this, I live on a new estate and was sure the neighbours would start to complain. Never thought I would say "roll on dark mornings" lol

 

[quickcluck]

you can get a BLACK tarp from here

 

www.tarpaflex.co.uk

 

I also feed mine a sort of pasta mash goo about 7ish to keep their tummies fuller!

[fluffyknickers]

I know exactly how you feel.

 

Mine were always shut in the cube and I let them out in the morning. However they started to make a LOT of noise very early (think its causing my 4 year old to wake).

 

I started to leave the cube door open so they could come out when they wanted and I think it has helped.

 

To check that it has helped for last few mornings I shut it again and this morning the noise (Loud crowing and Boking) was horrendous.

 

So I am ordering some black tarpaulin and bungee cords and while I am waiting for it to come I will leave the door open.

 

I also try to give something before they go to bed like pellet porridge or pasta etc.

 

Michelle

[Chucky Mama]

This is a completely off the wall idea but I guess it is worth a try. There a various different devices on the market to stop dog's barking some very good and others less good. One group of products are ultrasonic devices that let off a high pitched noise when excessive noise is detected. I don't rate them much for dogs but; I do have a brand new device that was sent to me to trial with a view to selling. It didn't trial well for dog barking but I have it sat here if you would like to try it out with your chickens. If you pm me your details I will post it to you. It will be interesting to see if a high pitched ultrasonic noise will interupt the bokking and crowing

[Sheilaz]

Mine sometimes announce the dawn, to my dismay. But, when we did have a fox visiting, they were calling at 5.30 am. because of that, which made me wonder if some of the other calls had been because of that too, even though I hadn't seen him myself.

 

Since then, I have 2 Fox Watches, which I've found a briiliant deterrant, and they've only made a noise once in 2 months (fingers crossed).

[adeandsu]

Hi all

 

Thanks very much for all your suggestions. Sorry it has taken me so long to come back on to report back. I think I've been enjoying my sleep too much

 

As suggested by a number of you, we found some thick black plastic to cover the Eglu. We also continued with the blanket on top, and the trampoline cover on the run!! Overnight the problem was solved. Our artificial lengthening of the night did the trick

 

Obviously, using this method we can't go back to last summer's practice of leaving the Eglu door open (for when we go on holiday). But we are working on a detailed rota of friends to cover morning and evening visits for the fortnight.

 

Thanks again everyone!

 

Ade