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

[Orchard]

Hi all,

 

One of our chooks has taken to making a bit of a racket at 5:30am, basically demanding to be let out of the run to free range. They're allowed to free range all day whether we're in or not....we're pretty rural and haven't had foxes other than once during the bad snow.

 

With all the noise I'm concerned the neighbours will get annoyed...

 

Any ideas on how to re-train them?? I'm thinking about putting some bits in the run to keep them entertained....dust bath, more interesting feeder etc... Also thinking about keeping them in the run for a few hours during the day to get them used to being closed in it again.....ignore any fuss they make and maybe mornings will be a little quieter.

 

Any thoughts????

[chelsea]

My lot are exactly the same

 

We are rural but live in a cul-de-sac so it means neighbours close by. To avoid complaints about early morning wake up calls we shut the girls in their cube by night and cover the cube with a dark cover (not covering ventilation holes) and open the door about 7am every morning.

 

After about 10 minutes scratching around in their run my lot seem to get bored and shout to come out (especially if they hear us in the kitchen). I try to stand firm and show them who's boss but they get louder until I give in. If I didn't have neighbours in close proximity I would definitely ignore their bok boks!

 

Hanging treats like corn on the cob and broccoli/veggies up is a good idea as an activity for them, we give them "seed sticks/seed bells" as an occasional treat also. A dust bath is a brilliant idea - mine use theirs every day. Perches, sturdy branches or tree stumps also add to the run.

 

Good luck, I know exactly how you feel

[Hen Watch]

I had this few years back. So I now shut the door to their housing and they are not allowed into their run until 7.15am. They don't make a sound inside their eglu at all.

 

It's a bit of a pain to have to go out to open up every morning but I had to stop the 4am alarm calls in high summer.

 

I do still leave the door open 24/7 when I go on holiday and figure that the neighbours won't mind noise just for a week.

[sandyhas3chucks]

I have just had made a lovely black out cover ! i t covers but not blocks the vents as hangs down. £25 inc luding material.not waterproof, have walk in run so don't know how it would fare in the rain! If anyone is intersted. It does not have an egg port hole and just lift the front for closing/opening but "could" have a slit if had wanted to.

[Chucky Mama]

I used to let mine have access to the run and just half shut the eglu during the night so that they could let themselves into the run in the morning but they did start to make a din and pace like caged animals at the crack of dawn. I now shut them in and they are quiet 99% of the time. In the days when I rushed out to shut them up at the crack of dawn they just demanded to go out earlier and earlier so I was really adding to the problem.

[Guest]

Hi

 

After having no problems one of mine is broody for about 3 weeks now so at 5.30 we get the screeching from one of them(I am guessing its broody)?? but I am not sure if its the wild birds etc that come within the cube area that they hear that disturbs them.

 

At the moment I sneak out in my full glory to let them out..I did leave them out to go in wir at their pleasure but it made no difference..

 

 

Have not tried blackout

 

indie

[effingpot]

Same problem here a few weeks ago - they had a window that let them see out at dawn (was 4am in my case). We attached a piece of black gutter over the long thin window to create blackout but still allowed air to circulate.

 

You can see it on our chicken cam.

 

Noise stopped! Back to sleep.

 

And interestingly much less poo in the house. I guess they sleep a bit more now, wake up and leave the house rather than wait for the door to open and have nothing better to do