Chicken bald back

[natasha]

Hi,

 

I have 3 Miss Pepperpots living with us since last December in an Eglu Go Up with Eglu run. They wake up very early every morning, between 3 and 4am and if I leave the door open they come out into the run in darkness and moan a lot from very early hours. They also lay eggs at night and if I close the door, they are active inside the Eglu and trample the eggs they laid over night. With the door open over night the eggs are intact. I would like to let them out myself around 6am so they do not disturb the neighbours at 4am (we have a terraced property with neighbours' gardens next to hours on the outskirts of London) and somehow protect the eggs. We also had two early morning fox attacks through the run's mesh with the girIs making a major noise just after 4am. I think the solution would be to separate somehow the nest box from the rest of the Eglu so that the girls do not accidentally stomp on the eggs whilst moving inside the Eglu. I was wondering if anybody had a similar problem and if they found any solution.

 

Thanks!

 

Natasha

[Cat tails]

Hi!

 

I also have a Go Up, with three bantam hens. And if I accidently leave the pophole open, they will be screeching and complaining at 5:30. (I have a tiny garden and upstairs neighbours, so need to keep the noise in check). So I close the pophole at night and let them out when they wake up (still 6:30 with all this light).

 

I have the occasional egg in the morning, but it is rather a rarity (today actually I found one on the roosting bars). You could prevent them from going in the nest box, by putting a upturned pot in there, but it might be that they will just lay their eggs on the roosting bars.

Some people made an nest box out of plastic tubs with one side cut open. And then attach the tub to the roosting bars with tie wraps. This might make their nightly wanderings a bit more difficult.

 

Can you somehow make it darker in your coop? Turning of porch light? Putting up a heavy duty tarp? If I want I lie in, I make sure they are kept as dark as possible and they will sleep in maybe half an hour longer.

[natasha]

Thank you Cat tails. We do not have any light in our garden but our neighbours have a strong security light illuminating half of our garden when triggered by movement at night so not an easy problem to solve. I have a large permanent cover that covers the front of the Eglu and half of the run and provides deep shade in this area. I think the hens may be sensitive to sound as well as light and if they hear something stirring in one of the houses' extensions or gardens they are immediately alerted. The cover helped a lot with keeping the noise down and I am very pleased with getting this recently, I think they do not like to be exposed in their run and are now much calmer. The cover also seems to keep them quieter in mornings when locked inside the coop but they definitely are moving a lot. I will try fitting the plastic tub inside the Eglu and see if this works. They occasionally lay eggs on the roosting bars as well but I find at least one egg every morning in the nest.

[Chickabee]

Once it's dark it's a hens natural instinct to sleep. I think cattails has hit the nail on the head. Make it as dark as you possibly can. Hens are not normally disturbed by noise once it's dark and they are asleep. It must be the security light.