DoorThe editors of Chicken Fans 5 mei 2022
Chickens are creatures of habit. They never stay up too late or overslept. Depending on the season, they stay early in the evening (or even late in the afternoon) or late at night. But it all depends on the time of sunset and sunrise.
If you're new to keeping chickens or introducing new chickens to your flock, bedtime can be difficult. We'll take you through everything there is to know!
What time do the chickens go to bed?
Generally, chickens come into their coop about 15 to 30 minutes before sunset. It depends from chicken to chicken, but since chickens are creatures of habit, there won't be any extreme differences between when they go to sleep. Our hens go to bed every evening (always!) exactly half an hour before sunset; you can set your watch to it.
Chickens cannot see in the dark. That's why they want to be at their resting place before dark. They follow the position of the sun to know when it is time to go to bed. At dusk, when daylight disappears, they start to get a little nervous and noisy. This means that your chickens are almost ready to go to bed. As the sun sinks below the horizon at dusk, all the chickens go into the garden to roost. Chickens are social animals, so they all go into the garden at the same time.
To protect your chickens from the nightpredatorsMake sure they go out into the garden to sleep every evening and close the door to the garden. You can make your life much easier with oneautomatic chicken coop door, which closes and opens automatically.
What time do chickens wake up?
It depends on the time the sun rises. Chickens see the difference in sunlight and wake up depending on the position of the sun. Before alarm clocks were invented, we relied on taps to wake us at sunrise. Both chickens and roosters have an internal clock that tells them the right time to wake up depending on the sunrise.
Studieshave shown that roosters start crowing at dawn, even in a pitch-black chicken coop. They don't need external light to know when it's morning; their internal clock informs them of the correct time.
Do chickens know where to sleep?
New chickens don't know where to go at night and will probably sleep outside. Our new hens wanted to sleep in different places the first night: a plastic box, under some bushes and even on top of the racing fence. It is important to place them in the garden for several nights in a row so that they know that this is their sleeping place. It took our chickens about three nights to get the hang of walking into the garden at dusk without assistance.
Newcomers are not 'trained' or welcomed by the older hens; every newcomer to the flock must be helped to find his place to sleep. Because they don't have much to eatchopping orders, it is less stressful to place them in the coop in the dark so that the other chickens cannot see the new bird.
A mother chicken shows her offspring where to sleep, but keep an eye on whether everyone is inside, because chicks are extra vulnerable to predators.
How do chickens sleep?
Birds, including chickens, do not use a nest for sleeping; they sleep on branches. Nests are used exclusively for laying eggs, hatching and raising their young. Do not let your chickens sleep in the nesting boxes as they become dirty and can easily break the eggs.
Chickens sleep on branchesabove ground, away from predators. Provide perches in the garden that are at least 1.5 to 3 feet above the ground. The incubator must provide sufficient space so that the hens can sit next to each other. Keep the perches separate from where they get their water and food to avoid contamination.
If you would like to know everything about dimensions, materials or types of cozy posts, please contact us'Guide to Perches'.
Can chickens sleep outside?
Preferably not. Chickens sleep outside in the wild, but seek out the highest branch they can reach to be as safe as possible from predators. But when you sleep outside, there is no such thing as a 100% predator-proof place. This makes your chickens vulnerable to any predator, even in urban environments. When you let your chickens roam free, you need to provide a safe place for them to spend the night.
How do you give your chickens a good night's sleep?
Make sure your chicks give you a five-star rating for their sleeping comfort! A good night's sleep depends on many external factors, such as weather conditions, noise or artificial light near the farm, or health problems in chickens, such asmelting. But as a chicken keeper, there are basic rules you should follow to help them sleep well:
Do not let them rest on an empty stomach
Hungrychickens are angry chickens. To keep them calm at night, you can feed them one last time an hour before they go to sleep. A chicken's crop should be full at bedtime and empty when he wakes up. This makes them less anxious at night and in the morning.
Clean and ventilate the garden
CleaningThe coop is essential because you don't want your chickens sleeping in their droppings or experiencing poor air quality due to ammonia fumes. Chickens sleep a lot at night, so in addition to weekly cleaning, a thorough cleaning is necessary to ensure they don't stay in dirty conditions. If you usedeep soil methodTo compost the manure, weekly cleaning of the farm is not necessary, but pay extra attention to the ventilation and odor of the farm.
In addition to a clean chicken coop, ventilation is of the utmost importance, but this is often overlooked. Chickens breathe and fry, which humidifies the air and increases carbon dioxide and ammonia fumes. The ventilation takes place at the top of the cup, so that the ammonia vapors and carbon dioxide can be replaced by fresh air. There should be no airflow at the bottom so that your chickens don't sit in a row.
Give enough space
Just like humans, chickens need their personal space to feel happy and healthy. When it comes to chicken coops, size matters! Make sure the chicken coop is therebig enoughto house your chickens. If you have any doubts, please contact us'Coopgroottecalculator'to determine the correct indoor and outdoor distance for your number of chickens.
Roasting bars
Provide sleeping places that meet the standards for your chickens. Every chicken has its favorite spot in the roost, but for all chickens there are some basic rules when placing the right perches. Discover it in our'Guide to Perches'.
To summarize
All chickens have an internal clock that tells them when to sleep, that is, at dusk. New chickens don't just roost; They will need help for the first few days. Make sure all chickens enter the coop at night, which will make them less vulnerable to predators. You can do some basic things to help them sleep well: feed them before bed, clean the house regularly, and make sure the house is well ventilated. And by offering the right amount of space in the garden, so that it does not feel crowded.
