My chickens and ducks freaking out at 4am for no reason?

[ThatOnePotato]

So I woke up to my dogs howling and wailing at about 4:30am. They NEVER have done this without solid reasons which have last time been when our ducks were under attack by raccoons so when I go to check on them I hear our ducks and chickens outside so I check on them and they are freaking out like they had seen a ghost. Our ducks are running around the coop and all our chickens are ontop the coop in their scared position watching the ground in horror. One of our chickens almost pushed another off and she had a Major fit! She was flapping her wings and using her talons to hold herself ontop the coop.

This isnt their normal behavior at night but there was no predators or anything out in there coop that would have spooked them though. So now I'm a little concerned. Anyone know why they would freak out so much with no sign of a predator?

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Do you have game cameras up? If your dogs were also howling there was a predator somewhere outside maybe not in their coop, but something was there stalking your birds from the outside. I have ducks and chickens alert with seemingly nothing there then all of a sudden I see a coyote prowling in the bushes or a raccoon hiding in the taller grass. Most likely when you came outside whatever was there took off. Animals don’t all alarm like that unless something is there.

 

[ThatOnePotato]

Do you have game cameras up? If your dogs were also howling there was a predator somewhere outside maybe not in their coop, but something was there stalking your birds from the outside. I have ducks and chickens alert with seemingly nothing there then all of a sudden I see a coyote prowling in the bushes or a raccoon hiding in the taller grass. Most likely when you came outside whatever was there took off. Animals don’t all alarm like that unless something is there.

Unfortunately I dont have cameras for the coop yet. But that does seem possible. as when I let my smaller dog out he went marking territory left and tight and running directly where raccoons have broken into our yard before from previous attacks.

 

[1motorpsycho]

So I woke up to my dogs howling and wailing at about 4:30am. They NEVER have done this without solid reasons which have last time been when our ducks were under attack by raccoons so when I go to check on them I hear our ducks and chickens outside so I check on them and they are freaking out like they had seen a ghost. Our ducks are running around the coop and all our chickens are ontop the coop in their scared position watching the ground in horror. One of our chickens almost pushed another off and she had a Major fit! She was flapping her wings and using her talons to hold herself ontop the coop.

This isnt their normal behavior at night but there was no predators or anything out in there coop that would have spooked them though. So now I'm a little concerned. Anyone know why they would freak out so much with no sign of a predator?

May be red mites. They come out at night and bite on roosting hens. It is awful. I just had this happen and turns out, I saw some mites! They are relentless. Check for that asap. Hope it is not.

 

[LaFleche]

May be red mites. They come out at night and bite on roosting hens. It is awful. I just had this happen and turns out, I saw some mites! They are relentless. Check for that asap. Hope it is not.

While it is always good to regularly check for mites they will not cause dogs to alert by barking and howling and will not have birds in a panic.

From my experience with my own dogs and chickens they will alert to pedators around and on top of the coop and aviary. They will also alert to aerial predators and those stalking the premises.

 

[Red Horse]

There is a gray catbird in my yard that learned my chickens' alarm call. Every evening it sits on my tractor and makes this sound, prompting my whole flock to panic. 4 am is a bit early for that, but to others using this thread just know it's a thing.

 

[ThatOnePotato]

May be red mites. They come out at night and bite on roosting hens. It is awful. I just had this happen and turns out, I saw some mites! They are relentless. Check for that asap. Hope it is not.

We have checked for mites recently and found none so far. we'll keep a look out though thank you for the heads up!