When do Chicks Sleep through the night?

[Texas Fluffy Feet]

Or do they ever? My chicks are 4 weeks old now and if I sneak to the brooder at any given hour of the night there is still a 50/50 chance I'll peep in and see someone peeping back or maybe even an all out chick party going on at the feeder. When, if ever, do chickens begin to sleep through the night?

 

[peepkeeper]

Chicks should sleep through the night from the beginning. What color light bulb do you have? If you use a white one, that could be keeping them up, which isn't good. A red one lets them sleep. If you have a red one and they're in a spot where they can be left alone, oh well, you just catch them when they wake up briefly. They are light sleepers and any little thing will wake them up. I've interupted a few late night chick parties myself. They're fine.

 

[Gindee77]

Our chicks are almost 4 weeks old and I imagine they will sleep all thru the night when we can take the lights off of them and they'll have darkness.

We have a baby monitor on our since we have so much trouble here with coons. I got up twice in the night to check them because it sounded like the chicks were having a party a couple times!

Now I just wish it would warm up enough outdoors so we could turn the lights off at night!

 

[Texas Fluffy Feet]

I am using a red bulb. Maybe I am just not as sneaky as I thought.

Gindee I love your smiley avatar doing the chicken dance! That is too cute! It should be one of ours to pick from!

 

[Cetawin]

Nope not sneaky enough and my 4 weeks old have short parties and food raids periodically throughout the night. I hear them

I have gotten up and came into the livingroom and said firmly "GIRLS...GO TO SLEEP and GROW!" They just look up at me like "Yeah okay crazy lady...turn your back and the food frenzy starts"

 

[Penske]

I was wondering the same thing.

Gindee77, do you have yours in the coop? Sounds like it since you mentioned coons...

Our 13 12 day olds are getting sooooo big and sooooooooo rambunctious that we are getting electricity to the coop TODAY to move them this weekend--with heat, of course.

This morning, the white cochin (Maddie) had torn a piece of p-towel from under the waterer and was racing around the brooder "HA, HA, HA!!!" and all the rest were playing chase with her. IT WAS HYSTERICAL!!@!

Most of the chicks have tail feathers of about an inch and their wings extended are about 5 inches long! WOW!

Lisa

 

[ebonykawai]

Mine are in darkness all night and they are almost never awake when I check on them. I don't use heat bulbs, but ceramic heater emitters instead. They are silent from sundown to the very first light in the morning.

 

[pasofinofarm]

We leave the lights on all night for the first 2 weeks so they can eat more and grow better. Then start with 6 hours of darkness and work up to all night.