"Derrick Parfitt" <dsparfitt@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:S9adnaWse8HEroHbnZ2dnUVZ_oernZ2d@comcast.com...
>
> "0tterbot" <spl@t.com> wrote in message
> news:sWKSh.11910$M.9588@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
>> serious question!
>>
>> no matter how quiet i try to be when closing them up for the night, the
>> little blighters are all awake.
>>
>> i am starting to wonder if they're like cows & hardly ever actually
>> sleep, just rest.
>>
>> my three youngest chickens still don't roost, either. i made them a
>> spiffy new house with two lovely roosts, & all they thought about that
>> was to be sure not to bump their heads. they all sleep in the nesting
>> box. i don't know why i bother. apparently they'd have been perfectly
>> happy if i'd just made them a nesting box with a door on it ;-)
>> kylie
>
>
> Remember, chickens have been prey for millions of years (that is, if you
> believe in evolution).
"if"?? i realise it's a pretty inane question, but not one that would cause
anyone to doubt my intelligence, i'd have thought! :-)
The chickens survival depends on being able to run
> from predators whenever they appear. Therefore, they may have developed
> the characteristic of waking up instantly and being able to respond any
> disturbance when they have been sleeping. This contrasts with people, who
> have to wake-up a bit, and I'm not talking about a couple of cups of
> coffee:), before they can respond to stimuli while they have been
> sleeping.
well, this is what gets me - once roosting, they're not very alert or
anything. so if they're going to go dopey like that, why not just sleep
outright?
i'm probably waking them up :-) they seem to have spectacular hearing.
kylie
