Hen Chronicles: Bedding down when the sun says to

Is there a domesticated animal more sensitive to the comings and goings of the sun than the chicken?

My final chicken-related task of the day occurs at dusk, when our two hens dutifully hop into their coop. With Snow and Nala settled in after a day of wandering around outside in their attached pen, I place a bowl of water in the coop and close and latch the door for the night.

“The girls” are positively religious about going to bed as soon as it begins to get dark outside. When the days were at their shortest here in central Maine earlier this winter, I’d pop out to the coop at 4:20 p.m. and find them on their roost in the coop, cooing softly as they began to bed down.

Although we’re still in the dead of winter, the days are growing longer minute by minute, as they have been for a month or so now. At first, the hens delayed their bedtime from 4:15 to 4:20 or so, and then to 4:25, and 4:30. Now they're out until about 4:45, when they finally make the short trek up the ramp and into the coop.

That gradual half hour gain from 4:15 to 4:45 may not be dramatic, but it’s encouraging to see that we’re now headed in the right direction. By mid June, the hens won’t settle in for the night until 8:30 or so, providing their own unfailing proof that summer is in full force. That’s a thought to warm a chicken owner’s heart as the winter winds blow.