Hen Chronicles: Chickens get up early, but not that early

I’ve read that chickens, ever alert to their surroundings, will not eat in the dark. This means, of course, that they won’t chow down at night. But I didn’t realize until recently that it applies to their morning routine as well.

As the days grow shorter, I’ve grudgingly pushed back my dawn trips out to the coop to release “the girls” and give them food and water. The goal is to get out there as soon as they awake at first light. That's when they start bouncing around in the coop in a frantic bid to escape their confinement. Usually, they're in full jack-in-the-box mode by the time I arrive.

Sometimes, though, my eagerness gets the best of me, and I find myself at the coop before our four hens are up and about. On those rare occasions, I know they’re still asleep because they aren’t jumping in the window and squawking balefully to protest the injustice of their imprisonment.

Even then, the hens normally wake up quickly once I start shuffling around outside with their water bowl and feed dish. They drop down from the roost to the floor of the coop with a thud, eager to be let out into their pen, where they immediately make short order of a hearty breakfast.

But things played out a little differently when I showed up shortly after 6 a.m. on Tuesday. It was quite dark out, and the hens were still roosting. Even after I put their food and water bowls in the pen, there was only a soft, halfhearted clucking coming from the coop, rather than the loud complaints of fully awake birds who want out.

When I opened the coop door, Snow, Hope and Nellie stumbled out. A full minute or two passed before Nala hopped off the roost and made her way out into the pen as well.

Amazingly, the normally ravenous hens did not touch their feed, or the snack I had scattered on the ground for them. I guess it was still too early in the day. They just stood there, looking nervous as they craned their necks and turned their heads this way and that, as if trying to peer through the darkness.

Perhaps instinct warns them to be wary of raccoons and other predators in the dark. Whatever the cause, they looked like they feared they were living life on the edge by being up that early. A few minutes later, when dawn finally broke, they hit the feed bowl with their usual gusto.

And so, another lesson learned: You can open the Chicken Little Cafe before dawn, but don’t expect any customers.