Can Backyard Chickens and Fireworks Coexist Peacefully?

Peaceful Coexistence: Can Backyard Chickens & Fireworks Co-Exist?

By Tom Seest

Can Backyard Chickens and Fireworks Coexist Peacefully?

At BackyardChickenNews, we help people who want to raise backyard chickens by collating information and news blended with our own personal experiences.

Backyard chickens and fireworks don’t mix. Chickens are creatures of habit, and they can be very stressed out by fireworks. Even banger fireworks can stress them out, and stress is known to cause Sudden Chicken Death Syndrome. To protect your chickens from the noise of fireworks, light-proof their coop.

Can Fireworks Harm Backyard Chickens?

November is a difficult time of year for backyard chickens. The trees are almost bare, and the night skies are filled with fireworks. Rosie, the Pekin Bantam, is notorious for being the last chicken to go to sleep. Buff Orpingtons are also known to be tetchy. Fireworks cause a lot of stress for chickens, which affects their behavior, immunity, and egg production.
Fireworks may sound harmless, but for backyard chickens, they can cause serious stress. The loud noises produced by fireworks can cause hens to stop lying. They may also suffer from shell deformities. Fireworks can also be a major source of fire, which is bad for chickens.

How Can You Keep Chickens Calm During Fireworks?

Fireworks and thunderstorms can be a major threat to backyard chickens. These loud noises can cause extreme distress to chickens, causing them to die from shock or heart attacks. Other factors can also cause distress, such as predator attacks. However, there are solutions to minimize these stressors so that chickens remain calm and happy.
Fireworks can be very frightening for humans, so if you live in an area where fireworks are frequent, consider taking steps to protect your flock. Providing a blackout window for your coop or moving your chickens to an outbuilding can help. A battery radio can be an effective solution for keeping your chickens calm during fireworks. It will also help to talk to your neighbors and get their permission before setting off fireworks.
Keeping lights on inside the coop will also help keep your flock calm. However, it is important not to turn the lights on abruptly. In addition, you should lightproof your coop so that the light won’t disturb your chickens. Also, a large display of fireworks can scare chickens and make them aggressive.

Can Fireworks Scare Your Backyard Hens? Light-Proofing the Coop to Find Out!

One of the most important steps you can take for your chickens is to ensure that the coop is fully lit and secure. This is vital to protect them from outside noise and predators such as owls. Even though these animals are not nocturnal, they can take advantage of low-light conditions to hunt for small chickens and take them away. To prevent this problem, light-proof the coop before the sun goes down.
Ensure that all access holes are closed. If you have a coop made from plywood, you must secure it with a waterproof wood stain to prevent it from rotting. Next, you should install insulation material. Though this means sacrificing a little space, it is necessary. Depending on the size of the coop, you can choose to put insulation inside and outside. Also, consider adding extra mass to the coop to prevent noise. The best type of material to use is mass-loaded vinyl.
A motion-sensitive light is a great way to deter predators at night. It will be distracting for them, but they may become used to the light and begin to ignore it. Or they may associate it with people going out. Either way, they will not be able to get in.
A solid roof is another important safety precaution. A solid roof will keep out predators and help protect the flock. Rubber or tin roofing will work well. If you use a wire roof, be sure to make sure that the coop is sturdy and predator-proof. Otherwise, predators will be able to sneak in and get inside.
Soundproofing the coop is vital to protect your hens from outside noise. If you want to keep the neighbors happy and your coop to remain free from complaints, you need to limit the noise your hens produce. There are two types of noise that your chickens create: airborne noise and impact noise. Airborne noise is the easiest to block, while impact noise comes from an object striking a surface.
It is also important to make the coop and its floors as predator-proof as possible. A coop should have locked windows and not be open to the elements. A well-lit coop can also keep predators from sneaking in.

Be sure to read our other related stories at BackyardChickenNews to learn more about raising chickens in your backyard.