How to make them SHUT UP!

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X2 - In fact, i just went back and read all 9 pages just to double-check what was said, even though I already know that no one said that anyone was stupid. I don't understand why people ask for advice and then get mad at everyone if they are not given the solution that they are looking for. You won't learn anything if you are not willing to consider all the responses.

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Oh thank goodness! I'm really happy that you are not here to be offended, and that I not looking for trouble here. I'm glad we can all accept each others' views without resorting to snap judgements and accusations. I hate forums that contain trolls who just live to pick fights, they need to get a hobby.... like chickens or something.

That's why I go here; to a place that people such as myself and the OP can get good solid and friendly advice aimed at honestly wanting to help and improve a problem. I love BYC!

I've got the same problem. I have three hens, all about 4.5 months old. One is the ring leader and she is very noisy and obnoxious. I think it is just her personality, however, I think I have contributed to the problem by responding to her noise by letting her out or feeding her. I am basically reinforcing her for making noise. So, I am going to try to feed them only when they are relatively quiet and I am going to let them out when they are quiet. She also associates my squeaky door with food - so I'm going to fix the squeak and not feed them treats unless they are quiet. At first their behavior should get worse, but after a time of being ignored when they make noise they should quiet down. Of course, they are going to make some noise because they are chickens, but I don't have to contribute to their problem by reinforcing their behavior with food!!

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You may want to consider the options of keeping thier night pen dark until you are ready to let them out, or opening the door very early before they are totally awake or getting an auto-door to do the same thing. I think (and this is just my opinion, but based on my observations and the experiments of others on this thread) that what actually makes the chicken loud is the excitement about the treat/free ranging. If you make that a non-event, by having the door already open when they get up - how can they get worked up and loud?

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Again....what you consider abnormal, considering you seem to be new at raising chickens, is completely normal in all respects when it comes to chickens, which is what I was trying to convey to you with my "rude" response. Loudness with chickens IS indeed normal behavior....ask anyone who has kept chickens for years, as I have. Three generations of keeping chickens, actually....sort of a heritage. I think I would know what normal chicken behavior could be as opposed to someone who has to ask how to shut up a chicken.

I'm sorry if rough, country advice is just a little rude to you....we tend to be more practical and laconic than you may be used to. I never meant to offend but it's hard to dress up advice that is just simple, common knowledge. I think you are finding that, just because it is legal to keep chickens where you live, it may not always be practical.

What you might ask yourself is~is it worth it to me to try to remake the chicken for a few eggs that I can buy from a local farmer that may need your support to keep growing and producing healthy foods?

BeeKissed..... I gave up on this post after the OP declared that giving them treats made the matter worse.... it was 10 minutes between the original post and the announcement that the treats failed. It took me 24 years to break in my kids.... 10 minutes means the thread was meant to ruffle feather in my opinion.... Move on .... nothing to see here.....

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X2 - In fact, i just went back and read all 9 pages just to double-check what was said, even though I already know that no one said that anyone was stupid. I don't understand why people ask for advice and then get mad at everyone if they are not given the solution that they are looking for. You won't learn anything if you are not willing to consider all the responses.

If someone is coming away from this thread feeling stupid I'd say they're putting that feeling onto themselves. Several of us tried to help.....just because it wasn't want the OP, or others, wanted to hear is not my problem. Don't ask for help and then get bent out of shape if it wasn't what you wanted to hear. Take the advice or leave it. I don't care. Whether it's backyard or farmyard, they're still chickens and that's what they're going to act like despite your efforts to change them.

Nothing makes them stop bawking. Nothing! They might quiet down for a time, they might get distracted, but chickens are going to make noise. If you can legally own chickens I wouldn't worry too much about the noise. Just as your own children are louder to you than anyone else, so are your chickens. My neighbors have only heard my chickens a few times, and never thought of it as a nuisance. I share eggs, let the kids come over and feed the chickens and try to be a good neighbor when their dog barks constantly.

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Thank you Beekissed. This is something that I have been thinking about all day. Even thought about starting a thread about 'The difference between perception and intent.' I asked myself, "Why try to give constructive, husbandry and experience based suggestions when they are bound to be misconstrued." I grew up in an era when facts were facts and sugar coating to suit another's desires was just a bunch of bull.

I have lived in the city my entire life, and frankly I don't know what planet people are living on if they expect the city to be quiet. Between sirens, blaring music, motorcycles, barking dogs, mating alley cats, garbage trucks, ice cream trucks, kids playing, and on and on, I am stunned that people are worried about my chickens. I think that sometimes when cityfolk, who are used to tuning out all kinds of noise, get bent out of shape about chicken noise it is coming from a deeper, city-bred mistrust of being in contact with the sources of our food - which are, after all, dirt, plants, and animals.

Fact is, keeping chickens in Chicago is a tradition as old as the city itself, kept alive in part by the large Mexican community here, and in recent times also by growing interest in food security and self-sufficiency. I'm the fourth chicken keeper on my block alone. OK, so at the moment we can go to a farmer's market or organic food store and buy fresh(ish) eggs - if we can afford their premium prices, which most people I know can't. But my nearest "local farmer" is probably 20 miles or more away. What if a time comes when we can't rely on mass production and gasoline-fueled transportation to bring our food to us? Is starvation to be the lot of city-dwellers? To my thinking, it's imperative that the city become a site of food production - now, while there isn't yet a serious food crisis. That's why I am farming in the city. I *am* a city girl and don't know much about growing food and am learning as I go. As are an increasing number of urban and suburban folks.

I'm sorry if this is a bit off-topic but I get so distressed at the "city vs. country" debate. To me, it is a false division. Anyone who is growing healthy food - anywhere - should be commended for helping to contribute to their community's food security.

Absolutely a 'false division' and it serves no purpose.