Chickens won't stop squawking loudly for no apparent reason

[azygous]

You need to just accept that some egg layers, even older ones, are very vocal before they go into the coop to lay an egg as well as after they finish.

It's actually quite useful since I am made aware of the intent of certain hens to lay, they go on so loudly about their need.

Also, hens may seem very loud to us in proximity to them. However, their voices lack the carrying capacity of roosters over long distances. Your neighbors may not even be hearing much, if any, noise.

 

[Flachickman]

posted to this "loud chickens" discussion before, and as the "girls" get older their outbursts have lessened in intensity and duration. However they still do cause a ruckus occasionally. Especially when one is in the nesting box the other one crows incessantly for 15-20 minutes. I still have to apologize to my neighbors. The one good thing about when the girls go into molt , they are quite quiet.

 

[All Ball]

My experience is there are 2 kinds of hen loudness:

1. Egg song bawking, which can be "I'm going to lay an egg," "I'm thinking about laying eggs," "I am laying an egg," "I laid an egg an hour ago," "I really want to lay an egg in my favorite nest and someone else is sitting in it," "I was trying to lay an egg and a bully drove me out," "Another girl just laid an egg," "One of my harem laid an egg," etc.

2. The kind that really, really, really annoys me: Begging, harassing, demanding very loud yells from hens with a sense of entitlement who think, despite my consistent efforts not to give them any ammunition, that I am present to meet their every whim and desire and they must demand I leave the house and meet their urge right this very moment. This only happens when they are hormonal typically; they are quiet as angels as pullets, or when molting or broody. I guess I might get hysterical if I gave birth every day....Apparently most chicken-keepers do not have these types of hens. I originally only had one hen like this, a BCM, but I think when she brooded my second generation of cream legbars she taught some of them some very bad habits. Now I have 3 noisy hens out of 6. One is slightly special needs and I think this aggravates her noise; she makes random outrageous screaming noises any time she thinks I should come out and give her something she can't get because she is 6 out of 6 in the pecking order.

A very few people (Olympia chicken guy is one notable example) have been able to train their chickens out of noisiness. My experience however has not been good in this area - it seems to me that the hens have no self-awareness of their vocalizations; it's pretty easy to train them in some areas, but very hard to train them around noise-making as they don't understand the connection between their noise and my actions of ignoring/yelling shut up and denying treats/aiming a stream of water toward them. I can see the confusion on their face. The entire flock takes my actions as being against the whole flock....They seem to have the impression that I am sort of a bipolar keeper who irrationally veers from cooing at them to yelling and threatening them with water. Accepting the noise or rehoming/culling seem to be the only solutions for most of us...

 

[Mandypr87]

It could be "the egg song" which is a horrid noise a few of my chickens insist on making when they are about to lay, when another chicken is laying, or right after they lay. My one buff Orpington does this constantly. I truly think it's even when she sees another egg. It sounds like "cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck, SQWAK" but over and over again?

 

[Sadbannwn]

My Black Star squawks all day every day, starting around 6am, with only about 15 minutes of calm between each squawking session. She has been laying for a couple months now so its definitely not extra practice! I don't think its a predator either, the other chickens are completely unbothered and calm. I most likely will have to find her a new home, already had major complaints from my neighbors. I definitely understand your frustration, wish I had an answer to help you!

 

[Joe Cypher]

Hi! I'm in Pacifica too! I just got my chickens this weekend...and they were pretty quiet. Today they started a whole bunch of squawking too! I started freaking out. I already have a crazy, complaining neighbor. Wondering how its been going? Thanks!

 

[HenSlayer]

This isn't an egg laying song. I know what that sounds like. I have 3 hens and all three squawk loudly all ****** day. It's driving me nuts, I can't imagine my neighbors. They were always a little noisy but I swear it's gotten worse over the past month. From spurts to hours on end now. They've been squawking for the past 2 hours.

They have food, water, shelter, freedom to roam, no predators (I've checked and checked, besides this doesn't sound like an alarm, it sounds like a ****** crow.)

Those that are saying it is an egg song have no clue and they're luckier for it. The occasional 5 minute bawking to lay an egg is nothing compared to this. It is a high pitched crow. If I can hear it in my house, so can my neighbors.

I was going to just eat all 3 and be done with it but I have a friend that is slaying two of her old hens and will likely take these 3. I'll start with fresh chicks and go from there. I simply cannot figure this out and cannot stand it. I'm not even sure if I'm legal with these in the city so... yeah.

 

[junebuggena]

Could be that they are just bored out of their minds, or that they have trained you to come out and give them attention. Chickens need space and they need things to do. Otherwise, they can be very obnoxiously loud. It's also molting season, and that can make them more grouchy and vocal than usual.

 

[junebuggena]

Also, if noisy is a problem, and space is limited, you may want to give quail a try. They are smaller and much more quiet.

 

[Jameshastwochickens]

I find throwing water from the windows onto or near them stops them from squawking.