I need the truth about chicken noise - ASAP

[2DogsFarm]

Quote:

My 5 pullets make some noises, but nothing you could hear if you were standing 5 feet away.
Yup, there IS the occasional loud squawk! of alarm - especially when I am doing my Keystone Cops routine to herd them all back in the coop.

I have just the one laying now, and if she does sing an Egg Song it's so quiet it can't be heard outside the coop.

IIWM:
I'd locate the coop as far away from Crabby as possible even if it meant doing some extra prep work.
Get rid of as many reasons for her to be a bee-yotch as possible before you get the hens.

For your crabby neighbor's annoying dog:
Does she let it run loose?
I solved that problem many years ago with a bottle of Karo syrup.
Poured all over a friendly barking dog who was keeping me up at 2AM. He went off wagging his tail & I'm sure he then rolled in something on his way home and must have arrived there a godawful mess.
Didn't see him off-leash again...

 

[trueblueshowgirl]

My solution to this "keep the neighbor happy but also do what I want" condundrum was, eventually, to move!

Now I live where I can't even SEE a single neighbor. I can walk around the garden in the morning in my underwear. I can stand outside and sing badly on the top of my lungs. I can let the lawn get long for a couple of weeks- and I can leave the dandelions and clover! (Yes, I had a neighbor who actually requested I dig up the dandelions in my yard b/c the seeds were blowing into theirs.

) My dogs can bark and my chickens can bok and crow to their heart's content and I have absolutely ZERO stress over it ! Yaaa!

Heaven!

 

[SandyRiverChick]

I may have missed this but did you say whether or not they go to work in the morning? I have 6 hens SUPER close to neighbors even though I'm on acreage... They make ALOT of LOUD laying egg noise in the morning only, from about 7:30 to 9, then its completely quiet out there until the next morning... It's my assumption that the neighbors miss the whole show because they are gone to work. So unless you heard this already (sorry), that could be the good news, it's truly not an all day thing with hens.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Oh also, I'm in Seattle area too. Dont know where you're planning to get your chickens but PM me if you want the # for a great guy in Sumner with RIR's. I bought 3 from him; 3 from Rebar Ranch (feed store) in Kent. His 3 are WAY lovelier than the feed store bunch.... PS. My dog snores while chickens walk over her nose, some dogs truly dont give a crap about chickens.......

 

[anngili]

I haven't had time to read all of the posts on this, so my apologies if someone else has suggested it before.

If it were me, I'd politely point out that you'd put up with their noisy dog for 7 years and if they can't control their dog and they think the sight of the chickens will upset the dog, the dog's barking and getting upset is their responsibility and under THEIR control, not yours and make the following suggestions.

The first would be for them to put up a wooden privacy fence that blocks their dog's view of what is making it bark. (That might also dull some of the noise coming from their yard.)

Second suggestion: That they take steps to train their dog not to bark. The can do that and there is a lot of information around and techniques to help stop it. One method that is often very effective is to get a citronella bark collar. It doesn't hurt the dog at all. It releases a spray of citronella vapor, which dogs don't like, whenever the dog barks. A second version is a shock collar that gives the dog a mild shock every time it barks. At the very least, it should reduce the barking if it doesn't eliminate it.

They can also consult a professional trainer.
I'd put the ball in their court (politely, of course) and point out that it is perfectly legal and fair for you. I'd just start out polite and firm, but make it very clear it's their problem to deal with.

If they're that worried about their dog going berserk and making more noise, odds are that someone else has already complained to the police and your neighbor either doesn't want to take responsibility and/or doesn't know that there are steps they can and should take. If she still gets nasty about it, I'd then point out that you can call in a complaint about their dog's noise (after checking to see if you legally can) and that dealing with that might be more trouble than taking one of the above steps.

Don't let your neighbor walk over you because it sounds like she has no problem with trying to do so. If she won't take responsibility, then recommend that she pass the dog on to someone who will and get a pet that doesn't make so much noise or keep the dog inside the house where it doesn't bother YOU! There's no reason you should have to let her disrupt your life at her leisure! After all, your chickens are going to be a lot less noisy and disruptive than her dog is!

 

[anngili]

Forgot to add; do the above if you don't have anything to lose by your neighbor being a jerk. Sounds like she already is, though, and that you won't really being losing anything by telling her to belly up to the bandsaw.

And I have a dog as well as chickens. I do my absolute best to make sure she's not bothering the neighbors, too. I do realize it's my responsibility to keep her under control and not bug the neighbors, even to the point of keeping her inside unless I'm supervising her.

At ten years of age and with a bad case of degenerative disk disease in her back, she can still clear a 6 foot fence with ease

, so it's the only way that I am absolutely sure she won't go bug someone else. That despite knowing the first thing she will do is run straight down the driveway, clear a second 6 foot gate into my landlady's yard and stay with her and her dogs. I'm very lucky in that my landlady loves my dog and dogsits her whenever I need one.

 

[10 pollos]

We have a pretty large lot in a very urban area. I have 8 chickens begind a guest house that shares a fence with 2 neighbors. My dogs do not bark at them (I have oneof those dogs that bark) but to tell you the truth sometimes I am in the house and I can hear the chickens, especially when they lay. Its about as loud as someone laughing, but they never make any noise at night. So far no one has complained.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Quote:
bygones - I've been making everyone come read this today, to get a good laugh!! It's SO TRUE, too... But you have quite the funny way of putting it! THANKS FOR THE LAUGH TODAY!!

 

[vfem]

3 hens will be very quiet honestly, they only make noise and get loud while trying to lay an egg! I noticed my new layers are louder then my pros!

Honestly, tell the lady politely that the noise from 'hens' is ocassional and only when they lay... however her dog needs to zip it before 8am.

Don't be so polite as to let these people go on thinking they are perfect... you will be the only one to suffer in the long run!

 

[anngili]

I'd also like to recommend the Buff Orpington as a nice quiet bird. I only have one but she's really lived up to their reputation of being quiet, meek, and sweet birds. She is at the bottom of the pecking order for those same reasons but she isn't getting beat up or anything. She's really sweet and loves to sit on my knee and eat treats from my hand. Except for clamoring for a treat at treat time, the only time I've ever really heard anything from her other than noises about the level of a whisper was when a hawk came gliding over my yard. She was the first to see it, gave a warning squawk, and they then all hit the dirt, froze, and I didn't hear a peep out of her until the hawk was long gone.

Mine aren't singing the egg song yet but I haven't even had any comments from my two closest neighbors. I don't think they even know that I have chickens (unless they've heard me talking to mine

.)
They've got a small chihuahua and it's louder than all 3 of my chickens get when they see me bringing treats!

I'm glad you're going ahead and getting the chickens., too.