Loud chickens

[2wheelnurse]

I know when chicks are little and are squawking loudly it means they need something (e.g. might be too hot, too cold, etc); does that also apply to adult chickens? It's starting to get colder here in Iowa (dropping into the upper 30's/lower 40's at night, but it hasn't been very windy), and I've noticed my 6-month old bantams are making more noise. I can't tell if it's because they are too cold--how does one know? We are almost done with a winter coop that should give them more indoor space and be less drafty. Also, one or two of the hens recently started laying eggs, didn't know if that would also make them more chirpy. Any thoughts?

 

[N F C]

Some chickens sing an "egg song" once they begin laying. In our mixed flock, some sing before they lay, some after they lay and some don't sing at all. We even had one girl that was singing her little heart out about a week before she even laid her first egg (practice maybe?). Then we have the 2 best buddies that sing together when one of them lays. It can get kind of loud around here, especially when their are 3 or 4 laying at the same time, lol.

 

[Peeps61]

Mine get loud when they see me let the dogs out and come out with the feed for all the critters. They start sqauwking for me to "Come FEED us!" NOW!! They also sing the egg song when they lay. Other than that, unless they are alarmed by a cat or something else, they are generally fairly quiet.

 

[2wheelnurse]

Thanks for the replies! I think it must be a FEED ME squawk.

 

[mrchicks]

We have some really chatty birds. Feed me! Where are the treats? She's in my favorite nest box! She looked at me! What are you doing? That's the layers. In the Jersey Giant coop they all babble non stop.

 

[DMeyerhoff]

My mixed flock is very chatty, and when they lay I think the neighbors a half mile away can hear them. Its quite funny to listen to them, I can tell every time a new egg is laid. My question is about my roosters, they crow all hours of the day and night. I happened to be up about 3am this morning and both were at it. Any ideas what would have them doing this? Thanks for any input....

 

[mrchicks]

In my flock the only time a roo crows at night is if something is either waking him up and he's sounding the alarm, or that light is coming in the coop. Is it possible that light is coming in?

 

[mightymax]

I currently have 3 roosters...
...Kramer - the head rooster in charge
...The General - bigger than everyone else, yet still only 2nd in command
...Raven - in love with a human, tolerated by the hens

They all crow, at all hours, day or night, it doesn't matter !!! Since they all hold different positions within the flock, we get a crow or a cackle
for just about everything you can think of !!!

 

[Peeps61]

When I had a rooster, he'd crow all hours when he was younger. As he matured, it was in the morning/day or when he was alerted to something outside the coop at night. Still - sometimes I think he did it just because he could.

 

[spies04]

In our flock, we have some that are chatty about everything - even to the point of chatting to their food - it is quite the sight

. And some that never say a word. We have one chicken who will stand over you when you are cleaning the boxes staring at you and just talk, talk, talking. I have just always associated that they all have individual personalities. We also have a rooster who will crow when it is dark out. Most of the time it is when he hears me going into the barn to feed the horses. I think he is reminding me that he wants his treats.

We also have braggers when they are laying an egg and others who will stand next to them in the same box telling them to hurry up.

Our guinea hen is one of the biggest alarms we have. And the chickens all listen to her when there is a problem.

Enjoy the conversations! They can be quite interesting.