Noise question

[Duckmom27]

So everything I've read says the girls are louder. But with my flock of two boys and two girls it always seems to me like the boys are way more vocal and noisy. The girls can be louder than the boys if they want to, like, my Pekin can honk really loud, but most of the time the two girls just make quiet grunt like honks/quacks while the boys are really noisy with their froggy voices. I was wondering if this is kind of typical at all? I live in a suburb and am thinking of adding 5 females to my flock to fix the ratio, but I don't know if I'm going to then end up being a major noise nuisance and get complaints. My girls only get noisy when they want to be fed or something scares them. The boys get noisy every time I step outside. If it matters the boys are more bonded to me.

Anyway, what are the noise patterns in your flocks? Who's more talkative? If I add the five females is my yard likely to become an all-day quack-fest, like, are my two females unusual for not being talkative? Are some breeds more talkative than others?

Thanks in advance for any input

 

[LT71689]

My two pekin girls only really piped up when they were disturbed by something (i left their line of sight, they were scared by something), they'd make their sort of chesty bass-y chirping just to talk to me but it wasnt any louder than human conversation, and we spent a lot of time not making any noise at all.

Some breeds are more chatty than others and some a lot louder than others. As long as you didnt go too small in size (are your two boys pekins also? you wanna make sure your girls are in the same weight class so they dont get injured) you could probably tailor your 5 newbies to a quieter breed. I think muscovies have a reputation for being pretty calm and quiet and are considered large birds like pekins

 

[Duckmom27]

My two drakes are a swedish blue and a cayuga. I was thinking of getting a female cayuga, a silver appleyard, and a couple of runners

 

[BigLar368]

We have 4 female Welsh Harelequins and they make a ton of noise. In the morning starting at dawn they make noise until we let them hem out. They talk all day. There is no doubt in mind they understand exactly what the others are saying. It's not disturbing by any means but they are far from quiet....lol.

 

[Duckmom27]

Good to know! I don't have any experience with Welsh harlequins but I'd considered them

 

[BigLar368]

Good to know! I don't have any experience with Welsh harlequins but I'd considered them

They are not terrible noise makers just kinda mischievous.....lol. When they get what they want they are quiet....lol. I hope to get some eggs from them soon.

 

[Duckmom27]

So, I've spent the past few days just paying really close attention to noise levels and activity among my flock and determined that I think adding some more females will hopefully not cause a noise issue. Ordered a cayuga, a silver appleyard, and two chocolate runners, for November 16.

 

[KaleIAm]

We have 4 female Welsh Harelequins and they make a ton of noise. In the morning starting at dawn they make noise until we let them hem out. They talk all day. There is no doubt in mind they understand exactly what the others are saying. It's not disturbing by any means but they are far from quiet....lol.

I have one welsh harlequin, she is incredible loud and chatty. We say she shout quacks. She had opinions about everything and very important needs. She says, "QUACK QUACK QUACK OMG I NEED MEALWORMS NOW HUMAN GIVE THEM TO ME FASTER!!!!!" And my khaki campbell says, "peep, peep, peep, excuse me, may I have a few mealworms?" If I can even hear her under the shout quacks...

 

[Duckmom27]

I almost picked up some Welsh harlequins locally and now I'm glad they were sold before I was able to ask about them my two females are a swedish blue and a pekin and they have been pretty quiet for the most part. They were loud for a while when they were younger but now they just quietly grunt-quack a lot. I want a colorful/varied flock so that's why I didn't just get more swedish blue and pekins. Hopefully it all works out ok!

 

[BigLar368]

I have one welsh harlequin, she is incredible loud and chatty. We say she shout quacks. She had opinions about everything and very important needs. She says, "QUACK QUACK QUACK OMG I NEED MEALWORMS NOW HUMAN GIVE THEM TO ME FASTER!!!!!" And my khaki campbell says, "peep, peep, peep, excuse me, may I have a few mealworms?" If I can even hear her under the shout quacks...

I ain't gonna lie.....we only have 4 ducks all WH's and they are total a$$hats! They bully the chickens and knock them off the roost bar and water log in the run constantly for no reason. Out of the 20 chickens we have only one rooster. He is starting to "smell himself" if ya know what I mean. He is now starting to mount some of the other chickens and when they yell out the ducks immediately go and attack him. No doubt the ducks run that yard .