If you find yourself in a situation where it is better to have nice quiet hens, these ideas may help. If your hens fire up a loud chorus of squawks to the dismay of the neighbors, try these ideas.
Avoid the sky-is-falling crazies by making the coop capable of instantly repelling almost all predators. I have always raised my hens in tractor coops I build. I move the coop about every 3rd day. This I have found is the healthiest option for backyard chickens and what it does is make all sides of the coop very accessible making it easy to surround the coop with electric fence. I use the smallest 110v electric fence energizer that Tractor Supply sells. They all have +positive and -negative terminals. I ground the negative to the coop’s cage wire and the positive to a wire that, using electric fence insulators, stands off the coop and about 4” above the ground. I use a tough uv resistant extention cord with ground to supply the electricity. There are solar systems sold for electric fence and if your coop is going to be a long distance from a power source, go for it but be prepared for some sticker shock, they don’t give them away.
We live in South Florida along side a savannas preserve. The predator list is enormous. We have panthers, bobcats, coyotes, raccoons, possums, ferrel cats, red tailed foxes and an amazing array of snakes. All of these have visited our coop and only one ferrel cat and one rat (or corn) snake have ever made their way into the coop, they both made their way under the coop without touching the hot wire. We used to watch a bobcat come up to the coop staying 2 feet away and just sit on his haunches every day trying to figure out what the shock was. The hens became so secure they didn’t squawk and just ignored the threats.
The last, and very important find, I have discovered over the last 7 years trying to keep my hens from bothering my neighbors is black drapes or covers. That’s right, black drapes. Chickens seem to instantly shut-up when they go in the dark. It doesn’t require a long coverup. Really only a few minutes are enough time. Chickens have very short attention spans and as long as whatever fired up the sky-is-falling panic squawks, they will have forgotten about it within 5 minutes. For me it works every time as long as the predator hasn’t made its way into the coop.
Avoid the sky-is-falling crazies by making the coop capable of instantly repelling almost all predators. I have always raised my hens in tractor coops I build. I move the coop about every 3rd day. This I have found is the healthiest option for backyard chickens and what it does is make all sides of the coop very accessible making it easy to surround the coop with electric fence. I use the smallest 110v electric fence energizer that Tractor Supply sells. They all have +positive and -negative terminals. I ground the negative to the coop’s cage wire and the positive to a wire that, using electric fence insulators, stands off the coop and about 4” above the ground. I use a tough uv resistant extention cord with ground to supply the electricity. There are solar systems sold for electric fence and if your coop is going to be a long distance from a power source, go for it but be prepared for some sticker shock, they don’t give them away.
We live in South Florida along side a savannas preserve. The predator list is enormous. We have panthers, bobcats, coyotes, raccoons, possums, ferrel cats, red tailed foxes and an amazing array of snakes. All of these have visited our coop and only one ferrel cat and one rat (or corn) snake have ever made their way into the coop, they both made their way under the coop without touching the hot wire. We used to watch a bobcat come up to the coop staying 2 feet away and just sit on his haunches every day trying to figure out what the shock was. The hens became so secure they didn’t squawk and just ignored the threats.
The last, and very important find, I have discovered over the last 7 years trying to keep my hens from bothering my neighbors is black drapes or covers. That’s right, black drapes. Chickens seem to instantly shut-up when they go in the dark. It doesn’t require a long coverup. Really only a few minutes are enough time. Chickens have very short attention spans and as long as whatever fired up the sky-is-falling panic squawks, they will have forgotten about it within 5 minutes. For me it works every time as long as the predator hasn’t made its way into the coop.
