trputman
Chirping
Hi All-
Advice sought! We have three Dominique hens which will be a year old in April. I previously posted about feed issues (see here). TL/DR (but please read below for detials before firing from the hip): what might explain hens getting very noisy (I'd say it moves into a screaming level) besides egg-laying, and how can we resolve it?
The longer version:
We have three Dominiques who live primarily in an enclosed run (about 4' by 6') with a raised coop over it. We live in a neighborhood with close-set houses and so are especially worried about chicken noise bothering neighbors as well as, of course, our own worries about whether noises are a sign of health or happiness issues. Throughout last fall, especially in the mornings, our three hens would get VERY noisy, trumpetting and screaming for extended periods. Sometimes this seems to be prompted when one or two are in the laying box and the other is out alone going crazy. Other times it's prompted by them seeing us and getting excited they might get to be let out into the yard (we let them free-range when we are close by around the yard and into their favorite spot, the large compost bin). But far more often, there is no apparent explanation, they just start up and go for some time.
Early this year, after realizing how much feed they were wasting and thinking they might be inadvertently starving themselves of key nutrients and so hungry, we gradually switched their feed from dry Scratch & Peck 16% mix in a vertical feeder to fermented Scratch & Peck (1 cup dry fermented for two days; served every day) and dry Scratch & Peck pellets in the vertical feeder. This resulted in an almost overnight change: they suddenly were much quieter during the day and wasting way less food.
However, for the past few days, they've returned to their old ways and are being very noisy.
Possible variables I can think of:
It's only in the past week or so that I've eliminated the last of the 16% mix from the vertical feeder after slowly transitioning it to 100% pellets. Over about six weeks, I gradually reduced the ratio of 16% to pellets each time I refilled it.
For a while, I was including a mix of grub pellets and 16% feed in the ferment, but now I'm just fermented the 16% feed.
The time of year?
Their egg laying rate has not changed in the past few weeks: we're getting about one egg per day total.
Pic just for attention NOTE This is the compost bin not their coop.
Thanks so much for any insights, and happy to answer any questions that might help!
-Tyler
Advice sought! We have three Dominique hens which will be a year old in April. I previously posted about feed issues (see here). TL/DR (but please read below for detials before firing from the hip): what might explain hens getting very noisy (I'd say it moves into a screaming level) besides egg-laying, and how can we resolve it?
The longer version:
We have three Dominiques who live primarily in an enclosed run (about 4' by 6') with a raised coop over it. We live in a neighborhood with close-set houses and so are especially worried about chicken noise bothering neighbors as well as, of course, our own worries about whether noises are a sign of health or happiness issues. Throughout last fall, especially in the mornings, our three hens would get VERY noisy, trumpetting and screaming for extended periods. Sometimes this seems to be prompted when one or two are in the laying box and the other is out alone going crazy. Other times it's prompted by them seeing us and getting excited they might get to be let out into the yard (we let them free-range when we are close by around the yard and into their favorite spot, the large compost bin). But far more often, there is no apparent explanation, they just start up and go for some time.
Early this year, after realizing how much feed they were wasting and thinking they might be inadvertently starving themselves of key nutrients and so hungry, we gradually switched their feed from dry Scratch & Peck 16% mix in a vertical feeder to fermented Scratch & Peck (1 cup dry fermented for two days; served every day) and dry Scratch & Peck pellets in the vertical feeder. This resulted in an almost overnight change: they suddenly were much quieter during the day and wasting way less food.
However, for the past few days, they've returned to their old ways and are being very noisy.
Possible variables I can think of:
It's only in the past week or so that I've eliminated the last of the 16% mix from the vertical feeder after slowly transitioning it to 100% pellets. Over about six weeks, I gradually reduced the ratio of 16% to pellets each time I refilled it.
For a while, I was including a mix of grub pellets and 16% feed in the ferment, but now I'm just fermented the 16% feed.
The time of year?
Their egg laying rate has not changed in the past few weeks: we're getting about one egg per day total.
Pic just for attention NOTE This is the compost bin not their coop.
Thanks so much for any insights, and happy to answer any questions that might help!
-Tyler
Last edited:
