Are chicken collars good?

[LaFleche]

I could never ever rehome my Snooze, she is a big fat drama queen, but I guess thats what queens do, right? It is my law to have chickens, so they can run away with it if they dont like it... The reason I cant and wont rehome my Snooze is because she comes up and pecks at you, and if you dont acknowledge her, she will climb into your lap and look at you....Adorable! She is the first one we named, when she was young, she would sleep in the most awkward positions, and still does. She will come when you say "Snooze come here!" And is just very cute. Hopefully with time she shuts up!

I understand that you have bonded and love her. So try to remodel/adjust the coop and run situation by lowering the roost and trapping the groundhogs etc. to reduce the triggers to a minimum.

But keep in mind that sometimes - even if you have the right to keep animals - annoyed neighbours that feel that their needs are being ignored might resort to more drastic measures than just taking pictures of your hens.

 

[Themellowyellows]

I understand that you have bonded and love her. So try to remodel/adjust the coop and run situation by lowering the roost and trapping the groundhogs etc. to reduce the triggers to a minimum.

But keep in mind that sometimes - even if you have the right to keep animals - annoyed neighbours that feel that their needs are being ignored might resort to more drastic measures than just taking pictures of your hens.

Gotcha, quick question do you know at what age chickens molt there feathers? Are they quiter then? Do they mature?

 

[NatJ]

I dont own a rooster, my hens wake up around 5:30-6. Snooze one of my fatter hens (not to fat just a lil chunky) cant get down, she will stay in her spot and make the egg song until one of us comes to get her. Meanwhile, all the other hens are outside, and she gets lonely, and screams even louder! Gosh darn it Snooze!


We have a groundhog, that has a hole next to there house. When it comes out of its hole, they all get scared and start yelling, at 7 am in the morning!!

Maybe you could shut the coop during the night, when the chickens are on the roost and asleep, and then leave the coop shut until a more reasonable time in the morning.

I agree with the people who suggested lowering the perch so Snooze can get off easily. But even if she still sits there, if all the hens are shut in the coop, she will not be lonely so she might be quieter.

If the hens are shut in the coop when the groundhog comes out, they will not see it, so they will not yell about that either.

Of course the hens will need food and water in the coop if they are shut in until later in the morning. I don't know if you already keep food and water in there (no need to change anything), or if the food and water are usually out in the run.

 

[LaFleche]

Gotcha, quick question do you know at what age chickens molt there feathers? Are they quiter then? Do they mature?

Young birds molt several times until they finally get their adult plumage around the age of 5-7 month old.
After that they will usually molt again after 12-14 month.
Broodies will undergo a partial molt after weaning their chicks.
Extrene weather can lead to partial molt and sudden changes of feed as well.

Usually they will eat and drink less and mostly keep to themselves as being touched is painful due to the pin feathers coming in. They feel unwell and can get quite grouchy.

How old are your birds?

 

[Themellowyellows]

Maybe you could shut the coop during the night, when the chickens are on the roost and asleep, and then leave the coop shut until a more reasonable time in the morning.

I agree with the people who suggested lowering the perch so Snooze can get off easily. But even if she still sits there, if all the hens are shut in the coop, she will not be lonely so she might be quieter.

If the hens are shut in the coop when the groundhog comes out, they will not see it, so they will not yell about that either.

Of course the hens will need food and water in the coop if they are shut in until later in the morning. I don't know if you already keep food and water in there (no need to change anything), or if the food and water are usually out in the run.

I wish chicken elevators were a thing! But yes, I will change the high of there roosts, and lower it down. If I keep them all in there they will crow and crow until my hair turns white!! The groundhog has so many holes it pops out of no where at no precise time.

 

[Themellowyellows]

Young birds molt several times until they finally get their adult plumage around the age of 5-7 month old.
After that they will usually molt again after 12-14 month.
Broodies will undergo a partial molt after weaning their chicks.
Extrene weather can lead to partial molt and sudden changes of feed as well.

Usually they will eat and drink less and mostly keep to themselves as being touched is painful due to the pin feathers coming in. They feel unwell and can get quite grouchy.

How old are your birds?

My hens are 1 year and 3 months and my new hens are about 6-7 months but I have not noticed any feather lose, besides the times when one is holding a feather in its mouth from another chicken with a guilty face... *cough cough, Snooze.* I dont own a rooster so I guess the weaning chicks part wont come, right?

 

[NatJ]

If I keep them all in there they will crow and crow until my hair turns white!!

I am confused about what sounds your hens are actually making.

Are you saying your hens are actually crowing? The cock-a-doodle-do sound that is usually made by roosters?

Or are they making other sounds? Hens make many kinds of loud sounds, but most hens do not actually crow. (A few hens do crow, but most do not.)

Other than that, about whether they make noise when they are shut in: it works for some chickens, but if you have already tried it and it did not work, then it might not work for yours.

 

[NatJ]

I dont own a rooster so I guess the weaning chicks part wont come, right?

If a hen goes broody, she may have a partial molt after she quits, even if there is no rooster present and no chicks ever hatch from her infertile eggs. I've seen it happen after the hen finally gave up on the hopeless cause.

It can also happen if she raises chicks, even if they are not genetically hers. If a hen goes broody, you could buy fertile eggs for her to sit on, so she hatches the chicks and raises them. Or if a hen goes broody, you could let her sit on fake eggs or infertile eggs for about 3 weeks, then buy newly-hatched chicks for her to raise. Not every hen will adopt chicks, but there are quite a few that do. Either way, she might have a partial molt when she is done raising chicks. Again, not every hen will have a partial molt at that point, but some do.

Edit to add:

My hens are 1 year and 3 months and my new hens are about 6-7 months but I have not noticed any feather lose, besides the times when one is holding a feather in its mouth from another chicken with a guilty face... *cough cough, Snooze.*

Adult chickens most often molt when the days get shorter in the fall or early winter (probably so their feathers will be in good condition to keep them warm during the winter.) They sometimes skip their first fall, but will usually molt each fall after the first one. So your younger ones might molt this fall, or they might wait until the next fall. The older ones will probably molt this fall, even if they skipped last fall.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I live in a neighborhood with a houses close by, and we learned the hard way that our neighbors HATE chickens..

they live close by, and got annoyed.

We have had recent excperince with our neighbor's coming up to our property without us seeing (although we saw) and "spying" on us. They even took a picture of our hens a day after we got a report...

I'm going to be nosey here.

You got a report. Was this a letter or word of mouth?

Also, the neighbor came over to your property - did they come onto your property or just close to the line to take photos?

Is putting up a privacy fence an option for you? Some places you can't so you'd have to check on the particulars. Fencing may help dampen noise slightly.

 

[Themellowyellows]

I'm going to be nosey here.

You got a report. Was this a letter or word of mouth?

Also, the neighbor came over to your property - did they come onto your property or just close to the line to take photos?

Is putting up a privacy fence an option for you? Some places you can't so you'd have to check on the particulars. Fencing may help dampen noise slightly.

Good question (s)! A letter, by the law department, yay! It was on our property but very slightly, im sure they knew they were on our property... I was sitting holding Snooze actually, and then I see a deer randomly sprint, so I look and I see a guy (neighbor) with his phone out looking right at me.... Scary ahh! Insted of a fence were making a "wall" of fire wood. Most of our property is fenced it except for the part with the neighbors, just great!