Are chickens noisy?

[bren0990]

I am planning to get into chicken raising but I have no idea how noisy they can be? Our houses are not that close together (200-300ft) but I wouldn't want to bother the neighbors.

Thanks

 

[DylansMom]

I am planning to get into chicken raising but I have no idea how noisy they can be? Our houses are not that close together (200-300ft) but I wouldn't want to bother the neighbors.

Thanks

In my experience roosters can be quite noisy with the crowing, but hens are generally only noisy when something upsets or scares them. I have guineas and Peafowl and both are noisier than my chickens, rooster included.

 

[tcstoehr]

How many?
They can get noisy at times with their bawk-bawk-bawk-bagack sessions. But it generally doesn't last very long. My five hens don't do that anymore but they do make a fuss early in the morning waiting to be let out of their run to free range. Only because they're waiting impatiently for me to drag my butt over and let them out. During 99% of the day they just make low, quiet bawba-wawba kind of sounds that you can't hear from 10 feet away.
From dusk to dawn, however, they are silent, silent, silent. And that's the most important time.

 

[enola]

A few hens make a whole lot less noise than a large flock. Some breeds make less noise than other breeds. A tall solid fence around the hen yard can help muffle noise. Adding trees around the yard will help keep things quiet, also.

 

[mortie]

I have 6 chickens. When they sing their egg song in the morning, they can get rather loud. They're not louder than wild birds can be, though. Their singing is usually pretty short lived. 99% of the time, they're almost silent.

 

[WNCcluck]

Some of ours are more vocal than others. Our Australorp talks all the time; the other seven are all pretty quiet. None of our neighbors minds the loudmouth because she only holds forth during daylight hours. When it's bedtime, they're all silent sleepers.

 

[JensChickies]

They can be. Mine were more noisy when they were pullets, but they have really calmed down. Although my Welsummer is still very vocal. When they lay they can sing their egg song. You can look up on you tube that wonderful melody. Other than mine are quiet for the most part.

 

[pdirt]

I would say with that amount of space between houses, you'd be fine with hens. If you plan to have a rooster, then it depends. Even our quietest rooster is pretty darn loud. Also to consider is how many fences, trees, bushes, etc are between you and your neighbors to muffle rooster crows. Our roosters sometimes start crowing at 2:30am.

 

[azygous]

A fence, such as enola suggests, would virtually insure a quiet flock. Hens are generally quiet critters except for the exuberance they display around egg laying. There is an occasional individual who gets it in her tiny mind to be vocal and sing for the world, just because she feels entitled.

Then there are the outbreaks of noise that are triggered by strange people going by and strange animals appearing near the run. A nice privacy fence would prevent a lot of this sort of racket.

But overall, hens are a rather silent bunch of beasts.

 

[lovemy6hens]

Some hens are, some are not. Depends on the individual hen. Roosters, yes.