Chick won’t STOP CHIRPING!!

[Robert Kazlauski]

I’m trying to not lose my mind with one of my Chicks- she WONT STOP CHIRPING! This isn’t a little peeping like all her brooder mates, this an almost a “help me” peep, but she doesn’t need any kind of help. It’s a “louder than the rest, if a strobe light had a sound it would be this peeping” kind of peep. You know those little plastic chick toys that you hold on your hand that makes an electrical connection and chirps at you? Yeah, sounds almost exactally like that (& just as loud). And she’s been doing it every day since we got her (a week ago). What is wrong? What can I do to make her stop?

A few info bits about her:
-1.5 week old Orpington (as well as her 5 other cage mates )
-she is eating, drinking, snacking, scratching, sleeping and acting just like the others. She’s growing at pace with all the others and getting feathers on schedule and all of them are healthy (no pasty butt or even a sneeze!)
-not being bulled or picked on (she’s actually number 3 in the pecking order, but none of them are actually pushy).
- we have a Brinsea heat plate they sleep under- and we use a dim nightlight in the room for bedtime & we slowly brighten and darken the room with the suns schedule so they have as regular a schedule as we can give them. So she’s not sleep deprived or forced under a 24/7 brooder light (& I also have a night vision baby monitor on them at night and can see they are getting lots of sleep).
- she’s gets just as much love and cuddles as the rest of them, all the attention she wants (we pick her up and hold her when she runs to us, and put her back when she indicates she has had enough). I give them all equal love and one on one time and she’s always happy to be held, but we put her down when she wants it.
- she’s brave- none of them are afraid, but she’s is the first to investigate something new.

So basically, she’s a happy, well cared for chick, but she just won’t stop the noise. And when I’ve taken her to another room for cuddles, it’s amazing how quiet and gentle the brooder sounds with just the other chicks making happy peeps.

I hold her, and give her love thinking she needs extra attention: sometimes that makes her stop, but half the time she keeps peeping the entire time I’m holding her. I’ve tried ignoring it (doesn’t help) I’ve tried giving extra love, that doesn’t help, I’ve even gently reprimanded her in soothing tones and tried shushing her but… she just won’t shut up! I love and adore her, but it’s goes from 7am to 9pm and it’s a lot of non stop strobe light chirping that’s 3 times or more as loud as a normal cheep. I gave them a few mirrors and she likes to stand there, but sometimes it seems to make it worse so I take them away. I give toys and roost bars and she sits on them and plays, but still cheeps. She does it even as she’s eating. She only stops when she’s dead asleep.

Is this normal? And will she grow out of it? Because if she’s going to be like this as an adult, I can’t have that. I’m not keeping any roosters because we can’t have the noise here. Any advice on what to try? I love and adore her, but it’s like having a colicky baby and everyone in the house is going nuts.

Hi,

I just purchased today 2 newborn Amberlinks from TSC. I have the same exact problem that you have! I had 2 other customers hear me walk out of the store with the one chick making loud chirps. They both commented. My babies from last year never did this. I am going crazy. She chirps loudly and constantly. Even with the bathroom door closed I can hear her loud voice. This has lasted for hours, but she is asleep now. I posted a message elsewhere on this site about this. Keep in touch. Let me know if you find out how to solve this, please. I hope a loud, constant chirping chick does not turn out to be a loud, constant noisy adult. I cant take that and I am sure that my neighbors wont like tat either. Thank you.

 

[SuperC]

Hi,

I just purchased today 2 newborn Amberlinks from TSC. I have the same exact problem that you have! I had 2 other customers hear me walk out of the store with the one chick making loud chirps. They both commented. My babies from last year never did this. I am going crazy. She chirps loudly and constantly. Even with the bathroom door closed I can hear her loud voice. This has lasted for hours, but she is asleep now. I posted a message elsewhere on this site about this. Keep in touch. Let me know if you find out how to solve this, please. I hope a loud, constant chirping chick does not turn out to be a loud, constant noisy adult. I cant take that and I am sure that my neighbors wont like tat either. Thank you.

I did post an update in here so you can go back and see that. But in the end, it was time that did it. It took weeks (3 or 4?) for Anne to calm down. Now she is as quiet and mellow as the rest of them and it is all happy quiet bird noises. But I thought I would lose my ever loving mind for awhile there.

In retrospect, the only thing I didn’t try, was the YouTube videos of happy mama and chick sounds. I don’t think that would have helped in this case- I think she was imprinted on me (since it started on day 3 or 4) and that she needed ME around 24/7, but since you have fresh from the store babies who have spent their entire early life surrounded by dozens to hundreds of baby chicks, maybe try that and see if the sounds of happy, quiet peeping babies and a clucking mama sounds will help.

But Anne is now quiet, but her bond to me is super strong. And I can still hear when it’s her peeping/clucking in the other room- her “sound” is burned into my brain and even now that it’s a quiet one, I can still ID her chirp

But yeah… it took a month. First few weeks was no change, then it slowly faded away (like when you have a cold and can’t stop coughing and it goes on so long that you almost don’t notice when then constant cough becomes occasional and then finally stops). But now she is as normal as the rest and not an issue. Good luck!!