Discourge hens from cackling

[karen71]

I have 2 red sex links that make no cackle noise and 2 mutts that make noise een when they don't lay

If they are kept in the dark all the time they will not lay eggs

If you are really close to the neighbors and they are not happy about the chickens they can turn you in anytime and you will have to get rid of the girls
hopefully they are nice neighbors and won't care

when we live in a neighborhood there was a family that had chickens and I did not care as did no one else - but you never know?

 

[chuckzoo]

I am not planning to keep them in the dark just have the nesting boxes dark. Here is a picture of my setup;

I still have to attach the run;

Most people are at work all day so I'm hoping for the best.

 

[montana girl]

When mine start cackling I just bring out some treats. I can have chickens where i am at, but sometimes I feel like it might be driving my neighbors crazies! When i throw the treats out, they shut right up.

I hear what jvsl1942 is saying, (although my first instinct is to be put off by the know it all attitude) , but maybe you should try talking to your neighbors and seeing what they think of your two chickens.

having just two will be much less noisy than my 13!

 

[Davaroo]

Understand that when I say darkened, I dont mean pitch black. A curtain hung across the nest entrance is sufficient.

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But again good luck with quieting a chicken.
It isnt a matter of "know it all attitudes." In this case it is simply stating the obvious, which should be acknowledement of a simple truth:

Because you like chickens and have close neighbors, doesn't assume THEY will like them, nor that they must. Many people have a stigma against them in the urban setting - for not unsound reasons. Where no chicken existed before, and if ordinance exists to prevent their introduction, you bear the burden for bringing them in.

It would be best to be a good neighbor yourself, and discuss it openly with your fellow residents before hand.

 

[*GEL*]

I find that bribery with some fresh eggs helps......

Mine haven't started laying yet, but when they do........2 neighbors will be spliting our overstock....lol.

 

[Oblio13]

Quote:
I've thought about doing that, but I'm afraid that rewarding the behavior will train them to do exactly the wrong thing.

Mine are usually quiet, but every now and then they set up a ruckus at dawn and I worry that I'm annoying the neighbors.

 

[chuckzoo]

find that bribery with some fresh eggs helps......

Bribery........Now that might work! I read of someone that swapped eggs for a good bottle of wine!

I also thought of giving them a treat to distract them. A starting introducing them to tiny quantities of different things when they were two weeks old. (I read it on this site, I have learned so much from you guys that participate on this site).
They like grapes, cantalope, swiss chard, arulaga, lettuce and snap peas so far.
I'm not sure how chickens learn. I have been watching Victoria Stilwell's "It's me or the dog" and that would be rewarding undesirable behavior or would it be simply distracting them?

 

[Oblio13]

Quote:
I'm not sure how chickens learn, either.

But I sure know what would happen if I gave my dog a treat every time he barked...

 

[allmypeeps]

Right now I have only 2 birds. They squack when they are bored or want attention. as soon as I make an appearance they shut up and go back to doing their own thing...as soon as I go back in the house they start sqacking and if I ignore them they get LOUDER. It lasts no more than 3 minutes which seems like ETERNITY when you think your neighbors might hear....

I had mine 2 yrs before there was a complaint and it was because the old woman next door to me worked for the town hall so knew the law and secondly she complained of 'seeds' being in her yard which wasnt from my chickens anyway but from SQUIRRELS! DUR.

My neighborhood is more like a ghetto...screaming cars, blairing radios, tv, screaming kids, profanity spewing adults, drugs, cigarette smoke.....yapping dogs, squacking parrots.....

Like I give a rats toosh if MY birds were annoying any of them!

Maybe if I lived in a quiet decent neighboirhood I would discuss my birds with the neighbors....

the only down side of letting everyone know you have birds is someone may complain just to complain because they have nothing better to do....not that they wouldve even known you had them if you hadnt have told them....Thats the way my neighborhood is.

I would consider the overall noise level of where you live...if other peoples' dogs often Yap and kids scream at the top of their lungs- I would bring it up and let it be known that your birds are no more bothersome than having to listen to other peopels creaming kids/dogs/parrots if anyone starts complaining about your birds.

in this day and age living 'naturally' is the most 'unnatural' idea to most people...its beyond sad....people need to learn to be more self sufficient or at least accepting of those who are.

When I first got my chickens the neighbors would 'cluck' at me whenever they'd see me just to be mean. I'm sure people everywhere else arent as ignorant as the people I have dealt with. THANK GOODNESS!

but HEY, RESPECT GOES BOTH WAYS!!!!!

good luck....I'd toss them food to shut them up. Thats what I do with mine.....I am also in the process of trying to sell my house and move, which is the next step if you want to live country style...well then move to the country!

LOL


e

PS: with locking them in, just be careful it does not get too hot or stuffy in there.

 

[BCMominMD]

Hey Karen71
I can't help but ask (with a raised eye brow here).....what do your neighbors think about the GOATS!!!