Egg songs are changing my mind nabout getting hens

[kaybats]

Quote:
My thoughts as well. Geese are pretty loud, in general. Why would a short egg song be so disruptive? My heart does flip-flops every time I hear one!

 

[pipsmom]

I had two male call ducks for several years and thought they were pretty loud. I know females are much louder though. But they weren't obnoxious. I would think geese would be worse and if your neighbors don't mind your geese they shouldn't mind the occasional egg song of a hen. I have had a few hens that I have given away because they were loud and obnoxious. I just gave a BA to a friend because she would yell for hours. She did the egg song but would also growl and it would end up in honking, as loud as she could make it. She just never seemed happy although she would get excited when she saw me and was friendly. The funny thing is my other 3 hens didn't make a sound, even when laying until she left. Now they are trying to make up for her. They are all young though and just started laying in the last month. I think that is when they find their voice. I also have an older hen that was noisy when she was young but got much quieter as she got older. I had to check for eggs all the time because she never let me know when she would lay. She is molting big time now so hasn't been laying for a month. I have had hens for 7 years now in a suburban neighborhood. I am allowed to have hens but no roosters. I am sure all of my neighbors around here know I have them but I still cringe and run out to quiet them when I hear them announcing that they have laid an egg or might lay and egg, or "I want you to think I laid an egg so you will run out and give us treats"

Seems like mine can be noisy between about 8AM to noon. Then they are pretty quiet the rest of the day. Although I think they learned about me running out and throwing treats to quiet them. Now they start making loud noises as soon as they see me, anticipating treats. Uggg. So now I go out several times a day and ignore them. That seems to be working. So yes, even the supposedly "quiet" breeds can be loud. But it usually only last for 5 minutes before or after an egg. I also found that for noise reasons, I am happier having 3 or 4 hens at the most. I was probably the happiest as far as noise when I had 3.

 

[Sore Thumb Suburbanite]

SHould I just get a group of layers of different breeds, say six or so and then give away the loudest? that seems like the only way to really get what I want since all these so called quiet breeds can produce a loud hen now and then.

So has anybody got experience with the black australorps? If I order several to determine which are the quietest, I think I'll try a buff orphington...
I'd love to give the Mille Fleur (SP?) d'uccle a try but they seem to only be available from my hatchery in bantam & straight run only.

And about my goose; My goose is loud sometimes, but she is remarkably quiet almost all day. she generally screams once, maybe twice, for whatever reason from time to time, and when I let her out in the morning she does her meet and greets with the ducks (I keep her separated with the drake at night to avoid her fits of rage brought on when he mates with the ducks-which is finally getting less frequent).

Thanks for all the input... I'd love a few more suggestions so I can order a mix of these laying hens for my experiemental noise control group

 

[gritsar]

One thing I have found with my various breeds of chickens - I have brahmas

, turkens, EEs, speckled sussex, sex links, and the minorca - is that birds of a feather really do flock together. Meaning they like to hang out in cliques and those cliques are usually birds of the same breed. So I won't get just one of a breed anymore, but at least two. The minorca was an accident, she was supposed to be a sex link.

 

[mommissan]

Same breed, or same color. My mutts gather by color. Uh-oh, I only have one white chicken.... better get more!

 

[Fred's Hens]

Quote:
Ain't it the truth.

We've got 5 breeds on the property here and they click up by breed in an amazing way.

 

[pipsmom]

I got 2 Back Australorps in May because they were supposed to be a quiet breed. They were very quiet until they started laying a month ago. Then one ended up being a big loudmouth. Like I said, growling until it ended up into honking. Yelling the egg song for every hen in the nest box. She just always seemed angry. All of her noises were just irritating, grating on the nerve noises and LOUD. My other Black Australorp never made a noise until loudmouth left. She just sings the egg song now though so that is ok. I have found that mine sometimes sing the egg song and other times don't. But it is usually only for 5 minutes or so. My quietest hen was one we hatched ourselves. She was a mutt but was beautiful. She never made a sound and laid the best eggs. Unfortunately a fisher cat got her one night when we weren't fast enough locking the coop. Must have grabbed her off of the roost. Windows were open, coop was 20 ft from the house and we never heard a thing or saw any feathers. She was just gone in the morning. Next night we saw a fisher cat snooping around the coop before dark.

 

[GoChick]

I have 9 different breeds. Two Australorps. One is really quiet, the other one sings the egg song before laying an egg, after laying an egg, if somebody else is laying an egg, if somebody else is going to the nest box, if anybody is thinking about laying an egg. My EE is the quietest of the bunch. The only time she makes any noise is after laying, but then again, not every time.
It really depends on the individual hen.

 

[clickncluck]

I have 2 speckled sussex hens. One of the characteristics I was looking for also was that they were quiet. I really don't hear them doing an egg song. They will make noise when they hear me come home (just like the dogs do) and also at times of the day that they are thinking they should be let out to play. I don't find them excessively noisy. My neighbor says she can't hear them at all??? I'm surprised. But there you go.

 

[dantodd]

I've heard of Folsom who have reheard a loud hen only to have another take her place as a noisemakers. I would personally try to mitigate noise by keeping them closer to the house early in the morning when there is less outside noise. During the day they are not likely to be noisier than the random cars, dogs, trains, trucks, etc. Of a typical neighborhood. (assuming you have 4 or 5 chickens and are following local zoning laws) you will find that many folks who post about noise issues are actually violating poultry keeping ordinances.