Freaking out over chicken noise - Help!

[LottieLou]

Would snacks reward the noise not work on curtailing it? I'm not sure just posing possibility.

 

[dadschicks]

I am having the same problem with my Hens (I have four) My family, especially my 21 year old son whose bedroom is closest to the coop, is becoming less and less happy with my girls. I too have to run out at 5:45AM in my jams to let them out to quiet them down. The noise doesn't really disturb me, but it is becoming a real sore spot for the rest of our gang. Any other ideas? Can I put a blanket over the coop at night to keep more of the light out, or does their internal clock cause them to rouse early anyway?

Has anyone had luck or heard about installing coop opening system that can be put on a timer so it opens automatically at a certain time in the AM? They seem to quiet down a bit when they have access to the run although they do honk and hawk off and on throughout the day, mostly when one of them is laying.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks.

This is my son each morning.

 

[chickyleah]

i have the same problem, dont feed her i did this with mine now they just want more and more and get louder and louder :-(

 

[chooks4life]

As you guys have noted, and as others on this thread have said from experience (myself included) DO NOT give them what they want in response to their noisemaking or rapidly they will learn to do that exact behavior to get that reward. It's a vicious cycle, hard to break out of.

Many people use electric door-openers, with timers etc, that may well work.

Personally I retrain mine by stopping letting them out if they demand it, same with my sheep; these animals are very, very quick to spot how to get something from you, to learn to rig a situation to their benefit, and our prevailing belief in their stupidity enables them to manipulate us even more.

They learn a routine --- well, basically, before it's even a routine. It's like if I do something once, that's it, there's a little reference tag in their minds to check whether I will do it approximately the same the next day, and after that, that's it: twice apparently equals a pattern to them, and they start hurrying me to the conclusion of that pattern, or at least trying to.

Sometimes, I've spent 10 minutes or more walking over to give my sheep dinner, because that's the only thing that teaches them that to yell at me results in a negative (I stop on the spot when they yell, and wait a moment before continuing).

Same applies with chooks, watch what you do around them because they are in fact quite sharp, can spot a routine easily, can rapidly learn methods of leverage over you, and unfortunately they are often very stubborn and will stick to their guns for a long time after the pattern is broken.

As funny as it sounds, chooks can and will train you to suit themselves. It's the most natural thing in the world for animals to learn how to gain benefit from their environment, learning how best to interact with every single thing around them that can be interacted with. No species would still exist without that ability to a greater or lesser extent.

Best wishes. It is indeed a very frustrating problem, especially when family or neighbors are involved.

 

[chicken moma]

Just read your post re: Hen noise! I feel your pain! This morning Chicken was on my menu.
I do not have Chicken but Chickens have adopted me. There is a Large feral community well over 100, in our residential area(some people even drop off ) it is a source of contention in the neighborhood. luckily we have 4 hens 2 Roos only in our yard. Our next-door does not like the chicken and I can understand especially pre dawn; there are many roosters who crow, however, it is the hen that drive me nuts!
This morning all 4 hens that have adopted my yard, were going off and it is not just 20 seconds of.. . oow look an egg! it is 40 minutes of. . . ' I think there may be an egg. . . I'm not sure, maybe I just want to annoy you, get out of my way I want to lay there' . . . noise.
The Roos are easy.
The Hens have laid eggs in the car if you leave the window open ( wont do that again!) on the freezer, in the tree (had one drop next to me as I sat out side drinking my coffee, the brood ran to eat it!) and now finally they have decided to lay in a crate used for slippers on the front stoop. I like that, contained, in one place and I can get the eggs. but. . they all want the same place.
Yesterday one was sitting and another wanted to, so after half hour of waiting,(not quietly) second hen jumped on the sitting hen, wiggled in and laid her egg!
This morning something was up they were all making so much noise I wanted to strangle them, they are running across and around the yard now, not at all settled? and yes, to those who think it is not so loud, they can drown out fire ambulance rescue sirens! It is a little like heavy rain on a tin roof, you have to stop everything because you cannot hear the TV, the phone, conversation, your own thoughts! . . . I would keep my 2 Roos and trade in the 4 hens on mornings like this.
I have put out a second crate next to the first but they don't go in that one? it was in a different location and they didn't go in there either. After 40 minutes this am, the sitting hen gave up being yelled at by the others and left the box NO EGG! and the next jumped in? (while sitting they are quiet)
I am a country girl at heart, I would rather hear the sounds of nature over ambulance and police, and the gentle clucking and cooing is a comforting 'white noise' but, time and place chickens!
I have not found anything that quietens them? And now, suddenly, peace? Ahhh! the glory! oh there's the Roo! and we're off. . . .

 

[lovemy6hens]

Just read your post re: Hen noise!  I feel your pain!  This morning Chicken was on my menu.
I do not have Chicken but Chickens have adopted me. There is a Large feral community well over 100, in our residential area(some people even drop off )  it is a source of contention in the neighborhood. luckily we have 4 hens 2 Roos only in our yard.  Our next-door does not like the chicken and I can understand especially pre dawn; there are many roosters who crow, however, it is the hen that drive me nuts!
This morning all 4 hens that have adopted my yard, were going off and it is not just 20 seconds of.. .  oow look an egg! it is 40 minutes of. . . ' I think there may be an egg. . . I'm not sure,  maybe I just want to annoy you, get out of my way I want to lay there' . . . noise.  
The Roos are easy.  
The Hens have laid eggs in the car if you leave the window open ( wont do that again!) on the freezer, in the tree (had one drop next to me as I sat out side drinking my coffee, the brood ran to eat it!) and now finally they have decided to lay in a crate used for slippers on the front stoop. I like that, contained, in one place and I can get the eggs. but. .  they all want the same place.  
Yesterday one was sitting and another wanted to, so after half hour of waiting,(not quietly) second hen jumped on the sitting hen,  wiggled in and laid her egg!  
This morning something was up they were all making so much noise I wanted to strangle them, they are running across and around the yard now, not at all settled? and yes, to those who think it is not so loud, they can drown out fire ambulance rescue sirens!  It is a little like heavy rain on a tin roof, you have to stop everything because you cannot hear the TV, the phone, conversation, your own thoughts!   . . . I would keep my 2 Roos and trade in the 4 hens on mornings like this.  
I have put out a second crate next to the first but they don't go in that one? it was in a different location and they didn't go in there either.  After 40 minutes this am, the sitting hen gave up being yelled at by the others and left the box NO EGG! and the next jumped in?  (while sitting they are quiet)
I am a country girl at heart, I would rather hear the sounds of nature over ambulance and police, and the gentle clucking and cooing is a comforting  'white noise'  but,  time and place chickens!
I have not found anything that quietens them?            And now, suddenly,  peace?    Ahhh!   the glory!    oh there's the Roo!     and we're off. . . .

Reminds me of one of the stories in the documentary "The Natural History of the Chicken" that's currently on Netflix instant. A group of neighbors had a problem with something around 100 noisy roosters which belonged to another neighbor. Hilarious unless you're the neighbor living with the noise.

 

[darina]

Reminds me of one of the stories in the documentary "The Natural History of the Chicken" that's currently on Netflix instant. A group of neighbors had a problem with something around 100 noisy roosters which belonged to another neighbor. Hilarious unless you're the neighbor living with the noise.

I saw that show. I felt so bad for those people! Can you imagine that many roosters, being able to see but not reach each other calling out taunts all day long? And the guy that owned them definitely had rose-colored glasses about the situation, haha. "They only crow at dawn, at dusk, and when you feed them." Somehow, I didn't believe him.

 

[lovemy6hens]

I saw that show. I felt so bad for those people! Can you imagine that many roosters, being able to see but not reach each other calling out taunts all day long? And the guy that owned them definitely had rose-colored glasses about the situation, haha. "They only crow at dawn, at dusk, and when you feed them." Somehow, I didn't believe him.

Agreed on all points!

 

[FriAndRoo]

If you built a coop that they would stay in at night & used a sound barrier (i think this is about the cheapest there is, a 4'x8' at Home Depot for less than $11 each) so long as you gave them plenty of room you could just let them out when you got up (post bagawk) and all should be well! i'm considering adding it to my coop-building plans for when we move just for days i want to be a lazy bum & sleep in a smidge. :]

 

[dorsetchookgirl]

hi fluffhead, wondering how it went for you and your hens? I have 3 and a small garden with many neighbours close by and one is a constant chatterbox, wakes us up early just squawking but I adore them all, so...I keep meaning to try some toys, placed in run after they've gone to bed (they have a little house but are free to come out into their run any time as its all enclosed). Maybe a grass/weed ball thing that keeps them quiet for several hours til people are up! Any thoughts/suggestions please, anyone? ( I do wonder if rushing out to them with treats when they holler is rewarding them for being noisy and will encourage them?) Thanks!