Help, my hens won't be quiet!

[Lute]

When you were a kid, did your mother ever tell you to put on a coat or you'll get sick? Think of it as something similar for the chickens. They feel miserable because of the weather and they're telling you all about it.

I can honestly say my little girls don't like to be wet and cold. They actually shiver. It's kinda funny and kinda pathetic.

 

[stilldeb]

Do you have a new hawk in the neighborhood? Mine go crazy when they see a hawk (and rightly so).

 

[Den in Penn]

Just a random passing thought. Its spring. Never heard that hens get nosier in the spring, but...

 

[IsbelAcresTN]

My girls are usually pretty quiet unless there is something upsetting their apple cart. My girls started doing that last year. One morning, we got up before the cluck fest and found a neighbors cat creeping along the run. If it rains and they happen to be outside, they cluck about that too. If one of the geese, ducks, or guineas call out, they start the cluck fest. Anything that is abnormal or alarming to one will usually get the whole gang going. If one lays an egg and sings her song, the others will join in.
It sounds like you are doing everything right, thats a head scratcher!

 

[IsbelAcresTN]

Could you have a mouse or something bothering them? I know you said you hadnt seen any preadators, but mice are sneaky little buggers.

 

[paperchains]

I think it must be something like a mouse. Not sure we have hawks in Kent though, haha. Will have to get our kitten on the hunt!

Thanks for the advice.

 

[aoxa]

Some breeds are noisier than others. I know my brown hybrid is one of the quietest. They all make a fuss when they first get up. They like to start the day off with a bang. Maybe you can get up earlier to let them out?

My girls will make a fuss sometimes 30 minutes before they find their nest to lay their egg. They like to make sure everyone knows they are going to.

 

[Mattemma]

My chickens get loud when something comes near them....cat,dog,birds. I think they would chase a mouse like they once did frogs(to eat). When my roo crows during the day it is either responding to birds he hears,or he is missing a lady and letting her know where to go. Yesterday he was crowing mid-day for no reason. I used to yell at him,chase him,or lock him up(for fear of the neighbors),but yesterday I just relaxed and video taped him. I was lucky to get the hawk warning and a crowing on tape!

Can the neighbors complain to the city and get them removed,or are you just wanting to be super nice and keep your animals quiet all the time? It is hard to control the animal noises.Sometimes giving food would shut the hens up,but other times they just start bawking the minute they are done eating the treats. I flip a few piles of dirt or toss out straw for them to scratch through

.If all else fails sell hens and get a different breed.Me, I would just expect neighbors to put up with the noise like I do with theirs.....except for my dogs I do get them to shut up,lol.

 

[gickelvolk]

We keep New Hampshires and they are generally quiet except, as others have mentioned, when they "Yodel" after laying an egg.
Their "Egg Yodel" can get quite loud.....

When alarmed (the hawk is near), it's more of a startled chortle.........

 

[vionau]

I'm surprised no one else has mentioned this yet, but aside from the announcing and alarm calls that all chickens do, the only time mine are really noisy is when they want to be let out of the coop. They complain with a really obnoxious call that I never hear them use at any other time, sort of like a crow but extremely loud.

For a while I would try to let them out at dawn, but once they got used to that I found that they would start their complaining racket at first light and I was afraid of being lynched by the neighbors. I went back to always opening the coop at 8 AM and their expectations seem to have changed back; they generally don't start complaining until at least 7:30 now.

I don't know if it does any good, but I also never open the coop if they're making that noise, in an effort not to reinforce it.

The chief offender, by the way, is a Delaware -- the others aren't that audible at range, but this one is the loudest chicken I've ever encountered. Have others found this with Delawares?