Hen making lots of noise when other hens are in the nest

[Mrs. K]

I would let her go to someone else. She is causing you stress over a perfectly natural act. There is nothing you can do about it, and she will more than likely do very well in another flock. People love to buy laying hens - you can probably get $10 -15 for her.

You could easily sell two birds, and then add 3 chicks. This will give you a healthier flock IMO as you get more multi-generational flock. You will have younger birds and older birds. The older birds have wisdom, and younger birds are going to be alive when the older ones go.

A lot of people seem to think that being raised together, will make a flock work, and it really has almost no effect on it. And another misconception is that you will need to keep the same birds forever, where as, it is better to move some birds out, and some birds in over the years.

Not all birds will work in the set up you have. Letting birds go that are causing stress is a good way to get a happier flock for you and her.

Mrs K

 

[LaFleche]

Errrm.. the OP's post was dated December 1, 2013, so I think that the problems resolved by now.

 

[Mrs. K]

Errrm.. the OP's post was dated December 1, 2013, so I think that the problems resolved by now.

Hook, line and sinker...oh do I hate those.

 

[lavenderhengal]

Hook, line and sinker...oh do I hate those.

Please do not regret your kind response. Many of us read all these postings as we encounter problems. It really doesn't matter when the posting is dated because so many of these issues are timeless. I appreciate all the responses to someone's inquiry, despite what year they were written. If a thread about hens' noise is started in 2013, I guarantee a new hen owner in 2022 is having a similar issue and needs the same advice. Please keep the wisdom flowing. The dates don't mean a thing really.

 

[The loud girls keeper]

We have 2 "load mouths" in our flock. In the warmer weather, when the windows and doors are open, I can time when an egg has been laid just by their excessive noise. The only other time they get loud is when they hear or see me coming, because they are anticipating a treat. The other chickens, hardly ever make a noise above the standard cluck. I think some hens are just higher strung and more excitable. Our girls are very used to us and have been easy to behaviorly condition, but I can't envision a strategy to break our two loud hens of their vocal exuberance.

 

[Kgroves57]

My dominique (the breed is known for being quiet) raises hell about egg laying. She carries on just before laying or if someone else is in the nest. It's not a pretty song either.

I'm far enough away from my neighbors that nobody has complained. It's not as loud as a rooster crow but it is a little annoying.
But if I had to birth a baby every day, I might squawk a bit too.

Mine has been clucking loudly ever since she has decided not to lay in the coop! We got a very large rat snake out of the coop and while they will go in to roost, they refuse to lay in there any more. They lay under a box in the run! I wonder if I remove the box if they will opt for the coop again but I don't want to go egg hunting in my very large tin. At least I know where they are now,,,! Thoughts on this??

 

[Mrs. K]

When mine have a secret nest that I find, I tend to leave it for a few days. Then I remove it, and they always go back to their original nests.

Mrs K

 

[antonio1]

Everybody is saying it is normal, but this depends on the keeper if he likes or not. As soon as there are others chicken which keep quiet when laying and the keeper don't like the noise, for me does not seems to be normal. So here we talk about chicken personality which should be corrected in some way.
The best advice is natural selection done by keeper, remember the noisy chicken and plan it for next soup. Next new chickens will be more likely their hen. The second advice is to make more nests and try to reserve a special one separately for the noisy hen.
I did the natural selection with soup method for rooster, the first one was a fighter, fighting like a dog with anyone, the current one (4th generation) is like a cat, kids are playing with him.