How to get my dear girls to SHUT UP?!

[brit foster]

This thread is me cracking up- usually my girls (and one boy) are pretty quiet in general, and my cockerel just started making sounds that resemble crowing within the last week or so (they are all 20 wks old)... I woke up this morning and started making my coffee and they were SCREAMING like I've never heard, I though maybe some predator was in the run... Nope, just screaming for their mama to feed them

Best part is that I signed onto here to see if anyone else had desperate screaming chickens and you had posted this only 2 minutes ago

 

[moniquem]

Maybe, like us, they are happy its spring time! IDK, this is only my first year with adult chickens, I got mine last spring as babies....

 

[JeanetteDunn]

My speckled sussex, Lacy, is horrible about this. They have food, water, stuff to climb on, stuff to swing on, and free range the whole back yard. She still insists on wandering around the back yard squawking her head off.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Mine are all louder this time of year.
Egg production starting back up and longer days means we hear them a lot more.

Although I could have done without my shrieking Barnevelder screaming the alert call at 2am the other night.

Yes I ran out in my pajamas to check on everyone. Everyone in the coop with Havoc (yes that IS her name) was up and alert. Half the birds in the other coop were standing up and looking spooked.
No idea what spooked them.

 

[BarredRockMom]

Mine are all louder this time of year.
Egg production starting back up and longer days means we hear them a lot more.

Although I could have done without my shrieking Barnevelder screaming the alert call at 2am the other night.

Yes I ran out in my pajamas to check on everyone. Everyone in the coop with Havoc (yes that IS her name) was up and alert. Half the birds in the other coop were standing up and looking spooked.
No idea what spooked them.

A warning call at 2am would get me up & outta bed at lightening speed too. You never know what you scared off, but I seriously doubt that it was chicken imagination.

I have lots of wooded acreage behind me & have been known to knock off more than one surprised varmint.

If you wanna see who is lurking, you could get an outdoor trail cam. Or get a have a heart trap. Anchor it well & bait it with frozen marshmallows, 3-4. Of course, you have to decide what to do with whomever you catch...

 

[21hens-incharge]

You can think that is the case, but people bring their kids to the bins not all kids are 2' tall. And parents don't say no.

I set the raccoon trap just in case.
If I get a neighbors cat I can release it. If I get the same cat 3 times it gets a free ride to the pound. We are close to a main highway! No squished kitty if it's in the pound.

Whatever it was did not trigger the motion activated lights.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I have some logs that they hop on... I’m in the middle of re arranging so I’m wondering what else to put in there for fun.

I just throw junk in there sometimes... piles of weeds, dried leaves, grass. Maybe if you add some after they go to bed they can wake up next morning and find the surprise?

Mine get excited just to see the dust bath open up, I guess they're not terribly picky about entertainment.

 

[ChickenFlamingo]

I guess they just love a routine. I have three hens too, and I let them out for an hour or so under supervision each morning.
When it's their time for free-ranging they are pacing up and down and squawking and yelling. As soon as they are out, they are quiet, just clucking gently amongst themselves.
Funny thing is though, they also 'know' when they have been out for their hour, as then they start to remind me they should go back into their run - mainly because it's snack time. (Hope it's mealworms, hope it's mealworms, oh an apple, oh that's ok, but mealworms tomorrow right).