It is legal where I live, but how loud are they?

[Nifty-Chicken]

Some breeds tend to be louder than others and some hens can also be louder / more frequent than others.

We've not had any sound problems until recently. Our new batch of mutt chicks grew up and are pretty loud in the morning from around 8 - 10 am. I don't think it is laying related since they are often outside of the coop a ways away just squawking.

Fortunately we have neighbors that don't mind too much, but at times they are so loud that it even bothers us when we have the windows open.

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
GREAT link, thank you for posting it.

 

[Renee]

I live on a little less than half an acre in the suburbs.

Like on your street, most of the houses are at the front of the properties. We keep our two chickens all the way at the back of the property, next to our east neighbor's coop.

The family on the other side did not even know we had chickens for over a year. On the other hand, my husband works at home and his office is in the back yard, and he can hear both our hens and the neighbor's chickens, including their rooster. They don't bother us nearly as much as the peacocks down the street- but that's for another post...

Some neighbors fear that flies and smells come with chickens, so I would have an answer ready for that question (I clean it every day, for example). They may also fear lowered property values associated with unattractive and poorly built coops with lots of chicken wire fencing. Having a detailed plan for the coop helps.

I seriously doubt the noise will be an issue for anyone. I think you are a wonderful neighbor, and just the kind of person I would like to live near. Good for you for being so concerned about the feelings of others.

Oh yeah, don't get Silver Campines. Too loud.

 

[swtamour]

I live on a very small lot in the suburbs and my chickens are loud in the morning when they're about to lay and after wards. But I talked to my neighbors and let them know to contact me if the noise is too much for them. One morning my chickens were loud and I saw one of my neighbor just closed their windows but they didn't say anything to me yet. My other neighbor who's the closest to me, literally only a few feet from my chicken coop, didn't even know I had chickens and they were the one I was most worry about. So far, no bad reactions for my loud chickens. The neighbors were surprised I had chickens considering where I live. I do plan to give them some eggs once all 3 of my chickens are laying, only 2 are laying now.

 

[OKstatePOKES]

Quote:
Thanks for your input, Renee. I've created several designs using SketchUp (Google). I'm using these to get my wife's approval. So far, the least obtrusive design incorporates my daughter's wooden playhouse. I want to use the ground floor as the coop/pen. So, there's no way my neighbors could object to the coop itself. And, it's already water-tight. Now, if I could just keep my wife from rolling her eyes everytime I mention this...

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I live in a similar neighborhood--lots are .4 to 2 acres, with about a third that are .4 to .6 acre and the vast majority of the rest about an acre--only a few are larger. In general, the backyards are very large and the front yards are fairly typical in size for a 37 year old neighborhood. THere are a few exceptions.

We are an equestrian community, and founded to be such. The original CC&Rs said, "all animals, including dogs, must be kept in an fenced area, encaged or otherwise controlled and not allowed to wander off or fly about." Chickens have been kept here as long as there has been a development.

I will certainly admit that I have more chickens than anyone else in the neighborhood, but a good third or more of the residents have now or have had various forms of poultry & waterfowl, mostly chickens, but also turkeys, guineas, quail, geese, ducks, pigeons and probably some that I don't know about or have forgotten.

The one thing that is better than fresh eggs for getting your neighbors to appreciate your flock is to give them a few starter chicks or a hen and rooster so that they have a flock of their own.

Yes, we have roosters in the neighborhood--LOTS of roosters. I've never received any complaints about the noise mine make from anyone except DH. My next neighbor smiles and says it gives her the real feeling of living out in the country. I'm sure there must be a home with chickens somewhere in the neighborhood that is roosterless, but I am not aware of one. I do know of a few homes that only have a rooster or two and no hens.

 

[origami.bullets]

Quote:
Yes, I do. My garden is about 100-120 ft long, and 20-30 ft wide. The hens live in an enclosed coop and run on one side of the garden, about 10ft from the bottom. I've never had any complaints about them, and the previous neighbours said they really quite liked having them there.

They do make a bit of noise when they lay, or when they get alarmed at something or other. However, it's the sort of noise that you won't normally here from the house unless you have the windows open, and it doesn't go on very long at all. Their normal clucking noise that they use to communicate to each other is really very quiet (you can't hear it from halfway up the garden) and it's quite a nice sound anyway.

 

[briana1975]

We just butchered all the roosters but 1. He is in chicken " time out" right now. I keep going out to check on chickens because it is always so quiet. With 13 roosters is was very noisy. Now nothing. Chickens are all ok, but the quiet is something I will have to get used to.

 

[michael5365]

Its illegal where I live, inside the city limits. We have 6 hens and they don't make much noise at all. Our pen is in the backyard behind our barn so you can't see it from the road. My neighbors don't mind either because we share eggs with them.

 

[unaspenser]

Yes... our yard is very small, and we never get complaints, even when one of our latest batch of chicks turned out to be a cockerel and practiced his crow before we got rid of him.