looking for a quiet chicken

[futurefarmer08]

Just my 2 cents. I also live in town, we can have chickens, but I don't like them to be too noisy. When I am home and I hear them Clucking REALLY loudly I usually go out and see what's going on. Or try to shhh them. A lot of times they are telling me that there is something in the yard that they do not like.(like a cat) When I go out they tell me and I calm them.
Re the garden: Through much trial and error we have discovered that they taste everything. The things you want to keep just chicken wire off. We HAD chard...but it was a great chicken snack. I love to let them free range, even though the "range" is not very big. They don't touch my tomatos, celery, onions, etc. Just plant something for them too.
We have 2 Marans hens right now. I know you'll be happy with whatever you choose. Remember chickens are not really any louder than children playing outside, dogs barking, or other city noises. People hopefully adjust. I have scrub jays that are louder than my chickens.
Wishing all goes well!!!

 

[MaggieRae]

So far my most docile breeds have been easter egger amd australorp. SLW is pretty quiet but high energy. They like to play keep away while the other birds would rather share,

 

[Windchyme]

Quote:
I have an acre and have about 100 chickens or so on the property. I have bantam and giant cochins as well as the silkies which are my main thing. I have 2 roosters for every breeder pen at least(in case I lose one I have a spare ready to go). My property is fairly quiet. The occasional crow and if something scares them they raise a holy racket but all in all quiet- my neighbors have told me that it isn't bad at all really. Don't get a rooster because they are honor bound to crow off and on all through the day (and sometimes at night if the moon is bright) and a jerk neighbor would have a blast with that,but the hens all are fairly quiet, no worse then a cage with a couple of parakeets generally. Hens tend to wander around and make soft little clucks and purrs to themselves and each other. They only really make a loud noise when startled and scared and that lasts less then a minute usually. No worse then a dog announcing that someone is at the door.

Giant cochins are fairly docile...at least mine are and they lay really big eggs. My hens usually also do not announce that they have laid an egg. I have seen ones that do but that is not neccisarily something that is going to happen. I even have one guinea and because she has no other guineas to feed her instinct to holler, she is even really quiet and lives with the giant cochins.

 

[Sugar Sand Farm]

I agree with Windchyme My giant cochins are the quietest. My girls purr but do not announce their eggs. They are so gentle. Even when my hen Doodle goes broody (which is often) I can pick her up and she purrs at me. Most hens that are broody are very very nasty.

 

[MCCmomof3]

Quote:
I love it! I snorted so loudly reading this one, I thought I was going to hurt myself!

 

[Dr Cluckenstein]

I have 2 ameraucanas and 1 golden campine. They are all beautiful birds but they are driving me crazy.

The campine (Latrice) is the most annoying. She is always up first and has a raspy complaining squawk.

The ameraucanas (Becky and Elvira) make raspy sounds until I let them out of their coop at about 7am (winter) and for a few minutes every hour or two until about 11am they make the classic
buck buck buck buck buck BUCKAWWWWWWWW! sound . Holy Crap! So loud! After that not too much

Could be because of

"Let us out daddy!"
"I just layed an egg!"
"I'm ready to lay an egg!"
"It's too cold"
"I saw a cat!" - Watch out when they are young and not that big ~less than 6 months or so.
"I saw a hawk!" - This one is quite serious for free range chickens
"It's raining!"

Chickens = Naps interrupted

I love them but would never have them in the city/suburbs anymore. Too close to the house. About a block away would be perfect.

 

[DanielHoover]

Cochins Brahma's Shamo's and Silkies are all rather quiet.

 

[Zootopia]

We have about 70 chickens, some penned, but mostly free range. I have to agree the cochins are very quiet, I would also recommend the Buckeyes. They are very sweet too.

 

[bundrockwithboys]

I love all the stories. I have a small flock in my backyard and have been blessed with very quiet chickens. I have neighbors about 5 houses away that have very talkative hens. I do believe it depends a lot on the personality of the birds themselves, Most do talk a little when they lay an egg. My Easter Egger, Opal, is our loudest. She Bocks loudly after she lays and it lasts longer than necessary. She also hisses when she is bothered while she is laying. The only other time they have made noise is if they feel threatened. Usually the rooster warns the hens of danger, but since we can't have one in town, it was our dominant bird, Coral (Speckled Sussex) who would warn the others. She would also talk a little when I brought treats to let everyone know they were there, or to not touch them because they were all for her. We also had a Buff Orpington, Leady, who was the epitome of perfect. Never heard a peep from her, she was a beauty, and always laid nice, big eggs regularly. I also had a mixed hen, Juno, (Speckled Sussex/?) also known as Red Chicken to my 3 year old. She was very shy and never vocalized at all. I speak in the past tense of Leady, Coral, and Juno, because they all went to chicken heaven this past weekend. While we were on vacation, our house-sitter/pet-sitter left the coop door open and a fox got them. I am still so sad, but reading all the posts helps me remember how sweet and different each chicken is, and how even though they can be bossy or annoying, their personalities make up for it. My husband especially misses our BO, Leady, his chicken named after the Leadville 100 race, and our SS, Coral Reef, our 5 year old's chicken. I am hoping the next girls I get will be somewhat quiet for us. Also in response to the bugs and garden. Our chickens were great at eating bugs (don't remember ever seeing a grasshopper in our backyard, but once the girls were big, they scratched so much, the grass suffered greatly. They also tore up/ate plants all the time, even though they ate plenty of extras. Obviously, we only let them out when supervised (we've always had a lot of fox in the neighborhood) and to keep them away from certain plants and our garden. Good luck with your backyard flock.

 

[Nicole01]

My neighbors hate my chickens! I own 4 acres and they got mad at me when they went near the property line.

Next year, my husband and I will fence in all 4 acres of our land. Not only for our chickens, but for our dogs and cats too. I don't want stray dogs in our yard either, which happens all the time.

My hens are very noisy. One sets off another. My noisiest is my brahma followed by my speckled Sussex. They are very loud penned up in our run even though it's plenty big! I let them out daily, but I make sure they stay on our property. I'm pretty sure it depends on the individual chicken. They each have their own personality.

My d'uccle was free ranging and it started to sprinkle. She got so mad she started screaming! Hahaha! She is so sweet though. She gets mad and stamps her feet when you touch her foot feathers, but she would never peck me. My d'uccle throws temper tantrums. Poor thing. She is our favorite out of all 11 we have.