LOUD Chicken Breeds

[MROO]

There’s been a TON of questions on BYC about which chickens to avoid in a neighborhood because they are loud. I thought it might be helpful to some members if people shared info in one general spot in a poll.

If you check any breeds you own that our LOUD, then write your quietest breeds in the comments. I’m only including large/standard fowl in the poll and could only pick 20 so tried to find the most common, but feel free to add your loud bird breed in an extra comment!

I don't know if it's the breed or just the one rooster, but my sister's RIR rooster was absolutely the most obnoxiously loud bird I've ever met ... and that includes "Witchy," my Bestie's pesky African Grey Parrot!

 

[MROO]

My pencilled wyandotte Sybil seems to growl a lot, but she's really friendly and tame I'm not sure why she makes that horrible noise!

I have a New Hampshire Red hen who not only "talks" all the time, but "growls" when she's stroked. When you stop, the growl stops and she repositions herself for more attention. When the petting starts back up, so does the growl. My kids swear she's "purring." I know we're not supposed to have favorites ... but she's my Girl!

 

[SmiYa0126]

Also Rhode island red and Plymouth blues, only my olive eggers are quiet

 

[Coops Dad]

My RIRs are the most vocal chickens I've ever had- they mutter and gripe about everything, all the time. They squawk and yell when there's too many others at their favorite feeder, or when another hen is in the best nest box. And they absolutely scream and carry on when they've laid an egg. RIRs are the pinnacle of vocalized outrage, IMHO. As loud as they are, I love my fat little Rhodies. Little red cannonballs.

The White Leghorns I had were a close second. There was nothing too insignificant to scream about and, if one yelled, they all joined in.

 

[SmiYa0126]

My RIRs are the most vocal chickens I've ever had- they mutter and gripe about everything, all the time. They squawk and yell when there's too many others at their favorite feeder, or when another hen is in the best nest box. And they absolutely scream and carry on when they've laid an egg. RIRs are the pinnacle of vocalized outrage, IMHO. As loud as they are, I love my fat little Rhodies. Little red cannonballs.

The White Leghorns I had were a close second. There was nothing too insignificant to scream about and, if one yelled, they all joined in.

This is why I call by Rhode island red who is tiny Big Red small bird, big personality

 

[SourRoses]

Our short attempt last year with Cream Legbar was astonishingly awful.
I would just sit with my head in my hands, inside at my computer, wondering when the wailing was going to end.
They would wail for HOURS, with a huge lead up before they got anywhere near a nest box. Didn't matter if they were the one laying or not. Their volume was 3 times that of a normal hens egg song, and they seemed to be trying to top each other. We've tried a lot of breeds and I never heard anything remotely like it.


Ameraucana, on the other hand, are the quietest girls. We've had the opportunity to get a couple different lines, now and in the past, and it's always such a peaceful affair.
"Here you go, have an egg"... maybe a couple bars of egg song, depending on the hen, just loud enough to tell the flock something cool happened. 30 seconds, if that, and they don't sound miserable at all. Most important, they don't make me miserable.

 

[Iluveggers]

Our short attempt last year with Cream Legbar was astonishingly awful.
I would just sit with my head in my hands, inside at my computer, wondering when the wailing was going to end.
They would wail for HOURS, with a huge lead up before they got anywhere near a nest box. Didn't matter if they were the one laying or not. Their volume was 3 times that of a normal hens egg song, and they seemed to be trying to top each other. We've tried a lot of breeds and I never heard anything remotely like it.


Ameraucana, on the other hand, are the quietest girls. We've had the opportunity to get a couple different lines, now and in the past, and it's always such a peaceful affair.
"Here you go, have an egg"... maybe a couple bars of egg song, depending on the hen, just loud enough to tell the flock something cool happened. 30 seconds, if that, and they don't sound miserable at all. Most important, they don't make me miserable.

Where did you get your Legbar, out of curiosity? My Welsummer is loud like that, but she’s made her wails much shorter (about 10 minutes as opposed to the on & off 3 hours when she first started laying). I thought we would have to rehome her. Fingers crossed the loudness is over.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I'm going to add Mosaics too the loud list. I have a video of one male just literally screaming. The other crows but has a set of lungs. The female is loud too but thankfully isn't set off usually

 

[SourRoses]

Where did you get your Legbar, out of curiosity? My Welsummer is loud like that, but she’s made her wails much shorter (about 10 minutes as opposed to the on & off 3 hours when she first started laying). I thought we would have to rehome her. Fingers crossed the loudness is over.

The 4 Legbars we had were from TSC. I had been thinking for a while that they seemed cool, so I couldn't pass them up when we saw them. Overall, they really weren't what I expected, the eggs a paler blue than the Ameraucana and their personalities were a little... I don't know what to call it, absentminded and aloof maybe.
It's quite possible that other bloodlines are very different, but I was totally over it, lol.

I'm going to add Mosaics too the loud list. I have a video of one male just literally screaming. The other crows but has a set of lungs. The female is loud too but thankfully isn't set off usually

That seems kind of normal for a hoarse crow to me? I mean that's not my favorite tone but there are roos like that in every breed. We have 3 Ameraucana roos right now, one has a beautiful rounded crow (the black), the mottled has an overly high piercing crow which decided me on locating him further away from my bedroom, and the black cull has this ludicrously hoarse crow that sounds like rocks rubbing together.

So, the Mosaics I located right outside my bedroom, and Bluey sounds like a normal rooster, the little 3 month old still sounds squeaky even though he's been practicing forever and it is SO cute! I wish they made baby crows forever.
I'm actually about to take him and one of his sisters to a meet a lady buying them in an hour. It's so hard to sell any, especially the adorable ones, but we have quite enough roosters. Then I'll just have the remaining 3 girls with Bluey.

Sorry if I sound more rambly than usual, came to BYC to wake up, lol.

 

[Solanacae]

I have two ISA Browns that immediately start making a racket when I walk out in the backyard. My Dominique is rather chatty, but not as much in comparison. My EE, who is mostly Ameraucana, is also rather noisy.