Noise ordinances? Egg songs?

[ll]

Hi

I have read about and heard the egg song on youtube --
I hope to be an urban chicken keeper and am researching each subject ...
So how noisy can chickens actually be? Cluck cluck is okay but BAWK BAWK BAWWWWK for
almost a full minute (as seen in many videos) seems pretty darn loud.
How far away can an egg song possibly be heard?
(one city block / one house away / across the whole neighborhood) ???
I don't want to follow every rule and then have a neighbor complain because my
3 chickens are "noisy".
We want to insulate our shed/coop for excess sound but that won't help with the open windows
and open doors that will be covered with hardware cloth?
Does every chicken out there have an egg song, or do some not?
(hoping to be lucky with quiet-ish hens)

 

[meowteri2]

Mine sometimes do this to. They almost sound like geese. Maybe go out there and give them a treat. I am worried about that
just like you are. The people next to me on both sides are nice and like the chickens. It is the ones a few houses down that are jerks.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

If you toss a treat on the ground, they do shut right up.

One of mine will go on and on, until she finally finds the flock. We have a lot of acreage and sometimes they're too far away for her to see, when she comes out of the coop. If I toss a treat to her, she shuts right up. Plus, the others hear the door close and me talking to her. They run over to get a treat, too. All are reunited and all is well in the world. And quiet.

I wonder if you could rig up a noise sensor on an automatic treat dispenser??? I need to get on this and make a fortune!

 

[JosieChick]

I have nine girls in the city and they are super noisy sometimes!! When one girl is doing the egg song others will join in! The racket is amazing. I always think it is incredible that I can have all those noisy hens back there but I can't have a roo. I bring my neighbors on both sides of me fresh eggs every week. They don't mind the girls at all and they LOVE the fresh eggs. They even bring their kids over to visit with the girls. The rest of my neighbors have super noisy barking dogs so I don't complain about their dogs and they don't complain about my chickens. I can hear an egg song from all the way in front of my house which is a good distance so I know the neighbors can hear!

Don't give them treats when they are noisy or they will just get louder in my experience. I have a marans hen that BA GAWKS to me from the yard when she wants me to come out of the house for a visit. I have to wait until they have been quiet for a bit before I go out because for a while they would make a racket every time they wanted something. Look at the treat pages on here for long lasting treat suggestions like cabbage hanging in the coop and flock blocks, the girls make less racket when they have stuff to do with their beaks.

In my experience so far in the city the bigger the flock the noisier each bird gets.

Pay attention to those ba gawks too. Sometimes it is a hen warning call for help. I free range my girls in our fenced yard and I KNOW when their is a cat or other threat back there because those girls let me know. Good luck and have fun with your urban chickens!

 

[schellie69]

I know my girls do get loud for a after they lay an egg then is all quiet. I hear dogs barking all day long. Once they all lay it gets pretty quiet back there. I live in town and I think the cars that go down the street with that thumping music or louder then my hens and rooster. Since they don't get loud all the time I don't worry about it. Most people around here love the sounds reminds them of their kids days at the farm.

 

[the-bird-man]

some of my girls only sing when they feel like it. my coop is not to far from the property line and i have a bunch of lilacs lining the vinyl fence so all that dulls the sound. i was at my neighbors house (the one not far from the coop) near the property line and one of the girls sang and it was not loud at all, the wild birds make more noise then my girls. there are some breeds that are not as loud as others too.

 

[Stingrayg4]

My insulated chicken house is a good 200 feet from the house. I can clearly hear them clucking it up in the house if the windows are open and sometimes even when they're closed.

-S

 

[sydney13]

I have pretty close neighbors and also 7 hens. The bigger they are the louder their voices are. My Jersey giant can get LOUD when she wants to, mainly when she lays or when she is put back in her pen (she does not like this). On the other hand, my silkie hen is basically mute. If your concerned about noise levels stick with bantams or a light breed and you'll be fine. Ive made the mistake of letting my girls free range in the yard too often. They are used to free ranging now and when they are put in the pen they will squawk their hearts out. Ive read that an average hen doing an egg call is the same level as a person talking and a rooster crowing is the same level as a dog barking.

 

[ll]

Thank you for the replies ~ any others are welcome here too

 

[TheSitcomGirls]

My two barred rock hens are LOUD after they lay their eggs. I can hear them clear as day in my house, 150 feet away from the coop, with my windows shut. They also make a racket in the morning as soon as they hear me coming out of the house to feed them. My neighbors have never complained......but as promised I will never subject them to a rooster!