Noisy Australorps?

Agrarian Dr

Hatching
7 Years
Mar 1, 2012
2
0
7
We've always had a mixed flock - mostly RIRs with a good splattering of Black Australorps. When they are all mixed in it's kind of hard to tell who is raising cane - but I think after 3 years of having a backyard flock we have finally nailed down the real talkers and noise makers to the Australorps - more of a process of elimination.

To understand my complaint, if you want to call it that, a person who didn't know any better would think we had a really noisy flock of geese or ducks, where in comparison to the RIRs seem to make little noise at all.
Again, in comparison, and everything is relative

Anyone out there with Australorps who can confirm or refute this?
 
I have always been told that they are a very quiet breed, and my experience has been mixed. I just got rid of a VERY nice rooster because he is so noisey! He would crow constantly from 3 A.M. till 11 at night. He was the friendliest bird I've ever had and I hated to get rid of him for that reason. He would rather eat out of you hand or be talked to than eat scratch. One of his hens howls like a cat,and not just as her egg song. She just seems to get ticked off several times a day and she goes to making this sound lie a loud moan. I never hear a sound out of her sister. She is the quietest bird I have ever had.I have herd others say that their Aussies honk like geese. ...stan
 
Yes I can. These have been the most talkative chicks I've ever had. Not loud mind you, but they just chatter constantly. They will be 4 wks. old on Sunday. It's gonna be interesting to see what happens when the mature. Oh by the way.. these chicks came from stan.
 
My black australorp is almost totally silent. I'd probably say she's the quietest hen I've ever had.

In contrast, I have a light sussex who talks non stop and have also had buff orps and RIRs who made a real racket.
 
You said you had "a" Australorp - as in 1? Maybe when they get in a crowd they get more talkative. Just guessing. Either that or they are just all individuals and some are - some are not.
All I know is that mine certainly ARE, They really do sound like a flock of upset geese!

Thanks for the replies
 
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My RIRs are the noisiest hens I have. My Australorps are almost the quietest, I have two EEs that are very quiet as well, even when they lay. Neither the Australorps nor the two EEs even do much of an egg song, they are very quiet birds. The RIRs (hens) on the other hand are very noisy, when they want on a nest, when someone else lays an egg, when they lay an egg, etc.
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Oh, I also recently bought a young, three month old Australorp pullet, and she has not made a sound either.

I'm not talking roosters here, only hens and pullets. I have never had an Australorp, RIR or EE roo, so can only say that Roosters crow, of course, often one that crows very often is returning a crow he hears from the neighborhood (they are competing).

Best of luck.
 
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You said you had "a" Australorp - as in 1? Maybe when they get in a crowd they get more talkative. Just guessing. Either that or they are just all individuals and some are - some are not.
All I know is that mine certainly ARE, They really do sound like a flock of upset geese!

Thanks for the replies

Upset geese describes them perfectly. Mine are four weeks old and just moved them outside to the grow out pen (a 12 x 12 horse stall ). As soon as I open the door the noise level goes up 50 decibles.
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I got 2 Aussies last year and they were awesome until they started laying and the racket coming out of my backyard was awful! They were cackling before laying but not during the actual sitting or right afterwards. I don't know if maybe it was just a fluke that they were acting crazy all day or what because they were new to laying but in a rash moment of frustration I gave them all away. They'd get the golden sex links which were also supposed to be quiet birds to going nuts. I had 3 of the 6 going at once and I found them all a new home same day. I can't afford a $600 fine if some neighbor decides to complain about them. The Aussies also chatter all day starting at sunup. It's not loud chatter but it will wake you up if they free range close enough to your house. I may try Aussies again sometime but for now, I'm going to try bantam sized chicks and hope they are not as loud even when they are cackling during laying process. I had Red Stars that never made a peep with laying. I had 1 EE'er that was super quiet and 2 that I gave away because they were crazy noisy. One of my Stars was fine until one of my other chickens died then she went nuts hollering all the time so I gave her away and then another one would holler because she couldn't find her sister who was laying on the nest so now those 3 sisters are at another home. I miss them. But so far the Stars are still the quietest breed I've owned if anyone is interested in buying some. Mypetchicken has the best Red Stars which I may decide to buy the minimum of 7 again if the bantams don't work out.

Carla
Clovis, CA
 
We've always had a mixed flock - mostly RIRs with a good splattering of Black Australorps. When they are all mixed in it's kind of hard to tell who is raising cane - but I think after 3 years of having a backyard flock we have finally nailed down the real talkers and noise makers to the Australorps - more of a process of elimination.

To understand my complaint, if you want to call it that, a person who didn't know any better would think we had a really noisy flock of geese or ducks, where in comparison to the RIRs seem to make little noise at all.
Again, in comparison, and everything is relative

Anyone out there with Australorps who can confirm or refute this?
yep I totally agree! lol I got RIR's 2 weeks before I got my BA's. I had 16 RIR's and they were just as quite as could be until they were being fed or something. Got the BA's 2 weeks later and all the way home they carried on to the top of their lungs. I was like man this bunch is a little noisy but thought, oh it's cuz it's 23 of them. Nope that wasn't the problem....lol they stayed that way! Even my daughter says to us when she came home that night..... man these are a little noisy aren't they? lol I fell out laughing when she said it because it was sooo true.
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and yes geese is right..... but could not believe they could make this amount of noise and them only being 1 day old and some were even less than that.
They will feed from my hand but they will not allow me to touch them. I can touch the RIR's and they're not wild about being picked up, but I can't even touch the BA's without them squawking. lol
 
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I have always been told that they are a very quiet breed, and my experience has been mixed. I just got rid of a VERY nice rooster because he is so noisey! He would crow constantly from 3 A.M. till 11 at night. He was the friendliest bird I've ever had and I hated to get rid of him for that reason. He would rather eat out of you hand or be talked to than eat scratch. One of his hens howls like a cat,and not just as her egg song. She just seems to get ticked off several times a day and she goes to making this sound lie a loud moan. I never hear a sound out of her sister. She is the quietest bird I have ever had.I have herd others say that their Aussies honk like geese. ...stan
I have 2 black australorps and although they are usually pretty silent, if you hear any noise it is the geese honk😂they will honk if they see you outside or hear the side door open. The only other time they are Loud and “honking” is when the one is laying her egg the other will be at the bottom of the ramp to coop squaking her head off until I come with treats which then usually calms her down for a bit. May have to go back out a couple times if she starts to get noisy or isn’t distracted enough. Like I said though, almost always silent until egg laying time or when they want something (more treats, access to the rest of the yard they can see thru their run, etc)
 

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