Noisy BSL Hen-7 months old- help!

[mrskenmore]

TOUGH LOVE Day 5:

Not a peep from her when my husband came home from work Friday night- by the time I got home she was sound asleep!

 

[mrskenmore]

TOUGH LOVE Day 6:

Saturday- the day I have been dreading. It snowed all day and she was mostly quiet- we have been doing a great job of ignoring her and it seems to be working!

 

[mrskenmore]

TOUGH LOVE Day 7:

Sunday- 45 degrees and sunny out- I wish I could say she was quiet today- but she wasn't. It was like everything during the week didn't even matter. I ignored her most of the morning while she was loud. After lunch when she was quiet I went out there and gave there coop and run a good deep clean. I let them free range for a good 2 hours while I did some busy work- again- not a peep out of her. Added some more sand to the run and unplugged the water heater. I then put them all back in and they were quiet. They just finished a 2 hour long dust bath (must be nice to have fresh sand!) But now I am perplexed as to what her deal is. We haven't done any treats (except a small suet cage of veggies that hang in their run) in over a week. I am seeing better behavior overall- but today she screamed her head off like it was her job. We are going to extend the run to the back of the property soon and I am hoping this helps. We are going to give the tough love exercise another week of ignoring her bad behavior to see if it helps.

Any suggestions?!

Could it be she hates being contained? Could she be suffering from separation anxiety? Both my other hens were laying when she was having a major meltdown this morning.

Oh and I found a Rhode Island red last week at a farm conference that sounds just like she does... see below link for a similar sound that she makes so you can get a better understanding. (This made a lot of sense researching rhode island reds because a black sex link is half of that breed)

Would love and welcome and advice or help on this psychological chicken analysis!!

the red in this video sounds very much like Jolene- around 25 seconds is when the hen gets going and this is very similar to intensity and sound of what Jolene does for about 3-5 minutes a day about 3-5 times a day depending on a various amount of conditions. If it is rainy or snowy she is quiet, if we are not home she usually only has about one outburst a day. If it is a nice weekend day she can be quite loud about up to 5 times for about 3-5 minutes each time.

 

[aart]

I've had some that do that......obnoxious...it seems to go in binges, they'll do it for a couple weeks, for a couple hours a day, then just shut up.

Chickens can be loud, you can't really control it.

 

[mrskenmore]

TOUGH LOVE Day 8:

So after a crazy morning yesterday she redeemed herself today- Monday (we are back at work) she did not make one peep all day long... not one cluck, peep, bok, whir, screech... not even an egg song. When I got home she was not very noisy, so I waited until she settled down and then went out to greet them when everyone was back to doing their chicken things. They were very happy to see me and quiet so I let them out for a bit before bedtime. I scooped up Jolene and sat with her for a bit giving her a nice waddle massage and talking softly to her. I then let her down to hang out with the other girls for a bit. I put them back in the run about 40 minutes before they usually head up and everyone was super quiet and content just milling about... I don't know if I am any closer to getting her from stopping her screaming her head off- but who knows. None of this can hurt- can it? lol

 

[mrskenmore]

oh and just so you all have a visual on Jolene- here is a stunning picture of her. Another thought I had was to play classical music to them on the weekends from a little radio in their coop. Maybe that will keep her distracted?

 

[azygous]

When you capture a chicken straight on like that, they sure do look formidable! Jolene is a beautiful bird, and certainly looks like a hand full to deal with.

Chickens have their individual bad habits and behavior and they have behavior that is linked to our behavior. It's really only this latter that we can have any hope of being able to change. In your case, she was being a huge noise-maker in hopes of getting treats and attention out of you. When you quit rewarding that particular bad behavior, it all but stopped.

If Jolene has other noisy habits unrelated to anything you do, it's probably not going to be productive to try to change them. I have a Sussex hen that loves to practice crowing like a rooster several times a day. It's about as bad as the RIR recording you posted, although occasionally she'll get out a pretty decent crow. Every time I hear her, I silently thank the universe that I have no neighbors.

 

[mrskenmore]

Thanks Azygous for your kind words, she is a handful but it is worth it because she is a lovely lovely hen. She currently has no other noisy habits that are unrelated to me and me specifically- not even so much my husband lol. I just want to make her time here on earth and more specifically with us happy. When she scream her head off and paces I realize she is not happy- but like a two year old toddler we can't always surrender to her tantrums. I think in my heart of hearts she is a real chicken, she wants to run and forage and hunt for slugs. Once the back playground is built I am thinking she will have so much more opportunity to be just that- a chicken. It will probably be around 12' x 8' which is more than double the existing run now. I will continue to post progress- the lack of treats is helping.

 

[mrskenmore]

TOUGH LOVE Day 9:

When we came home from work Tuesday evening Jolene was a little noisy but nothing too bad- she was quiet all day long. Of course it was snowing and raining out lol!

 

[mrskenmore]

TOUGH LOVE Day 10:

Jolene was quiet all day- there seems to be progress in that department at least. She seems more content in the coop and run during the day. When we came home she was a little noisy- but settled down quickly. Once she settled down I went out to greet them and let them free range for about an hour before it was time for them to retire for the night. Overall she seems calmer and less neurotic in general which is good. The treats have stopped and they are still listening and attentive to me. This weekend will be another challenge- but overall very happy with the results so far.