Noisy Chicken Advice Please

[Cori A]

Hi All,

I thought I had the answer to my problem and then started going through the threads here, now I;m more confused. Here is the situation. I am new to chickens, had mine for 6 months now. I have 3 Americana's, 2 Plymouth Barred Rocks and 1 Buff Orpington. The barred rocks are noisy but only when they see me and want to eat and occasionally they do the egg song, but it's not crazy loud. Two of my Americana's are obnoxious when it comes to the egg song and one in particular is getting more obnoxious and doing the egg song more and more, whether or not someone is laying anyone. My buff orpington is totally silent. I am in love with her. Not only is she a good layer and quiet, but she is cute and has a great personality.

I am really getting stressed out because I have to constantly quiet the two noisy ones for fear of repercussions from the neighbors. Still waiting for city ordinance to change to allow chickens. It is in the works, but you know how government goes, it could take years. So anyway, I decided to get rid of the two noisy Americana's and replace them with orpingtons because they are so quiet. I found a nice lady with a farm who will happily take my noisy girls. Problem solved right? Well now reading the threads here I learned that not all orpingtons are quiet and sometimes when you get rid of the noisy ones others take over where they left off. Do you think I should still try and replace the noisy ones with orpingtons and hope for the best? Should I get rid of the three Americana's? I love the one I wasn't planning on getting rid of, she lets me hold her.

I really can't live the way I am now, the stress is not worth it. I can't leave my house before 1pm without leaving someone here to quiet the chickens, I can't go away on vacation, plus I am interrupted numerous times during the day. Any advice would be appreciated. I know some of you will say that chickens make noise it's nature and I know that and I am not expecting them to be silent, just not go crazy loud, for such a long time and so many times a day.

Thanks, appreciate the input and sorry this is so long.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Lots of people will say their birds are quiet. OK, that's nice. Some truly are. But the best advice I've seen is written, I believe, on the My Pet Chicken website, under the FAQ section.

Question: "Which breeds are quiet?"
Answer: "There is no such thing as a quiet chicken."

 

[Fred's Hens]

The fact is we all have some neurotic birds. We all have some peaceful, businesslike birds too. BUT.... all it takes is something, anything to get them going, and it can be a host of things, things which have nothing to do with laying, and away they'll go. The "I'm alone and cannot find the rest of you" call. The "did you see that awful thing?" call, or the hysterical the "What was that!!!" call.

Those things can go on for 15 minutes with one singing soprano and the others singing doo wop. It is what it is.

 

[Cori A]

Yes, but can't we weed out the neurotic ones?

 

[devora]

Yes, but can't we weed out the neurotic ones?

They are not "neurotic." This is normal chicken behaviour. Healthy and normal.

It sounds like you want a bird that makes no sound. This does not exist. If you happen to have a quiet bird or three, that in no way indicates that the species is quiet. And if you cull and cull until you have quiet birds, it is quite possible the remaining birds will begin to make noise.

One of the joys of having birds is the egg song. It is so fun!

I've heard hamsters are quiet. But, alas, no eggs.

 

[speckledhen]

I'm not trying to be a smart alec here, but if you want a quiet pet, get a spayed/neutered cat or a gerbil. Chickens are not quiet 24/7. A breed is not quiet or noisy--individuals within that breed are quiet or noisy.

Part of their charm is all the different sounds they make. It's their nature and you cannot change it.

 

[addie08]

Agreed. Chickens just aren't going to be quiet all the time.

 

[snoggle]

I've heard that Muscovy ducks are really quiet. So are male ducks of any breed.

 

[Cori A]

I guess I am not being understood. I said in my original post that I don't expect my chickens to be quiet all the time or silent for that matter. I was just wondering, since only a few of them are noisy a lot of the time, if there was a breed more suitable for suburban living. Since Fred's Hens said that no breed in particular is quiet and that some are just neurotic, I wondered if I could weed out the "neurotic" ones and wind up with a not as noisy flock. I'm sorry I used the word "weed out", I meant re-home where they could make as much noise as they wanted. I would never cull a chicken for ANY reason. I know chickens make noise and I love my chickens and I enjoy the sounds of my chickens, mostly, but I also don't want to disturb neighbors. Dogs bark too, but I don't let my dog bark incessantly, it would be inconsiderate. I am not fortunate enough to live in farm county.

Thanks for making me feel like a horrible person for asking.

 

[Danielle27]

I'm not sure if the quieter ones would take the loud ones place, but I'd also like to know the answer to that. I read somewhere that they quiet down after they've been laying for a while.

Have you tried insulating the coop or planting some bushes around? That wont solve all your problems, but it may help to muffle the sound a little.