Noisy chicken and can I introduce a new chicken to my exisiting flock?

[mamakelly]

Are some chickens just noisier than others? My chickens are a little over a year old. We raised them from chicks, and they are sweet and lay lots of eggs. But they are getting really really noisy. I'm sure it's driving my neighboors crazy, because it's driving me crazy! They squak for at least 2 hours in the morning. I live in a residential neighborhood, eek! The noise seems to be led by one chicken who is constantly broody. The others aren't typically noisy unless the one chicken starts up. She gets mad when the other chickens are in the nesting box that she likes and complains about it all morning. i have 4 chickens and 2 nesting boxes but they only use one box. No matter how I set the boxes in the coop, they all fight over one. I'm about ready to get rid of the noisy chicken. I think if I got rid of her, the others would be quiet. If I get rid of her, is there a breed of chicken that's quieter? Can I introduce a new chicken to my exisiting flock? We only have 4 chickens, 3 wouldn't be enough.

 

[HEChicken]

Yes, some chickens just are noisier than others. I know what you mean about the noise and worrying about it driving the neighbors nuts. Fortunately, my neighbors never open their windows so I try to remember that it is noisier for me than them since it is closer AND my windows are open.

As for adding a new chicken to the flock, it would be better if you added two new girls at the same time. If you try to add just one to an established flock, she will be picked on mercilessly and will have no friends in the flock for moral support. However if you add two, they will at least have each other.