Molly my large fowl buff orpington is head chicken and has started this week to make loud 'kawwrr' noises early in the morning (about 6.30) and then at certain periods in the day. She is a large bird so this can be quite loud and I have neighbours on either side so I need to keep the noise to a minimum. We have started locking them in the coop at night and letting them out later (around 8am) so if she does crow it won't wake everyone up too early. When she does it she sticks her head high in the air and flaps her wings. She does this for about 10 minutes each time ... Does it sound like an egg song or a crow? None of chickens have started laying yet but they are about 16-18 weeks.
My wellie hen does this swell, but my coop has windows on so its starts at first light. I too have neighbours close by on both sides and going out and giving her a long 2 hour cuddle, or giving them something to do for a while are the only things that shut her up at the moment. She also stops when she has layed. I hope someone answers our question soon!!!
All I can do is commiserate with you! I have one LF Buffy gir,l and she's a "bawker." Mine quiets down once she can leave the coop. I open the pop door very early during the week (4 am, dark, these shortening days) before I leave for work. But on the weekend, there's no sleeping in for me! By 5:15 am, it's quite light out, and I can hear her out there doing her best rooster crow/ let me out! I'm sure I've created my monster, though. Each morning, I place a few very small dishes of nibbly bits, some form of treat - mashed boiled egg, yogurt, scraps, around their fenced in area. I started this for the broods, wanting to give them a little extra protein in their first weeks of life. I have three cliques of chickens, so I make three dishes. Buffy the bawker is quiet once she's out and has visited a dish. If I don't deliver dishes, it takes longer for the birds to settle down. I think of my LF Buff Orpington as an Opera Diva She's allowed to be noisy as I'm fortunate not to have neighbors who mind, and she's like a barn cat; she stalks mice and eats them. Perhaps yours will work through her noisy phase. I hope so!
She isn't generally a chatty hen unless I come outside and then she follows me everywhere talking to me. This is fine as its nothing too loud more "baww .. ba .. ba .. babawrp" mumblings. But there are just certain times in the day while she is out free ranging when she does the calling and she stands up proud and flaps her wings and does the best cockerel impression I've seen. My DH keeps getting excited thinking it means eggs are on the way however she never lays any but still proceeds to 'kawwwwr .... kawwwwr' at certain times. I kinda get the feeling the early morning display is her saying 'Morning!' to the everyone ... but then she does it again at lunch time.
I remember reading somewhere that if you don't have a rooster, one of the hens will take on the rooster role and will often stop laying once they take on this job. I don't know if the extra noise might be attributable to that...but it sounds like you don't have a rooster. Unfortunately, what I read says that if you chose to get rid of that one hen, either because of the lack of eggs or the additional noise, sooner or later another hen will take on the rooster role. Perhaps if you knock on your neighbors door with a few beautiful eggs or a plate of deviled eggs and apologize sweetly in advance for the noise they will just chill. We get used to the sound of cars going by or kids playing or whatever our neighborhood offers. Once I lived in an apartment where a train went by about a block away blowing it's horn as it approached the crossing five or six times a night. After about a week of sitting straight up in bed with my heart pounding out of my skull I started sleeping right through it.
