Quietest Breed for Urban Environment?

[slpadgett]

Any thoughts on a quiet breed for urban environment? My Buff Orpingtons have turned out to be noisy! By contrast the Barred Rocks are quiet! What have others experienced.

 

[Chickenmaven]

My Dominiques & silkies are quiet. My Wyandottes & SSH are screechers.

I think the great thing about posting this question to BYC is that you will get many responses. I am sure the noise level varies, depending on the make-up of each flock.

 

[lux_interior]

Unless you have a rooster, they should all be relatively quiet... no louder than any other birds flying around in the wild, and definitely no louder than barking dogs. I have many different breeds, and none of my hens are loud.

 

[Majestic Lane Poultry]

Silkies or LF Brahmas!

I also have orpingtons, marans, rocks, cochins, rosecombs, leghorns, polish, ameraucanas, wyandottes...

 

[slpadgett]

They are quiet most of the day with a few exceptions.

1. When they want out of the run to range in the yard, which is every morning around 6 am.

2. Before laying an egg

3. After laying an egg, when trying to locate the other girls

4. Any time they are returned to the run prior to their chosen or prefered bedtime. (i.e when we have guests with dogs.)

FYI, the run is a shaded, covered, 8x8 foot area, with feed, straw, water and roosts. It is attached to the coop. The area is shared by 3 birds.

They have free access to the coop and the run all day long, and go in and out as they please. I think they are young and may be a bit spoiled.

 

[slpadgett]

Of course, interpretations of "loud" vary. They are no louder than a barking dog, or a flock or rowdy ravens. However, sometimes they are louder than I would like. I do live in a relatively quiet urban/suburban environment where chickens are permitted.

 

[Mahonri]

I had a leghorn that was noisy, I had one that was quiet... kept the quiet one.

I had a red star that was noisy, she's gone.

I've rehomed my noisy barred rocks. The two I have now are wonderful.

My BO was real quiet.

I guess it depends upon the individual bird.

 

[slpadgett]

We actually re-homed the noisiest of the Buff Orps this weekend. Things are noticable quieter. She was very vocal! She would just walk around jabbering to her self. A beautiful bird, but man was she a talker! She would ge t the other birds going too. Now that she is gone, they are less inclined to "communicate".

Both my Orps had really harsh voices. They make this raspy, "let me out of this chicken run before I DIE" sort of sound. When the BR's are noisy its just your classic chicken call, a top of the lungs "BUCK-CAW!"

I'm new to this, so I didn't realize that different types of Chickens make differnt types of sounds! Go figure

 

[greysage]

How old are they?
I thought I only had one noisy one and considered rehoming her, after waiting to see if she'd mellow after laying age. They are all almost 18 weeks and seem to be getting noisier every day, but only at the times mentioned above. They are usually pretty quiet until I go outside, then they'll start 'screaming'. A week ago, Rosie (a Welsummer) was the only loud one. Now it might be hard to choose the loudest.

I am not sure at what age they settle into their adult personalities (loud/quiet etc). My barred rocks are definitely the quietest so far.

 

[Ryu]

I have heard that Seramas are very quiet.