Really LOUD chickens in the morning?

[dwegg]

Who needs a rooster when you have these girls? My SLW and now today the other 6 are really loud in the mornings lately and I don't know why or how to stop them.

I live in Atlanta and my neighbors are close. I don't want any problems with noise ect.

The last 2-3 days they are so loud that they have woken me up over the sound of rain and from a good sleep (5am) so they must be loud!!!

My Buff has just started laying and today my RIR started and they were 'buk, buk, bukking' with her this morning but there is this other sound like a 'mmwwaakk' (almost sinister sounding!) that is the really loud one. I thought the SLW was sick or something?

At first I flew out of bed 'cause I thought something was in the coop...but no it was just them! So I gave them treats to shut them up. But again this morning (4:45) I went straight out and gave them treats to quiet them but it worked only for a while.

I was thinking today that i might have to stop the light coming on at 3am and just let them sleep and give up the eggs for a while.

 

[chuckzoo]

It may be the suddeness that the light comes on that has got them all in a tiss. I also live in a neighborhood and since the leaves have fallen from the trees and there is nothing to dampen the sound if they stop laying in the winter I will give them a well deserved rest and let our neighbors rest too.

 

[dwegg]

Yes true...I am not in it for the eggs so i think the light will go and we can all sleep in...I bet that will stop them even if it stops them till 8-9..then we are all at work and they can carry on all they like.

It also crossed my mind that they were doing that to get me to come out and give them treats! Chicken mind games...now that's scarey!

 

[HEChicken]

Quote:
That occurred to me when I read it too. I wondered how long it would take them to realize...."hmmm...make noise, mama hen comes out in those cute PJ's and gumboots and gives us treats"....

 

[mdbokc]

Mine have a different sort of crying sound they make when they want out and they think I am late...sound sort of aggravated, hopeful and pleading at the same time. Much different than the egg song.

 

[Mrs.Puff]

I immediately thought of the chow holler that my hens would sometimes give if I don't get out there early enough. Do you have a feeder filled with chow all the time, or do you feed certain amounts each day? If they aren't on "full feed" and they are up at 3am, I bet they're hungry! I think I heard once that a chicken has a 3 hour digestive tract, so by morning, they are empty!

 

[Wildsky]

If you want to add light - its best to do it in the evening, so there is no sudden light on in the morning.

 

[dwegg]

Yes great advice guys...there is a water and a feeder that are always full. Checked and changed twice a day and I always make sure there is some sort of 'treat' in the run for when they wake up till i go out there for the morning.

Could it be something to do with the girls starting to lay? I've had them for 3-4 weeks now and two started to lay (one last week and one today - 2 eggs today!) We were away last weekend so they did not get to get out...and then it has rained this week including working late and they're in bed when I get home. But today I raced home and let them out for a couple of hours and dug in the garden with them for worms (a peace offering!). Could they be 'cooped up' for too long!? and just want out?

 

[KDbeads]

My girls, who have recently started laying, sound like they are being killed nearly every day. It's getting less and less freakishly loud over the last 2 weeks. The very first day it happened I ran out thinking my dane had jumped the fence and gotten to them but when I got out there all was fine except a very upset Red who immediately jumped into my jacket to hide from the fresh warm egg she had just deposited in the box.

 

[GardeNerd]

I don't have a solution, but I go through something similar shortly after dawn every morning since my chickens started laying in June. Their door opens to the enclosed run so they could really go out whenever they want, but the BR and Leghorn like to announce that the morning has arrived. The only way mine stop chatting about it is if I pick them up off the roost and put them on the floor of the coop. Then they go out and have breakfast. They trained me well; I don't let them go on long because we live in the city and are pretty close to neighbors.

They are all generally pretty quiet the rest of the day.