RIR is overly talkative. Can I get her to quiet down?

[Lyris]

She's a rescue from an older couple who didn't know how to handle chickens. The coop was much too small for the amount of chickens they had, and they weren't taken care of properly. She's always been the bossiest of the flock. I let them free range instead of being in a tiny coop and run all day. Now that they've adjusted and really settled down the RIR has decided she loves her voice. A lot. Way too much. I wake up to her every morning. In the afternoons she yells. Some grumbles when they go to bed. She's teaching the rest of the flock to be chatty as well. I live in city limits so she's got to learn to be quiet or else I'll have to rehome her. I'm incredibly bonded with this girl and don't want to. Any suggestions on how to get her to behave a bit better?

 

[TesoroSena]

She's a rescue from an older couple who didn't know how to handle chickens. The coop was much too small for the amount of chickens they had, and they weren't taken care of properly. She's always been the bossiest of the flock. I let them free range instead of being in a tiny coop and run all day. Now that they've adjusted and really settled down the RIR has decided she loves her voice. A lot. Way too much. I wake up to her every morning. In the afternoons she yells. Some grumbles when they go to bed. She's teaching the rest of the flock to be chatty as well. I live in city limits so she's got to learn to be quiet or else I'll have to rehome her. I'm incredibly bonded with this girl and don't want to. Any suggestions on how to get her to behave a bit better?

it sounds like she is looking for someone or something. Was there any chickens left at the persons house? Does she quiet down when you go near or interact with her? She may have lost someone she was attached to and looking for her. Chickens can create incredible bonds with other chickens.

 

[WoDia]

Hello @Lyris! Give her a chance to acclimate to her new home. It’s all new to her, so it’s understandable that she’s unsettled. You can’t make her be quiet, but you can continue being supportive until she gets used to everything. I did notice in the video that she came straight to you. I think YOU may be the key to this. Looks to me that she wants to be around you right now.

 

[homesteading101]

I've had alot of behavior problems with reds. I traded a lot for black and red sex links. She might acclimate or she'll carry on even louder hard to tell.

 

[Lyris]

it sounds like she is looking for someone or something. Was there any chickens left at the persons house? Does she quiet down when you go near or interact with her? She may have lost someone she was attached to and looking for her. Chickens can create incredible bonds with other chickens.

I got all the chickens. Three of them had to be sent to a special home. With the small coop they were in there was a LOT of fighting and three ended up completely blind. They went to go live with a lady who had blind chickens and could better care for them. She definitely gets noisier when she wants attention. That recording was her announcing she was about to go lay an egg. She yells for about thirty minutes to alert me that she's about to go lay, then she goes and lays and takes another ten minutes to alert me that she's done. She has nesting boxes, she just prefers her way of doing things. She also yells a LOT when she first gets up. She has to yell for about an hour after they first get up in the morning.

Hello @Lyris! Give her a chance to acclimate to her new home. It’s all new to her, so it’s understandable that she’s unsettled. You can’t make her be quiet, but you can continue being supportive until she gets used to everything. I did notice in the video that she came straight to you. I think YOU may be the key to this. Looks to me that she wants to be around you right now.

I've had her three months now. The more she settles the louder she gets! She does like me. She marches around the yard with me every day. That's why I don't want to rehome her and am trying to quiet her yelling. Today she set off the crows who had to yell back and forth to her. If she hears or sees me yells so I have to be careful in the kitchen. She recognizes my car beeps and yells at it. She yells if she wants treats. She yells if she's bored. She yells to lay eggs. Currently I'm trying to ignore her yelling in case she's learned yelling makes me show up. She yells at the train horn at night, that's a popular one. She will yell to the barking dog, or the neighbor's rooster, or even sirens. Earlier she was yelling and set off the crows, which confused her for a minute.


She's a bit unsettled today since there has been a few changes, but even when things are very calm she yells. I'm currently babysitting two silkies who are kept in their own separate pen away from my flock. She hates that and now yells all day instead of just when she wakes up. I did try to rehome her due to the noise, but that didn't go well. Failure to thrive without me it seems. She's also my top hen and prevented a raccoon attack last night. She gets INCREDIBLY insecure with minor changes, so i imagine today is a bit rough for her. She's currently at my cat door doing her egg song to let me know she did a good job.

 

[SmiYa0126]

I have a RIR, she's loud too! She sounds wonderful to me, I hope your neighbors tolerate her! I'd rather hear chickens then incessantly barking dogs.

 

[homesteading101]

I'd have to agree on that one

 

[WoDia]

I got all the chickens. Three of them had to be sent to a special home. With the small coop they were in there was a LOT of fighting and three ended up completely blind. They went to go live with a lady who had blind chickens and could better care for them. She definitely gets noisier when she wants attention. That recording was her announcing she was about to go lay an egg. She yells for about thirty minutes to alert me that she's about to go lay, then she goes and lays and takes another ten minutes to alert me that she's done. She has nesting boxes, she just prefers her way of doing things. She also yells a LOT when she first gets up. She has to yell for about an hour after they first get up in the morning.


I've had her three months now. The more she settles the louder she gets! She does like me. She marches around the yard with me every day. That's why I don't want to rehome her and am trying to quiet her yelling. Today she set off the crows who had to yell back and forth to her. If she hears or sees me yells so I have to be careful in the kitchen. She recognizes my car beeps and yells at it. She yells if she wants treats. She yells if she's bored. She yells to lay eggs. Currently I'm trying to ignore her yelling in case she's learned yelling makes me show up. She yells at the train horn at night, that's a popular one. She will yell to the barking dog, or the neighbor's rooster, or even sirens. Earlier she was yelling and set off the crows, which confused her for a minute.


She's a bit unsettled today since there has been a few changes, but even when things are very calm she yells. I'm currently babysitting two silkies who are kept in their own separate pen away from my flock. She hates that and now yells all day instead of just when she wakes up. I did try to rehome her due to the noise, but that didn't go well. Failure to thrive without me it seems. She's also my top hen and prevented a raccoon attack last night. She gets INCREDIBLY insecure with minor changes, so i imagine today is a bit rough for her. She's currently at my cat door doing her egg song to let me know she did a good job.

You’re a part of her flock and her comfort since she’s been living with you. It sounds like she really doesn’t like changes, as you described. And, I’m sure she misses the company of her former flock mates. Some chickens just don’t adjust to change easily. It sounds like you’re going to need to continue experimenting with her, to find a solution to calm her a little. I have a sweet Easter Egger that wants to be with her flock but not WITH her flock. She’s totally content hanging out in a sectioned-off area of the building. When I let her in with the others daily, she races back to her safe area when I’m getting ready to walk out… so, I close her back in there until we do the same thing again the next day. I had to do some observing to figure out that she required different needs to keep her calm. I love the video, because it showed her attachment to you. She saw you and was right there at your feet.

 

[rosemarythyme]

She sounds like a Chatty Cathy who really likes having your attention. Some birds are just extremely noisy for the sake of being noisy. I have one we nicknamed Noisehole and she'll scream for an hour before she lays, after she lays, she talks while drinking (and chokes) and when jumping up and down on things, etc. She'll get up on a roost to get closer to my head so she can scream more loudly, closer to my eardrums. The other birds occasionally get mad and peck her to quiet her, but that makes her run around and complain noisily. She's so loud that her voice carries further than my neighbors' roosters.

Long story short, your hen is probably just a very talkative bird who might need a home with a much bigger buffer between coop and neighbors.

 

[TesoroSena]

She's a rescue from an older couple who didn't know how to handle chickens. The coop was much too small for the amount of chickens they had, and they weren't taken care of properly. She's always been the bossiest of the flock. I let them free range instead of being in a tiny coop and run all day. Now that they've adjusted and really settled down the RIR has decided she loves her voice. A lot. Way too much. I wake up to her every morning. In the afternoons she yells. Some grumbles when they go to bed. She's teaching the rest of the flock to be chatty as well. I live in city limits so she's got to learn to be quiet or else I'll have to rehome her. I'm incredibly bonded with this girl and don't want to. Any suggestions on how to get her to behave a bit better?

She may also be bored as well. Try giving extra stimulation. When my chickens do that they are normally looking for something or just bored. Give her an iceberg lettuce ball! Or pumpkin or squash! Chickens love that, and you can get the overripe stuff on sale at mainly any grocery store!