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

[TesoroSena]

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.

Sounds bored based off of this post though.

 

[LaFleche]

A good rooster should solve the problem and keep her busy.

 

[SmiYa0126]

You could do a pile of compost and hide treats in there as another idea of a boredom buster.

 

[Lyris]

Sounds like all the hens you rescued are unsure, and the only thing they trust right now is you. Chickens prefer to have smaller flocks, so they may break off into their own squads. It sounds also like they need a rooster, in my opinion. Do ur laws allow that?

Technically no, but I do have bantam silkies who will probably end up being part of my flock vs just babysitting them. One of them definitely knows he's a beautiful rooster, the other doesn't seem to care yet. I have the option to get a Cochin rooster if the silkies don't work out though. I'm not sure the tiny guy could handle my flock. I think one is an Orpington (generic brown chicken with little personality) some kind of big fat girl who resembles one of those laced chickens, a RIR, an easter egger and a brahma. The tiny silkies aren't even half the size of my girls. I have no idea if a tiny silkie could manage them, although one is already showing signs of being The Man. So far he's just dancing for the other rooster and getting in the way if I go outside. Once he settles I'm sure he will try to boss the girls around. He's got a crow collar on. That mixed with being tiny keeps him quiet enough. I'm pretty sure the crowing rooster is going to start going after my cats eventually. Which, fair enough, my cats need to exercise and could use a good game of fleeing to the cat door in terror.

As far as my hens go, maybe I'll let the RIR go on walks around the front yard with me. The others are still shy of me. I haven't tried incredibly hard to be friends yet due to school, but I do what I can. My RIR is a great example for them, and the Brahma is greedy as heck so she's food motivated. They're all still young as well. Only the RIR is laying, and the tiny silkie only learned he can crow last month. I had a barred rock I taught tricks to years ago. Maybe I'll see if I can do the same for my hens.

I have to say, keeping their feeding times random and ignoring the RIR when she screams helps! She no longer thinks that screaming will summon me like some kind of magic spell. I pop my head out at random times and either just say hello or ignore them so they're used to me being a human and not an exciting food source. That also seems to help. They're still eagle eyed and take note whenever they see or hear me. I've also taken up just being in the yard, and feeding them in random areas instead of just one spot. They don't always follow me thinking I bring food, and they have to explore the yard to find feed.

When I raised baby chickens the RIR ones were some of my least favorite. They were always standoffish and didn't have much personality. I'm now learning they're some of the most sassy chickens there are. It's so different than when I had chicks!