O.K. I am getting my first little flock of chickens. I have a good sized area for them and will probably get about 14 pullets. My question is the roosters. Is there a breed that is known to be quieter than another. I live on 1 1/4 acres of urban homestead land. I don't want to annoy my neighbors but also these will be egg layer and eating chickens, I don't want to buy more every year when I can hatch out my next flock myself. any advice. I am trying to choose the right breed and so far I think I am going to get plymouth rocks.
Roosters???
- Thread starter hsm5grls
- Start date
Quieter roos? Well, that's really individual. My Barred Rock flock rooster, Hawkeye, isn't bad as far as noise, but he has his days.
- Thread starter
- #3
do you feel that the barred rock is a good all around breed? I have 5 girls who will be my helpers and I also would like as friendly a flock as possible. I live in the desert and so heat is also a concern. It is cold in the winter and real hot in the summer about 110. I have the coop and run under big shade tree's. Any other breed suggestions would be helpful if you can think of something you think I should try.
I have 2 EE roosters and neither one of them crow.
Most people here know that I adore Barred Rocks for friendly personality and consistant egg laying ability. In fact, my laying flock right now consists of my original flock and they'll be with me till they pass on, but eventually, my laying flock will consist of only Barred Rocks and Buff Orpingtons, to my way of thinking, the two best breeds going for laying large eggs. The Barred Rocks will do better in heat by a slight bit than the Orps, though. Both do well in cold. My Ameraucana doesn't crow that much, but he has a shrill crow. My Blue Orpington crows alot, but he's young, too. My Hawkeye is my man; love that rooster for all-round sweet disposition and protector for my girls. All my Barred Rock cockerels have been very friendly and personable.
I don't have experience with too many breeds of roosters... I CAN tell you that be prepared for them to crow at all times of the day, not just in the morning.
Just so you know, your neighbors MAY be annoyed at all times. I happen to like the sound of roosters crowing, but not everyone does, obviously.
However, it does seem to me that of the breeds I do have, they definitely have different voices. My SLW is LOUD in comparison to my SFs. He sounds like he'd be hurting his throat, as if he's really straining to be as loud as he possibly can be. I only have one SLW, but a friend of mine to whom I gave several SF roosters says that SLWs were definitely louder, in general, than the SFs.
However, I have one SF boy who is on the loud-ish side, though not as bad as my SLW. Most of my SFs sound as if they're trying to sing in falsetto, though. It's pretty funny.
I have a little bantam barred cochin who sounds more like a finch. He started crowing early. He crows rarely, it's pretty durn quiet, and it sounds more like a little "tweedle-dee!"
So... some will definitely be quieter than others, but honestly, you never know what kind of annoyance factor you'll be getting with a rooster until you get one (unless you get a grown up boy), and you still have a good chance of annoying your neighbors with a rooster, anyway.
Unless you're in a real hurry, you might want to start with the hens a little early and give them time to start laying so you can butter up your neighbors with eggs BEFORE they start hearing the rooster crow.
That way, the rooster sound will signal: "Yum! Fresh eggs!" Rather than "Rackafracka, that darn thing is screaming again!"
That's just my opinion, though. It's also problematic to some degree to integrate different ages of birds together, so you'll have to weigh your options
However, it does seem to me that of the breeds I do have, they definitely have different voices. My SLW is LOUD in comparison to my SFs. He sounds like he'd be hurting his throat, as if he's really straining to be as loud as he possibly can be. I only have one SLW, but a friend of mine to whom I gave several SF roosters says that SLWs were definitely louder, in general, than the SFs.
However, I have one SF boy who is on the loud-ish side, though not as bad as my SLW. Most of my SFs sound as if they're trying to sing in falsetto, though. It's pretty funny.
I have a little bantam barred cochin who sounds more like a finch. He started crowing early. He crows rarely, it's pretty durn quiet, and it sounds more like a little "tweedle-dee!"
So... some will definitely be quieter than others, but honestly, you never know what kind of annoyance factor you'll be getting with a rooster until you get one (unless you get a grown up boy), and you still have a good chance of annoying your neighbors with a rooster, anyway.
Unless you're in a real hurry, you might want to start with the hens a little early and give them time to start laying so you can butter up your neighbors with eggs BEFORE they start hearing the rooster crow.
That's just my opinion, though. It's also problematic to some degree to integrate different ages of birds together, so you'll have to weigh your options
- Thread starter
- #7
Well then Plymouth rock it is. I thought they were very pretty hens and from everything I've read they seem to be very friendly. I was hoping that they would be the best hens for me because I just think they are beautiful.
Any advice where to get them from? I've heard that hatchery's aren't the best but was wondering what your input was.
Any advice where to get them from? I've heard that hatchery's aren't the best but was wondering what your input was.
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