Screeching hens every morning! How to stop this behavior?

[seanjohnson]

Anyone have any suggestions on how to train my particular chicken to stop doing this? It's only one and it drives is insane. I feel that our neighbors are ready to murder us. I love their egg songs, it's the cutest thing in the world, but this screech is deafening! Her name is Raptor, to top it off! Haha

 

[BayBay Peepers]

I don't know if you can train her to hush. You could try the suggestions in this thread like keeping it darker in the coop longer or even a super soaker if you're that determined. Don't be too discouraged if it doesn't work, chickens will be chickens

 

[Eggcessive]

You will never change this because I have 4 year old ancona hen who shouts at the top of her lungs every morning while she hangs around in the coop. She seems to be talking to the others, and it's not an egg song. I had another ancone from the same batch, and she didn't do this. A lot of people think that roosters are the only noisy chickens, but hens make some racket in an urban setting. Your coop placement and insulation probably would have an effect on controlling noise.

 

[chknseverywhere]

Hi All! My husband and I are new to keeping chickens and had have had a great time raising our 4 pullets for the past several months. We have a Silver-Gray Dorking, a Leghorn, a Barred Rock and a Campine. Everything has been dandy until just recently... Our hens/pullets have begun to screech an ungodly and scratchy scream that sounds somewhat like "crrraaaaaa!" at the top of their lungs every morning around 730am! We live in a residential neighborhood and have neighbors in close proximity who most likely hear everything. I have no idea what to do to stop this behavior and was hoping any of you experts out there can help. Here are some key points about my hens, maybe this info will help decipher what's going on and what I can do about it:

* 2 of the 4 (dorking & leghorn) have just started laying eggs (probably two weeks now), my barred rock is doing the "submissive squat" and also seems to be getting ready to lay soon. My campine is still young, her comb and wattle are barely there.

* all four have plenty of space in the coop & run to perch, eat, dust bathe and roost... I also have two nest boxes at their disposal with fluffy wood shavings inside and a little ladder leading to each.

* they free range every day for several hours (as soon as we get home from work we let them out until the sun goes down).

* they eat Scratch & Peck brand feed & and are given healthy treats like tomatoes and fruit often.

* plenty of clean water

Lately, we have tried everything from waving our arms to throwing in a few treats to quiet them down, but the minute we leave they start up again. When they see us, or hear the door open, they yell. I recently draped the perch area with sheets to keep out sunlight until a later morning hour, but it only kept them quiet a half hour longer than usual. So now, for the past several mornings I have had to resort to letting them to free range just to make them quiet. I do not want to keep this up as I know it is bound to create a bad habit, but I feel as if my hands are tied! There is nothing else that makes them stop. Does anyone else know what we can do? Thank you!!
 

Mine does the same thing!! Have u found a solution yet? I also have to get up every morning justt to let them out to stop the screeching!! But i dnt want to make a habit of it and also dont want the neighbours to complain grrr

 

[centrarchid]

@lightchick
 @hlavalley
Unfortunately, it is not the egg song! This is more like a screechy "craaaaaaaaaaw" and it is every morning when the sun starts to shine. They are quiet the rest of the day. Try as I might, I have not found any one with a similar issue... I wonder if maybe my breeds are particularly noisy? @lazy gardener
 I think you may be right on point. @aart
 an automatic door is a good idea!

Can anyone suggest quieter breeds? If my Dorking & Leghorn keep on (the other two are a lot quieter) I will have to send them to my mom's place. She has a very large backyard that can accommodate noisier hens.

The "craaaaaaaaaaw" is an advertisement that giver is in the market for a boyfriend. Get them one. You can now have them modified for a good price to suppress volume of crowing. Also check with neighbors for their inputs on noise levels.

 

[SunkenRoadFarms]

My leghorns do the same exact thing. If they aren't out of the coop before the sun is up they'll start. I also know it is the egg song (more like the egg yell) for my two top girls. They'll also do it if the favorite nest box is occupied, though I noticed the leghorns have started following my EE's lead of using one of the 8 other boxes. And automatic door combined with not seeing you until later in the morning might help.

 

[Chickychickyegg]

This is not learned behavior, they do that whether they get let out or not. Mine just that blood curdling squawking at 11:30am after being out for 4.5 hrs or so. When I'm home I go out and spray the loud with a spray water bottle, but sometimes that doesn't even work. If it's really bad and I have clothes I can change and the time, I will bring the loud one in or hold them for a minute or so. If I had known they were this loud, I would have NEVER gotten chickens. I NEVER read anything about it before I started looking it up to see what other people were saying. It makes me sad because I don't want to get rid of them but they are so loud and I am not always home to stop them. Not to mention the hundreds of dollars I've spent on lumber and hardware cloth and screws..... I dont know what to do anymore except try to build an insulated nesting box and maybe have 4 walls on an actual coop inside the open air run, because right now it is open air walls because its warm where I live and during storms I put tarps over the side walls

 

[Chickychickyegg]

The mailman is like..... "WTF?!"
https://ring.com/share/6735807956331339908
Turn sound on to hear screaming chicken....if I had known they were this loud, I would have NEVER gotten them

 

[Folly's place]

I don't have anything to add, except some birds just talk more than others. You might want to rehome your loudmouthed individuals, and try for some quieter girls.
I think it's kinda cute!
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

If winter is coming where you live, and windows are shut, at least in the morning, the problem will go away. Soundproofing/ insulating the wall nearest the neighbor's house may help too.
Have you talked to them? maybe they don't mind at all.
I've never tried it, but would playing 'elevator music' quietly in the coop help?
Mary