Screeching hens every morning! How to stop this behavior?

[DeeDee69]

Mine are the same. It is not the egg song, which is pleasant. It is a loud and scratchy "scraaaaawwwww scraaaaawwwww" sound at the crack of dawn every morning.

Something tells me it's my fault because when they were younger I used to let them free range everywhere and gave them treats in the morning and basically they were spoiled. But they made such a mess I had to confine them to a smaller space (not small, just smaller then what they had - ie. the 3 chickens had about 400 square meters, and now they have about 150 square meters!).

They have a plenty of trees and sunshine and a safe coop, plus access to lots of fresh water bowls and high quality food.

They plucked out all of the green grass that was in their area and I know they love eating green grass so that's the only thing they don't get readily any more.

I can only boil it down to having spoiled them and they want what they want, which is access to the entire yard and any grass they can find, or they want me to take treats out. I'm trying not to go to them even though they've woken me up. But it's stressful - like trying the cry-it-out method on a baby - I was never good at that and always caved in!

Anyhow I'm hoping the cry-it-out method will work here to retrain them to understanding they won't get treats or anything good in response to their naughtiness.

The biggest problem is me I think, but I tend to blame myself for everything so I may be misguided. I will persevere and post back here if it works

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome!
Chickens do hate change, so true! You can get them a pile of wood chips, leaves, or hay or straw bales, and let them work through that, now that your grass is gone. They will be occupied spreading this stuff around and improving your soil, or making nice mulch,
good entertainment for them, and good for your chicken area.
Mary

 

[Fluffy_Butt_Hutt]

Mine are the same. It is not the egg song, which is pleasant. It is a loud and scratchy "scraaaaawwwww scraaaaawwwww" sound at the crack of dawn every morning.

Something tells me it's my fault because when they were younger I used to let them free range everywhere and gave them treats in the morning and basically they were spoiled. But they made such a mess I had to confine them to a smaller space (not small, just smaller then what they had - ie. the 3 chickens had about 400 square meters, and now they have about 150 square meters!).

They have a plenty of trees and sunshine and a safe coop, plus access to lots of fresh water bowls and high quality food.

They plucked out all of the green grass that was in their area and I know they love eating green grass so that's the only thing they don't get readily any more.

I can only boil it down to having spoiled them and they want what they want, which is access to the entire yard and any grass they can find, or they want me to take treats out. I'm trying not to go to them even though they've woken me up. But it's stressful - like trying the cry-it-out method on a baby - I was never good at that and always caved in!

Anyhow I'm hoping the cry-it-out method will work here to retrain them to understanding they won't get treats or anything good in response to their naughtiness.

The biggest problem is me I think, but I tend to blame myself for everything so I may be misguided. I will persevere and post back here if it works

If they are laying, that noise might be the girls calling to be escorted. If it is the egg song, the reason they do it is that females make smaller noises to tell a male to escort her to a nest away from a flock. Lets say she takes an hour and the flock has now moved, she needs to loudly call back a male to bring her back to the group. Not all females instinctively know this behavior because they are far removed from being wild flocks by now. Others only start doing it when mimicking others. Also, mine sound like they are dying with their egg calls. It sounds identical to their "there is a predator that wants to eat us" call, which is also a call for protection by typically a rooster. Otherwise, have you considered a possible roo? If it is really the crack of dawn (would be 7:10 in my timezone just about), that must be a boy.

 

[Bawkbok]

Also, mine sound like they are dying with their egg calls. It sounds identical to their "there is a predator that wants to eat us" call, which is also a call for protection by typically a rooster.

That's funny. Our egg songs sound like chickens in distress. Their alarm calls sound very disturbing, like a chicken being brutalized, and once one starts, they all get going and it gets super loud. I suspect all the neighbors don't like it and everyone within a mile radius knows the girls are here, lol. Lately, they have started a new sound that I cannot even describe but it's something I've never heard before - sort of like a creaking door sound that was so loud it was audible in the house. It made me run and look thinking someone was hurt. I have no idea. They keep things interesting for sure.

 

[SourRoses]

Lately, they have started a new sound that I cannot even describe but it's something I've never heard before - sort of like a creaking door sound that was so loud it was audible in the house.

If it's the noise I'm thinking of, like a short sharp AaRee with a nasally hint of whistle (ok I suck at describing sounds, lol)...
It means "eyes on the sky!". Or, "I thought I saw something!"
Every time my chickens do it, the one vocalizing has their head tilted to look at the sky with one eye. The others upon hearing it freeze in place and also look up with one eye. (exception for the old lady)

It could possibly be used for ground predators as well, but I've never heard it used that way. Compared to an actual full alarm call, everyone recovers quickly after a minute and they don't run / hide.
However, if a full alarm is sounded after the AaRee, they take it extra seriously and race for the coop. Or if an innocent human happens to sneeze or drop something. You would think the sky is falling. So that's why I take it as a heightened alertness level. Almost always a hawk. Sometimes a crow, jet, or butterfly.
Chickens in fully enclosed runs probably don't have the threat awareness to take up the more nuanced warnings.

To the main subject, I just wanted to say we cull for whiny hens, and thus have quieter ones. They can go bother someone else. It doesn't help if you are attached, but how can one stay attached to a screecher anyway? Lol