We have 4 RIRs and one of them, Anne Bolynne (she had no neck feathers when we got her) squawks constantly. Not the quiet clucking of the other chickens, loud obnoxious squawks. Every morning at 6 AM she starts and doesn't let up until she goes to bed for the night. This wouldn't be a problem if we lived in the country but our neighbors are not happy. I am thinking about getting rid of her, either through craigs list or through a stock pot but wanted to make sure there is nothing I can do to discourage it as she is our best egg layer. If I do get rid of her I am thinking about getting 2 Barred Rocks as a replacement and wanted to see if anyone had anything I should know before I do this. I already read about how to add new chickens to the flock but any super helpful hints would be great. Thanks so much for the help!
I have this hen that squawks (honks) non-stop. I originally named her after my fiance's ex, but quite by accident. I just looked at her one day and decided her name was Fatty Patty. My fiance' got tired of hearing her name all the time and insisted I change it; so now she's Jezebel. I've found that if I talk to her alot she quiets down. If I ignore her, she gets in my face and squawks louder. I love my Jezzie and could never get rid of her, but I live in the country. If I lived in town and had close neighbors to worry about I think I'd be inclined to re-home that one chicken rather than risk having all my chickens get a bad rep. with neighbors. I'm sorry I don't know of anything you can do to quiet her. Hopefully others will chime in with a better solution for you.
I live int he city and I have 2 squackers also.... They are VERY social and want humans around ALL the time. When they get bored the squack.... If we walk by them to bring the dogs out and do not spend anytime in their coop they will squack...if we ignore them they get LOUDER! just as yurs do. If they want us to get our butts out of the house and come 'play with them' or toss them treats they squack. The ONLY way to stop them is if they had a huge grassy entertaining space to forage and never get bored in (which is not possible in the city) so I just chop up a miriad of treats: bread/banana/cantelope/thawed frozen strawberries/peas/bird seeds and then toss them all over their coop and outdoor pen hoping that it will take them a while to pick up every little piece and then need a nap or at least be too full to complain about anything! good luck.... e
I hooked up some yarn with a clothes pin on the end hanging in the middle of their run (it has a fenced top) To which I will attach treats so that they have to jump for. Maybe this is one thing that would keep your girl entertained? Thankfully mine are pretty quite but we will see how the new babies are once I move them out to the coop.
I know I'm a little late to this chat but i hope this will help others: I built the chicken playhouse design for four hens in the backyard and had a squawking problem. They would start up as soon as the sun came up and it in the Pacific Northwest in the summer that's about 5:00. I solved that problem by blacking out the window and closing the door to the coop box. Now I let them out around 8 a.m. with no problem. Still sometimes they let loose around 9 or so when one or the other would start laying. One chicken seemed to get the others going, so when she starts up I bring her inside to the spare shower and put her in a nesting box until about 10:30. Then I put her out. This might not work for everyone, but maybe if you can isolate the ringleader, the rest of the gang might settle down.
