Why are they being so loud???

[kynewbchickie]

I have about 4 out of 10 chicks that are very loud. Two of them are barred Plymouth Rock and red sex link. They almost seem to be communicating with one another because when one does it they all come running.

They could be! "Hey guys, this is cool! Come look!"
Or... "I'm the top of the crop and anyone who wants to challenge it, bring it!"

 

[aggiemae]

Lots of activity here since I last posted...

a few thoughts... I am always amazed at the posts here on BYC about neighbors who don't mind their pets even after being made aware of a problem but just like with wildlife filling any void in the natural order the end result of sss will be another unattended dog replacing the one that disappears....

Chicks start working out the "pecking order" at about 5 weeks...The volume it's minor compared to the ruckus when new hens are added to an existing flock.

Chickens have as many as 30 very distinct vocalizations and are very attuned to their flock mates.

 

[Xovan]

Just an update on mine. I just started taking my older ones outside this week and rained today. Well this evening they had a fit! NOT HAPPY TO STAY INSIDE!!

 

[Garilyn Bardash]

Well, they were S.O.L. for the day. It started to sleet and then snow, so they were stuck inside. They fussed off and on all day long. Turds.

Have you ever thought about growing herbs inside in a window sill? Our dollar store usually carries the long slimmer trays. I can't grow them inside because my cats eat all green things. I've had to pick long cactus thorns out of my cats mouth, stupid cat! I even found a pack of catnip at the dollar store.

 

[DKB70]

I have just 2 babies...they are 5 weeks old. I've noticed a pattern with them. They "chat" quietly most of the time, but in the evening just before bedtime, they get VERY loud. They eventually quiet down and go to sleep and I don't hear them again until morning. Tonight they seemed louder than usual which is why I looked this topic up.

It took them about half an hour to forty-five minutes to quiet down tonight. I'm not sure why they do this, but seems how I have 3 human girls that like to chatter after being put in bed until they fall asleep, I just assumed it was normal.

 

[Triple Willow]

My "babies" are 9 weeks old now. I still haven't heard a crow yet. I'll be glad when they do start. I turned mine out today a couple hours before it started getting dark and sat and watched them. Once the sun went down and it started getting darker (but still not dark) one of the roosters went in their pen and started calling everybody in. Every last one of them went back to the pen and they piled up around him for the night. I have seen that rooster do that before. I have seen him lay down on the ground and start cooing and carrying on and before you know it they all come to him and lay down around him for the night. Even all the other roosters listen to him and follow his lead. They still love to sleep in a big cozy pile.

 

[RoseMarie1]

LOL! This thread was cute, mine are only a week and a half old and when i go to the brooder then walk away there is one that will continue to JUMP to try and get out, I can hear him hitting his body against the brooder container ugh They are already loud, but I figure they can only get louder.

Once I started letting mine out they were VERY LOUD for days when I didn't let them out. I'd get them and take them out to play and they'd hush. I'd open the lid of the brooder box and they would hop up on the side just waiting to go out to play. They couldn't wait until I got them all out. I have 3 cats that LOVE birds so I always had to stay with them when they were in the little make shift fenced in pen I made for them. Anyway I had 15 rir's and I couldn't get them out fast enough. lol NOW they're wanting out of their BIG pen to free range. They LOVED that and some escape when I open the door some times but I can get them back in with food. lol

 

[twincreekfarm1]

I had to move my 9 hens from the smaller brooder to a pair of wardrobe boxes joined together (from my move). Subsequent pen was the size of the double bed I put the box on, of course with everything covered with plastic for the dust.. They were raised with an electric hen (no lights) and thrived. That seemed to make them comfortable. They
were very quiet and content all of the time with two branch perches at different heights.

We had some cold weather here in VA at the end of winter, so I kept them in the guest bedroom until they were 8 weeks old and then transferred them to a large chicken house (12ft X 12ft) deeply bedded, and kept them locked in there for two weeks while I strung the hawk nets over the 1000 sq. foot fenced area for them. Each evening at dusk, I brought them some scratch grains and sprinkled in bedding, so I could teach them to come in the house if the weather was going to be really bad. I rattle the grain tin and they all come running. That way, if we have tornado watches, or whatever, I can get them inside the house by rattling the grain tin ( even before dark). They have feed and water in the house because it is rodent proof.

After two weeks locked in the house, they were turned out on the large pasture covered with hawk net. That was no easy task with the net, but I have 26 acres in a remote area and lots and lots of predators. The day before I finished attaching and tightening the net, we had a possum who came in the pen and got stuck in the loose net. We played hell freeing him, but finally got him back in the woods. I promise he will not be back. I have fox, coyote, and mountain lion. The pasture is double fenced and top is electric. If it doesn't keep the snakes, etc, out, I am going to add electronet. Wild kingdom here, but this farm is so beautiful I am convinced that God either lives here or next door!!

So far, hens are fine all day on hawk-netted pasture and put themselves to bed at dusk. I go out and give them scratch grains, in the bedding, just before dark; fresh water; and make sure the fans are on the right speed. Then I lock them in the sturdy house for the night. I put a beach umbrella in the middle of the netted pasture, a chair for me to read while I sit with them, a kiddie pool with some water in it as I read they like to stand in cool water when it gets really hot and a dust bath in a galvanized tub. Better known as Cluckingham Beach.

All is well. Looking forward to their first eggs!!