Noisy chickens

[BoneDoctor]

I am thinking about getting some chickens but as I live in a very residential area I was a bit worried about the noise. I don't want the neighbours coming round complaining that they are woken at sunrise by my noisy chickens!!
How much noise do they make and are there any quieter breeds to consider perhaps?

Thanks

BD

[Sunbeam]

Just as I read this I can hear one of my girls giving it her loudest & proudest!! She has obviously just laid an egg! They don't tend to be too noisy unless they have just laid, or are warning the others about our cat - we only have 5 and they are peaceful and spend the day scratching around the garden - if you have moss in your lawn they are excellent as they scratch it all out! I would probably stay away from a cockeral, unless you want babes, as they can be noisy - we hear the one from down the road & he is at least a mile away!

[cotton54321]

Hi BoneDoctor

We have only had our chickens for a week (in an eglu) and they make very little noise. I have been in the garden with them most of the time and you hardly know they are there. It tends to be the cockrel who makes the most noise hence we got 3 hens. If you wanted a cockrel you would have to check if that was allowed especially in a residential area.
I don't know how confident you are in handling chickens but I was rather nervous and the 2 bantams we chose are definitely the easiest to handle.
We chose an australorp bantam and a wyandotte bantam.
They lay about 200 eggs each a year. If you want any more advice you are welcome to PM me but I would advise looking at poultrychat.com as they have helped me no end over the last couple of weeks.
I have to say it has been the best decision ever and they are great additions to our household!
I've attached photos (australorp bantam is black, wyandotte partridge colour)

Mel x

[Sunbeam]

Have you considered Battery Rescue chickens?? Contact the Battery Hen Welfare Trust - www.thehenshouse.co.uk -

[Alice]

Hello Bonedoctor, Noise is a very subjective thing. What one person thinks is the delightful sound of a proud hen might drive another crazy. We rented a farmhous in Brittany for the spring last year and had chickens at the bottom of the garden. I loved to lie in my bath in the morning and listen to the cockerel crowing and the hens making their proud announcement of new eggs but not sure if everybody would feel the same way. If you live in a very built up area I would think twice or you could have the neighbours at the door.

[poultrychat]

Why not chat with your neighbours and tell them what you're hoping to do I would add though that they are quieter than dogs!

[Loz]

Silkie hens are fairly quiet (although there is always an exception). Polands are by comparison quite noisy.

I would speak to my neighbours first, you never know , they may suprise you!
Loz

[Squirrel]

If you listen to a hen that has just laid an egg it sounds as though she is singing 'big egg, big big egg! Enjoy!

[Alice]

I think it sounds more like chook chook, chook chook, chook chook, chooook - BIG EGG! But maybe it varies between breeds and around the country.

[Peter]

Research has found that many wild birds show regional variations in their songs, so why not chickens.

[Alice]

That's right Peter. you maybe need a good ear to hear the diferences but the ones I can tell with are black birds. I can recognise individual birds by their song and can spot "incomers" with songs not usual to this area.

[Lottie]

I have hybrids and Pekin bantams - the hybrids are really quiet but the bantams are so noisy - they do shut up when I tell them to be quiet though! They just shriek as they think that if they keep it up loud enough and long enough I will give them a treat I think.

I adopted them, they are gorgeous, but am trying to retrain them and ignore them if they shriek and just tell them to be quiet, or shush shush them.

I try to only go into their pen when they are quiet.

It seems to working.

I do agree wholeheartedly with having a friendly chat with neighbours first though. It can save a lot of heartache if get them and have to part with them

[CountryFayre]

Hens in themselves as already said are not too bad. I really would advise against a cockerel though. Unless you are intending to breed, there is no real need to have one what so ever.

[chickenmama1]

OK, I have found three solutions to noisy hens. They vary in degree of kindness..don't worry, it is not what you think, I am a vegetarian! My hens quiet down when I place a chair in their open range and just sit and talk to them. If you have the time, it is quite nice to do. I have also had success with a radio tuned to music, not talk. The type of music doesn't seem to matter. The next may seem cruel. I stumbled upon this solution when a group of piping plovers found their way into my neighborhood after the 4th of July. They made quite a racket. Their call sounded hawk-like. My chickens were silent for the 4 days that they were in the neighborhood. I went online, got a sound clip of a hawk, loaded it on itunes and play it on a repeating reel (it is only a few seconds long). It seems to do the trick in the most EXTREME situations. Don't judge. I live in a tight neighborhood where chickens are illegal to own. I understand that anxious chickens are not happy chickens. We have ospreys overhead constantly, which don't seem to faze the girls. If you are desperate, try it, using it sparingly.

[its hilly]

If you are in a residential area don't have a cockeral unless you want trouble from your neighbours..or are prepared to lock him in a soundproof box at night...days too if someone nearby works nights.
Most people I know will forgive the hens 'it's an egg' shout, after all it it will only happen once a day for each hen. Also bribery with eggs every so often helps
As to quiet breeds, well personally (sp) I think it varies from bird to bird. I've got two silkie cocks..1 quiet, 1 noisy. Three wyandotte (1 gold 2 barred) the gold is the noisiest bird I've got, the 2 barred are probably the quietest. But I would say that those two breeds are the quietest breeds I have henwise, along with my orpingtons.
Good luck