Single hen

[dancing cloud]

Mine can be noisy little madams, especially when they are awake and want to be let out. I doubt that anyone but me will hear them, as I am listening for it, but I make sure I get up early so they can't become a nuisance. Once they are up, they are generaly quiet unless something spooks them and their alarm call is VERY loud

 

The only other time they really bawk, bawk is when they hear my car backing onto the drive. "You're home, yippee, let us out to play in the garden, give us treats" . No different than a dog greeting its owner really.

 

Yesterday they were quiet as mice in the garden and were surrounded by lawnmowers, power tools, screaming children, barking dogs, singing adults , someone fixing a motorbike, someone's tv or radio. I think maybe I worry too much ...

[chickenanne]

Mine are pretty noisy - whenever anyone is outside they do demand to be let out the run. Even if it's the postman etc! And they announce their eggs. The rest of the time they aren't that bad.

My nearest neighbour is about a mile away, so its not an issue, but if I did have neighbours at a more normal distance then I'm not sure that I would be able to keep them in fairness.

[cathybc]

I only tend to notice mine making noise when everything else is quiet eg 7am on a Sunday morning.

 

But as others have said, they are less noisy than a lot of other everyday noises and the thing I try and take comfort from is that I certainly don't think they are loud enough to actually wake anybody up.

[carrie]

mine are very quiet, at 11 and 13 weeks they cheep a bit when you pick them up. The pigeons in the garden coo much louder and a neighbours aviary containing parakeets and other very noisy things screech incredibly loudly starting very early and continue all day. I don't think my girls could ever be as noisy!

[pinkytinsel]

Hi - my 4 were incredibly noisy and have literally ruined mine and my neighbours sleep for the whole summer. It got so bad that I had a complaint from my neighbours and the threat of Environmental Health. I had to rehome them in the end. They didn't just bok but squawked at the top of their voices from 5.30am until 7.30am. I realise that cars, aeroplanes and children can also be noisy but there's something about that squawking that really grates on you and it's not a natural noise to be heard in a built up area.

 

I loved my hens but since they have gone I've appreciated the quiet in the mornings and I also don't need to tip toe round the house anymore and can keep my bedroom windows open.

 

Would I have hens again? Maybe but only if I move to the countryside with no immediate neighbours. For me - hens in the back garden did not work.

[mountainboarddude]

my hens have phases of constant squaking on and off for a good few hours, most of the time they just want food, but they do wake me up at 7-8 each day

[Helen&Lee]

I too could do with a catagory somewhere in between the top two choices.

 

I am actually getting to the point where I think I may have to rehome my Black Brahma.

 

She doesn't 'bok bok' she just moans - a kind of constant drone from the moment they are up. I leave the cube door open - I tried shutting them in and covering it make it darker - you should have heard the racket at 5.10am the next morning, I nearly broke my neck stumbling down the stairs in my 'just woken out of a deep sleep mode'

 

The only respite is when she is broody - and she has managed that quite well since March. She is actually a lovely broody, never pecks or 'growls' when taking the eggs out of the nesting box.

 

So, at the moment I am trying to 'tame' her, every time I go out I make a beeline for her and make her crouch to be submissive to me - she doesn't like it but it does seem to shut her up.

 

Also I'm hoping the darker mornings might make life more bearable, I live out in the sticks, a little hamlet of about 16 houses, no-one has complained to me yet...