Single hen

[rachelg]

I wonder if anyone can help, for the last couple of days our chicken, Ella has started to squark very very loudly like a goose. In fact my husband and I looked around for the goose yesterday before realising it was Ella. This morning at about 6.30am I was woken by what sounded like a flock of geese only to find it was Ella!

 

We have had our chickens since October and have not heard this noise before, does anyone know what the noise might mean! I wondered if it had to do with the increase in temperature and the sun rising earlier!

 

Ta

 

Rachel

 

 

-Sam

- Ella

[Egluntyne]

Welcome to the forum.

 

She could be greeting the dawn, shouting an alert if there is a fox in the vicinity, or announcing that she has laid an egg!

Edited March 1, 2009 by Guest

[Plum]

Naughty Ella

One of mine has just started being noisy at 7am so not quite as bad as yours at 6.30 Like yours its a really squarky noise. Sorry Egluntine its none of those but 'get out of bed and get me up, give me food and water' noise.

 

I don't know whether to let her out early or try and ignore it at the risk of upsetting the neighbours. I'm reluctant to respond because then she'll know that if she makes that noise I'll let her out. I think she's been reading my book - 'how to train your human'.

At work tomorrow so will try and let them out before it begins.

[rachelg]

Thank you Egletine and Plum for the responses. We had thought about foxes but think our two stone cat Mojo will scare off any fox, and he is very protective of his chickens!

 

 

I wll definately take the training your human book away from Sam and Ella and will try and take the power back, but like you Plum, I am not wanting to annoy the neighbours any more than we already have - living in a new build house, with very close neighbours, and trying to be Barbara and Tom from the good life has already made us quite unpopular already!

 

Plum, keep me posted if you have any success in keeping your chicken quiet and I will let you know if i discover a miracle!

 

rachel

[Plum]

Ok see what happens tomorrow but they have been out in the garden all day so will be even more keen to get up tomorrow.

[chocchick]

Did they have lots of food? My noisy chicken is noisier if food is very low at 7 in the morning. Imagine a sleepy chocchick in a mauve dressing gown stumbling out to a food bin saying shush! (she does shush for a few seconds).

I have found that my Rhode Island Red is a lot noisier than the other 5 I've had and is a bad influence. They're all noisier if they see me watching them. If you let them out then they get excited and noisy too. On work days I'm disciplined and ignore Megan going at me through the window when I get my weetabix.

[Plum]

I let them up at about 7 this morning and they were talking normally but I think you are right Chocchick they will be hungry after a long night. Mine always head straight for the food, a bit like me

How were your girls Rachel?

[rachelg]

ha, ha think you might both be right! The food was a little low! they seem to have been a little quieter over the past few day, but that is probably because they are sulking - having had free run of the garden, my husband has now decided that they need their own section so as not to ruin all the veg!! they do not seem very impressed.

 

Another thing, the eggs are getting bigger which I am putting down to the weather getting warmer, and that might explain the extra noise as well!

[rachelg]

ha, ha think you might both be right! The food was a little low! they seem to have been a little quieter over the past few day, but that is probably because they are sulking - having had free run of the garden, my husband has now decided that they need their own section so as not to ruin all the veg!! they do not seem very impressed.

 

Another thing, the eggs are getting bigger which I am putting down to the weather getting warmer, and that might explain the extra noise as well!

 

How are yours Plum, any quieter??

[Plum]

Well today I was late again and I heard them while I was getting ready but it didn't sound too bad. It was 7.30 when I went down they were ok then. I think it sounded worse before because I was in bed so it sounded magnified and menacing, serve me right for trying to lie in.

 

Yes I reckon eggs getting bigger would make me holler. Pigeon laid an 84g one on Sunday, ouch.