Wanted Please - Harrogate / York / Leeds area

[Egluntyne]

I can't quite get my head around the blackout idea. I leave the door open on the eglu in the summer so I can't see that blacking out the eglu itself would help, so I'd have to do the run too, but then I'm worried re: ventilation.

 

Can anyone provide pictures of their blackout solution please?

 

Thread **here**, no pics though.

[chelsea]

There is quite a bit of advice on this forum and elsewhere about ways of darkening the Cube/Eglu and quietening the hens until a reasonable hour. Black out curtaining being the most favoured method. Why not give that a try?

 

I agree.

 

I have very noisy hens and you really need to show them who is boss! Shutting the door is the only solution. I cover my cube with a black plastic backed picnic rug so it covers the ventilation holes across the top of the back but not the ones on the front. This darkens the cube and they wont wake up so early. Your hens are only doing it for attention, and they know by making the noise you will act upon it. Shutting them in and letting them out at a sensible hour (when they can make noise) will relieve your stress and worry. I really used to worry lots about the noise my lot made but OH said I was paranoid as outside the garden fence it wasn't that audible.

 

Take charge and put your foot down.

[Shelley]

Just been through all the replies, and thanks for the encouragement. But a point is being missed. The reason I, and presumably my neighbours, hear the chickens is because at 6am in the morning it is still incredibly quiet. The fact it's disturbing my sleep means it must be disturbing those who are closest to me. And unlike others on here I do care what my neighbours think. Do to others as you'd have done to you. But I'll persevere and start by shutting them in the cube overnight - though I know they'll squawk even louder to be let out. Glass half empty at the moment I'm afraid

[johnandkymberley]

Hi shelley, i care enormously about my neighbours thankyou!

 

Cant you leave the door open? is the run secure? then you will eliminate any noise or attention seeking?

[Roobaloo]

The reason I, and presumably my neighbours, hear the chickens is because at 6am in the morning it is still incredibly quiet. The fact it's disturbing my sleep means it must be disturbing those who are closest to me.

 

Not necessarily.

 

You may hear it because you're tuned into it...just as a Mother can hear her baby cry yet sleep with low flying aircraft.

We all tune into certain noises...as a chicken owner, a loud squawk could indicate a problem such as a visit from Mr. Fox...

[Lydia]

Hello

 

I do sympathise as I also care what my neighbours think (and, to be fair, I think most others on here are sensitive to that too). I think, however, that I am probably more sensitive to my chicken's noise than my neighbours are. I have asked them and they say that they do hear them but that it's not that loud for them.

 

I agree with Chelsea (and others) that you have to shut the door and you have to use a blackout curtain. They may squawk at first because that is what they are used to doing. However, if most of the light is blocked out they won't know it's morning until you say so.

 

My cube is outside my run and we cover it each night with a massive tent-like thing that hubby cobbled together from 2 blackout curtains so that we can drape it over without completely covering the airholes. Admittedly, it's not pretty but it works - before the curtain there was noise at 5.30 am, after the curtain there is no noise (bar the one-off, odd early egg announcement) until we let them out at about 7am.

 

I'll take a picture tonight and post it tomorrow so you and others can see our set up.

[johnandkymberley]

The reason I, and presumably my neighbours, hear the chickens is because at 6am in the morning it is still incredibly quiet. The fact it's disturbing my sleep means it must be disturbing those who are closest to me.

 

Not necessarily.

 

You may hear it because you're tuned into it...just as a Mother can hear her baby cry yet sleep with low flying aircraft.

We all tune into certain noises...as a chicken owner, a loud squawk could indicate a problem such as a visit from Mr. Fox...

 

 

Very very true!

[Bertrum]

The reason I, and presumably my neighbours, hear the chickens is because at 6am in the morning it is still incredibly quiet.

 

Shelley, I'm sure you hear it much more than your neighbours do. You say 'presumably my neighbours' which tells me they have not mentioned this to you.

When we got ours, Ariadne did not like me at all and she would shout loudly when ever I went near, including at 06:30 when I let her out of the Eglu each morning. We were terrified that we would get complaints. When we approached the neighbours about it, they hadn't heard a thing.

 

So shut them in until you are ready to get them up, they may shout, but eventually they will give up once they realise it gets them no where. Certainly never give them treats when they shout or they will think shouting is good. I'm sure they will learn, and I'm also sure that they are not anywhere near as loud as they seem to you.

[the bradley bunch]

Shelley - i do understand exactly where you're coming from as i too experienced the same paranoia in the first few days we had our girls, and i am again now as we're preparing to rescue another 2 girls to add to our family. but one set of neighbours constantly reassures me that they never hear the girls over their squabbling children! (who bty are smitten with the hens and come round to 'play' with them everyday after school), and the other set said they loved the soothing sound of the hens sweetly clucking to one another whilst fr. and soon enough the whole street inc. people we didn't even know where popping round to have a goosy at the girls and they're very well loved by everyone and are the pride of our road! i only hope the new additions are taken too as fondly by everyone

 

it's possible as Roobaloo suggested that the girls could be waking you up because you're so aware of them being there and so stressed about the noise, and it might not even be bothering your neighbours. you really need to talk to them and ask them if it's disturbing them, it will most likely put your mind at rest and they will also recognise and appreciate your consideration towards them and in turn will reward you by being more understanding if the noise does become noticable. then once you're feeling more relaxed about it you'll probably sleep right through any noise just as your neighbours probably are doing right now.

 

if your neighbours do say it's disturbing them let them know that you are trying to get it under control (use the black out trick by shutting the eglu door at night - having access to the run means in the morning the girls are likely to make more noise because 'sky' predators will be visible to them. also try hanging food/toys/mirrors up in the run to keep them entertained & distracted). hopefully your neighbour will sympathise and be patient but if nothing does the trick and the noise is becoming a genuine problem then you'll have to decide whether to keep the girls or not. but let it be your decision and not your neighbours. if having the hens is making you unhappy then it seems better to re-home them, but if you'd rather not face giving them up then don't feel guilty or selfish for keeping them. your clearly a very good person, but you have to think whether your neighbour would give up their pet for you if it was causing you a disturbance (i.e. their dog barking), or if they'd even consider your feelings at all. you'll know the right thing to do if it comes to it, but do the right thing for you & your girls and not for anyone else

 

good luck with it all x *fingers crossed for you*

[francesca88]

Sometimes if they're being noisy I pour a bucket of water in their WIR and they play quietly in the mud for ages.

Good Luck.

 

That really made me laugh!! I'm just picturing them stamping their feet in a big muddy puddle

[Olly]

Some good advice on here. Can I just say that it's just after 7.00 pm and right now I can hear traffic outside (I live on a busy road), a dog barking up the road, someone's car alarm going off, and my next-door neighbour shouting at his wife - oh, and their baby has just started crying, not surprisingly. What I can't hear are my chickens.

 

My hens DO make a noise in the morning when they hear me open the back door, but it's no worse than a flock of geese going overhead or a seagull screaming or similar. I am at work all day, and so I don't know if they are noisy during the day, but weekend experience suggests not - they will kick up a fuss in the hope that I will come and feed them, but if I ignore them it goes quiet. I strongly suggest that as well as the blackout solutions etc to make the mornings easier, you let them get used to seeing you in the garden and NOT rushing up to hush them, distract them etc. If I get on with gardening tasks and take no notice, they shut up and settle down, and unfortunately in trying to quieten them it's possible to just train them that noise=attention.

 

I'm sorry you feel so uncomfortable about the noise but hundreds of us would concur that chickens and suburbia are actually pretty well suited. PS I love the 'mud puddle' idea - must try that one!

[Tutti Frutti]

RESULT!!!!!!!!! After being hideously embarrassed, paranoid and worried this week by Angelina shouting her head off for over an hour in the mornings... I've just handed my next-door and next-door-but-one neighbours a box of eggs each and they BOTH said, "You have chickens? I never knew!"

 

So I agree with the others, I think we are so highly tuned into their noise that it sounds worse to us than it does to our neighbours. Try to enjoy them - whilst shutting them in and covering them up in the early mornings

 

PHEW! YAY!!! I'm so pleased

[johnandkymberley]

lol, Hazel makes a hell of a lot of noise, but when we tell her to be quite she does! She started crowing really early the other morning, after work i went round with some eggs and the man who lives next door earlier but his wife didnt! I also agree with Olly, next door (we only have one set of neighbours) they have a border collie and he has woke us up for the last 3 years, so im sure one morning they can live with, not only that but animals are animals, they do crow just like dogs bark and cats meow! i dont think you have posted your comments on the appropriate forum! (i may speak for myself on this, probably a few other too! ) but WE ALL LOVE CHICKENS ON HERE!!!!

[Plum]

Don't know if it helps Shelley but when mine went through a noisy phase I gave them porridge (warm, wet pellets) just before they went to bed and it worked a treat they stayed calm longer in the morning.

[MedusA]

I admit my girls are noisy at times (egg-laying announcements mainly) and I still do worry sometimes, but I've found that most of the neighbours who comment, do so in a positive light. I live in a suburb of Birmingham and there are at least 3 of us in my street who keep chickens, so if I do hear noise now, I'm not even sure it's my girls making it.

 

In fact my next-door-neighbours on one side are a young Polish couple and they told me that they love to wake up to chicken sounds as it reminds them of their village in Poland.

 

There are certainly much worse ways to break the silence. We regularly get foxes screeching, dogs barking, loud drunks, emergency service sirens, overhead aeroplanes, cars and motorbikes at all hours, so I don't feel nearly as guilty as I used to.

[Gelbel]

Well Madge started her guinea pig noises at 5am today. Very unusual for her. We have an old mill next to us and people have taken to walking their dogs in the land. I won't even tell you about the lad who was brought a mini motor bike at Christmas. This is private land but people don't care. And there is a perfectly good park 200yds away. Someone (and I know who) was there at 5am with their dog and the presence of the dog was upsetting Madge. So I did not go out - I let her get on with it.

 

If anyone complains I will tell them to go to #1 and ask why they feel the need to trespass to walk their dog, to call the bus company to ask the buses to take notice of the "turn your engine off when idling here" signs and to call the council to ask what time the bin men should start - 6:15 today at the bottom of our cul-de-sac emptying bins not at the top of the road ready to start at 7am as they should be.

 

It's rare my girls start early - and 9 times out of 10 it's a warning. The other 1 out of 10 is Murphy's law saying that we only get the pre 8am egg announcement on a Sunday.

 

I disagree with the original poster that chooks are not good in towns and cities - IMHO they are much better than cats and dogs - not much noise, do not trespass on other people's gardens and only poop where they are meant to (says she who found a cat 'present' on the garden path last weekend).

[the-real-tinkerbell]

i was really worried about about this when i moved house as where i lived before the people next door were deaf .

but my new house i only have one person next to me and the other side is waste land . i have my WIR placed as far from next door as i can . i went round when i first moved and apoligised as they were not happy about moving house and shouted very loudly all day long lol but to my pleasure the woman was really excited about them and said that she had seen the coop when i first moved them and thought they were fab .so i really was worrying about nothing .

 

i went round with 12 eggs to keep her sweet and came home with a bottle of wine

 

chicken do have a place in th suburban garden and they will always have a place in my garden and my heart .

 

i live right near east midlands airport and have planes going over all day and night ,dogs barking kids shouting car radios blaring and the bus coming up and down the road :- welcome to surburban life

[Lydia]

As promised here's a couple of photos of "The Tent".

 

 

 

It's basically 2 blackout curtains stitched together lengthways with some of those bungee hook things you get from Omlet (the ones one the shades) at each corner. The hooks enable us to pull the curtain away from the airholes at the side and the back and attach it to the side of the run (and garden chairs the other side!) which helps maintain the airflow for the chickens.

 

The bump at the top is an upturned bucket that hubby insists on using for extra airflow.

 

The holes at the front are not covered at all. We always shut the door.

 

I was dubious that this would work at first but it really does do the trick. We start using it around May time when the mornings start getting really light and put it away around late September/October when they darken again.

 

If it gets rained on I simply hook it on to the washing line for a bit.

[EmmaJC]

Thank you very much for the pictures of "The Tent", I've got a load of black out fabric already so I'll experiment tonight.

[chelsea]

And unlike others on here I do care what my neighbours think. Do to others as you'd have done to you. But I'll persevere and start by shutting them in the cube overnight - though I know they'll squawk even louder to be let out.

 

I do care about my neighbours which is why some mornings in the summer a year or so back I was poking my head out my back bedroom window at 5am thinking I could hear chickens bokking. I am very paranoid they make noise even to the point of dreaming about it! And the poster who replied that you are tuned into their noise is right - even when they aren't making noise you think you can hear it.

 

Shut the door and stick to a routine - let them out at the same time every day, your chickens will soon get used to this routine and I am sure if you give it time and patience you can relax and not worry.

[batcatz]

Hi Shelley, I was worried about noise at first as I live in a mid terraced house with houses overlooking the back of my garden too. The chickens are in the middle of the 60ft long garden, but will be nearer the back door soon. They are loud when doing the egg song, but the normal bok bokking noises or whining when I walk past their run are pretty quiet. They started at 8.30am today and are still going. It makes me cringe sometimes when it goes on for so long, but I have never heard them at 6am! Are yours shouting for treats or attention? If so, never go out to them with treats to shut them up as this will reinforce the shouting. Covering them up will definately fix the problem.

 

Luckily, I have good neighbours and when I asked a few if they found the chickens noisy. One said she loved hearing them as it's a natural sound, unlike dogs barking, cars revving their engines and people playing loud music in their gardens. I also asked another neighbour who also liked the noises and she now buys the eggs. haha. My next door neighbour thought chickens were cool. I once spotted a neighbour looking out of his bedroom window cracking up at my chickens running about in the garden. I was soooo embarrassed.

 

So, don't worry too much, and do ask your neighbours what they think. They might enjoy the country sounds. I hope you are able to enjoy your chickens soon. I think you will be surprised what your neighbours say.

[sage]

Hi all

I must be lucky I hardly every hear my girls the odd egg announcement. The run is about 2 feet from the side of the house. I leave the cube open so they are in the run by the time I get up. I live in a modern semi on an estate. At the weekends most of the neighbours are out in the gardens with the kids shouting music playing I would love them to be a bit more quiet but at times but it isn’t going to happen. Only my next-door neighbour knows I've had the girls for 9 weeks.

Live & let live

As I write this I can hear a mother screaming at the kids to behave, dog barking, traffic, aircraft and a siren.

I can understand where your coming from I was very concerened of the neighbours and upsetting them, but it didn't happen.

 

Sage

[patsylabrador]

When I was reading up about keeping chickens I saw the phrase, 'keeping chickens is easy', and it can be, but it's not simple or straightforward. There's lots to consider to try to get it right and then it becomes easier. We're pootling along at the moment, but I haven't had to face any health issues yet, like sour crop or mites or hens being egg bound. I'm nervous about things like that. Although I knew chickens make noise I was unprepared for the variety of noises they make. There's lots of good advice on here which I read a lot to try and keep one step ahead.

How long have you had your chickens Shelley?

[kevf1]

Just been through all the replies, and thanks for the encouragement. But a point is being missed. The reason I, and presumably my neighbours, hear the chickens is because at 6am in the morning it is still incredibly quiet. The fact it's disturbing my sleep means it must be disturbing those who are closest to me. And unlike others on here I do care what my neighbours think. Do to others as you'd have done to you. But I'll persevere and start by shutting them in the cube overnight - though I know they'll squawk even louder to be let out. Glass half empty at the moment I'm afraid

 

 

thast a bit unfair on accusing people don';t care about their neighbours.. i talked to mine when i got them and have dropped eggs off.. have any complained? have you tlaked to them about whether or not the hear them at that time... don't just assume... one neigbhour said did you get an egg yesterday i said yes they said we heard it and laughed...

[sadietoo]

I too have been quite worried in the past about the amount of noise my two make because they are protesting about being in the run and want to be let out to free-range. i also have to concede that it is fairly quiet in our road, so there's not a lot of extraneous noise, although our nearest neighbours do have a dog (but its never allowed to bark for any length of time), and our other neighbour has a parrot which is audible occasionally in our garden. However, as everyone else says once you tune in to the other noises that are around you realise that even quiet isn't that quiet. There are doors slamming and seagulls whirling overhead, lawn mowing, engine tinkering, etc. The main objective I have is to keep the girls quiet until about 7.00 am which is more than you can say for the wildlife. For the last couple of weeks I have been woken up every morning by a couple of very territorial blackbirds, one in the front garden and one in the back garden, and they don't give up all day long. Even though I'm vegetarian and a confirmed animal lover it has forced me to take out a contract on them with the cat...not that he's done anything about the hit - he just stretches out under the tree and makes them shout even more!