thelurch Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 Had our 5 black rhodes since august and all 5 have been laying every day since middle of September, and up till now been very quiet. We have the cube on the outside of the WIR. About 3 weeks ago one hen started making a loud barking noise, hard to describe, not a cockerel noise but a loud "bock bock" interspersed with a much louder sound. We had left the door of the cube shut and they made a fuss to be let out so we used 2 plastic lined picnic blankets to cover the cube. This made no difference so I decided to keep the door open at night, then it was fine for a week, then it started again, about 6.45am! I have tried to leave them them and sometimes it stops after a minute but sometimes it lasts for 10 minutest until I decided to intervene. We can't carry on like this, it's only a matter of time until we get complaints. I wasn't prepared for this type of noise, it's so loud we can hear them in the house 100 ft away with the windows shut. If it doesn't stop then they will have to go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quickcluck Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 Poor you... it's a more common problem than you think, but the mornings are getting darker which will help!!! I've a couple of very noisey ladies, and found distraction was the best cure. I hang up some greens and chuck some corn on the floor before I go to bed which keeps them occupied when they first get up Obviously if it's and alarm call or an egg announcement there's not much you can do, but they are very clever and know that if they holler you'll come charging up there with food!!!! Fingers crossed. K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raina Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 Hi, I've been having the same problem with my hen. Do they sound like Geese? (That's what Orakiah sounds like when she goes off on one) I've tried locking her in the eglu with an old duvet covering it and leaving the door open but nothing seems to work.(Well the only thing that shuts her up is sweetcorn and mealworms ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelurch Posted October 4, 2010 Author Share Posted October 4, 2010 I don't currently give them food to shut them up, might try the hanging of greens but this morning they had leftover corn on cob in the run which they had left over from last night and were still making noise! We usually get 3 eggs before 7am each morning so it may be an egg announcement. Just waiting for the letter from environmental health Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercedes55 Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 Ours are loud occasionally and I can also hear them from my TV room which is at the front of my house, so must be about 100ft at least from where the run is. I doubt very much that the environmental health people would make you get rid of your hens for making a noise. I don't find hens any noisier than dogs, in fact most of the time they are much quieter. If they were being loud in the middle of the night then that would be different, but during the daytime I'm sure it's fine from a legal point of view. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C&T Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 Firstly, I would not recomend "rewarding" them with food if they are being noisy - your problem will get worse! They maybe daft at times, but they ain't that stupid. They will learn that if they shriek, you will bring treats! We find locking them up in their Eglu resolves this issue - normally we have more of an issue come spring, and then the rest of the year is OK for whatever reason. We lock them in at night, and then cover the eglu with something like a plastic backed picnic blanket to keep it darker in the Eglu. At about 7am they are then let out, and for the first half hour/hour they are busy eating and drinking. By now they have often forgotten about any early morning bokking, but if they do decide to have a shriek, it is late enough not to cause too many issues with the neighbours! Good news is (as someone else said) the mornings are getting darker, and you won't have an issue for long! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelurch Posted October 5, 2010 Author Share Posted October 5, 2010 Well it's 7.15am and yet again the top hen has been noisy since 6.30am. It was dark for goodness sake! We made a decision last night that if there was early noise this morning we would ignore it to try and break the habit. We could only last for 15 minutes before OH went up there and had to physically lift her off the top perch. It's only one hen, I'm getting to the end of my tether as I've tried everything. I appreciate that the mornings are getting darker but this morning she doing it in the dark! Covering cube doesn't work, if I lock them in the cube then this hen makes a fuss at exactly the same time. It makes no difference so the only option I have is to get rid of the hens, my OH wasn't really up for them in the first place and I talked her round mainly by the fact that hens are generally quiet, which they had been. I could dispatch this noisy hen but there's no guarantee that another won't take her place so getting rid seems my only solution. It's just too stressful and not what I was expecting when only having hens and no cockerels. If they do go then the 140 eggs or so we have had will have been the most expensive eggs ever. My advice to anyone thinking of getting hens for the back garden is, if you have neighbours and don't want the posibility of extremely loud noise before 7am then think again, I know I would and wouldn't have spent all that money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 I would urge you not to make a decision before the clocks change. Might sound daft, but the shorter days really will make a difference to this problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenlegs Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 Hi, have you tried squirting her with a water pistol, sounds and might I add, looks a bit daft but its worth a try. I think from reading through the posts on here you will find that it often the chicken owners rather than their neighbours that worry about noise and if you haven't had a complaint as yet, maybe you won't. Regards Theresa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chick wiggle Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 Aww dont give up yet. Mine started squarking early in the mornings, and, i hope im not gonna offend anyone here, but as soon as i could struggle out of bed, i went down to the run armed with a childs huge super soaker water pistol and shot the little blighters! The shock of the water hitting them soon shut them up. After a couple of times doing this, they soon came to recognise the pistol and started shutting up as soon as they saw it. I still squirted them though and now, it is very unusual for them to be noisy in the mornings at all. They dont get any treats in the morning at all, only in the afternoon, so dont be tempted by their clever whining and puppy dog eyes Worth a try maybe anyway. Good luck, let us know how you get on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelurch Posted October 5, 2010 Author Share Posted October 5, 2010 Thanks, I'm sure I won't do anything drastic, just felt a bit down this morning after yet another early racket, The water spray is a good idea, we used it when we had a feather pecker and everytime we saw a vicious peck, we squished the hen and now it's stopped, same hen by the way so maybe I'll try that tomorrow morning and see. I doubt I will give up ( unless I'm made to that is ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 As others have said, you will probably find that your neighbours are not as bothered as you think. All through the summer mine were up and bokking loudly at 4.30am I felt really bad about this and asked the neighbours if it was bothering them. One neighbour said they hadn't even heard it, and the other said she wasn't at all bothered by the noise. So don't stress too much about it yet...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milly3 Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 i've had the same problem, but now it's darker in the morning they start about 7am. i get up and run down the garden in my pjs ,so not to disturb the neighbours. When they was doing it in the summer about 4.30 am i did ask my neighbours if they could hear them but they said they said they couldn't. I think it's an attention seeking thing,i did the same leaving they're door open at night. But now thy're wanting to get out into their run. But i wouldn't be without them . bless em!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelurch Posted October 5, 2010 Author Share Posted October 5, 2010 i've had the same problem, but now it's darker in the morning they start about 7am. i get up and run down the garden in my pjs ,so not to disturb the neighbours. When they was doing it in the summer about 4.30 am i did ask my neighbours if they could hear them but they said they said they couldn't.I think it's an attention seeking thing,i did the same leaving they're door open at night. But now thy're wanting to get out into their run. But i wouldn't be without them . bless em!! Yes 7am is the normal time at the moment, I shudder at the thought of this happening at 4.30am in the summer! I stupidly thought that unless you get cockerels then you don't get the early wake up call but how wrong I was! Thanks for all your comments though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 I shudder at the thought of this happening at 4.30am in the summer! Oopps, perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelurch Posted October 7, 2010 Author Share Posted October 7, 2010 Well, quick update, I decided to make the cover for the cube better and darker and locked them in. Yesterday and this morning, no noise so I went up at about 7.30am to open the cube door and they lept out and started feeding etc. I opened the egg door and there were 3 eggs in there already as they have always laid early. There was also an egg sitting on the roosting bars so I reached through and picked it up, and it had a small hole pecked in it, not soft at all, we've used it and it was fine. Today there was another egg on the bars but was intact. So things are quiet in the mornings at the moment which is good, I think I will keep things as they are until it's very dark until at least 7.30am, then hopefully I won't need the cover till the spring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicken bark Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Really pleased you have found a solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 I am glad things are getting better, but I do think one can't worry too much about a bit of noise. So many of us live close to others now that 'live and let live' just has to be the order of the day. Think of the noise the bin men make early in the morning (and ours are very early). Chickens have to be nicer than that You might be surprised, some people might even like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jinty1911 Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 We have had the same problem. They were quiet for the first week or two and then they started making a racket to get out of house in the morning and now they shout to get out of the run. Usually the only one to sing the egg song is Cilla. This morning she went into nest box without a peep and the other 2 started to sing the Egg song for her What a racket. OH went out and I heard him saying shhhhh girls shhhhhh. Ha ha it worked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daviechook Posted July 28, 2021 Share Posted July 28, 2021 We have five ladies one makes the loudest noise in the morning, a friend whom has been around poultry his whole life has explained that in the absence of a cockerel the chickens established a pecking order. The head chicken will therefore try and crow in the morning and maybe through the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
