Smart Feeder - Light sensor values

[Donna C]

Hi all,

 

Please can someone help/advise me. i had batts, they died and hubby said no more . Then we were adviced to get orpingtons. So i have two lovely orps in a 6x9 wir. However, they are always broody so in and out of broody cage and hardly ever lay. These things i can cope with but for the past month they are extremly noisey . Nothing pleases them. Tried free ranging , treats , water pistol and today ushered them into eglu to quiet them down. How can i stop this. Really worried in case neighbours complain. Part of me say they are not happy so maybe find them new homes as ex-batts wern't ever noisey ( maybe mine were exceptions to the rules). love them to pieces but if get complaint from council we won't be able to have any chickens. Any help/advice would be wonderful.

 

Kind regards

Donna c

Edited June 14, 2012 by Guest

[Daphne]

I don't have any solutions I'm afraid - noisy orpingtons aren't anything I am familiar with. However, can you detect any patterns to the noise - like when they see you as they associate you with treats? If so, ignore them. If they grumble when taken off the nest when broody that is normal and some hens shout after egg laying but only for a few minutes (don't think thats your problem anyway by the sound of it ) Orpingtons normally take to being confined very well so I wouldn't have thought its lack of space or exercise. I hope somebody else can give you some pointers but if this goes on and is making you unhappy then rehoming could be an option, there will be plenty of takers for 2 hens. The only little bit of good news I can think of is that a loud hen is rarely an ill hen

[Donna C]

thankyou for your responce. I learnt sooo much from batts that these girls are lovely and healthy, Although don't lay but that doesn't bother me as they are pets first. There seems no reason or pattern but golly when they start nothing stops them. They go on for hours. Have tried to ignore them but am worried about neighbours . They are even disturbing oh when he works from home as it goes on so long Really at wits end at the moment. I love them but am worried i'll be forced to get rid of them and not allowed more at this rate

[Chortle Chook]

It could be that they are unhappy because they want to go broody. I find that my silkies kick up one heck of a fuss if they are not allowed to sit for a wee while. I just hoof them off for food but otherwise let them sit when they want to. Each one has a bout of broodiness which lasts about 3 weeks (time it would take for the egg to hatch - even though they are sitting on nothing at all) about twice a year, and then they go back to normal. However if I stop them they make a dreadful din. It could be the same with your Orps.

[Mercedes55]

One thing we have noticed is that ex batts seem to be fairly quiet, least ours are. It's almost like they've spent so long in the cages bocking so loudly that by the time you get them they are fairly quiet. We now have a mixture of ex batts, a couple of hybrids and some pure breeds. Our Welsummer is the noisiest hen I've ever encountered and the only time she's been quiet was when she was ill with Myco last year. Nothing shuts her up unless you go in and stroke her, but as soon as you stop she is off again. Some mornings she is like that from as early as 4am

[laurmurf]

I had an orp in my flock and she was the noisiest hen ever! She was always chuntering and every hour of the day and night. I ended up rehoming her with mostin and she STILL chunters all the time but their neighbours are more than happy with the crowing and chuntering in a way that I just couldn't live with any more!

 

maybe it's an orp thing....

[wannabe smallholder]

Hi. I am now having a mild panic attack having reading a few threads now about noisy hens. We haven't got our babies yet, still a few weeks so going through the 'not long now!' phase and trying not to bore everyone stupid with 'did you know we're getting chickens?' Whether its last minute nerves but I'm now worried that we might become a noise nuisance. Our garden isn't huge and backs on to other gardens. There are lots of shrubs and trees around and we are placing the WIR at the very top of our garden. We have mentioned to neighbours on both sides that we're having hens, one side said 'Oh lovely, no problem', other side said 'Are you having a cockerel? No? Should be ok.' Never really see neighbours behind us to mention it. We are hoping to get 3 large hens (a lohman brown hybrid, a gold laced wyandotte and a light sussex). Am I panicing for nothing or could this all turn out to be a mistake?? Sorry for such a long panicy post!!

[Donna C]

The one that goes broody is quietest ( although not all that quiet). So don't think it's that. Going to keep distance today and c if that helps . Fingers crossed as really don't want to get rid if them as feel like a failure but want to keep my sanity and be allowed to keep hens

[Donna C]

Not had much experiance but must say ( andi have said it to oh a numbe of times) we never had this problem with ex-batts They were quiet, great layers and really friendly. Am a horrible hen mommy for wanting to go back to ex-batts?

[LottyJ1]

I do think it depends on the hens not the breed - we have ex-batts at the moment and going to collect two pure breeds next month with also the intention of having another two ex-batts over the winter.

 

Our ex-batts are quiet most of the time but every now and again they will become a bit noisy for a day or two. They also start to woop loudly when they hear our car arrive home from work etc as they want to be let out of the WIR I find although they had such little space before they soon get used to having lots of space and always want more - our WIR is 6ftx15ft and we only have two at the moment! We have never had a complaint in the two years we have had them. However our local breeder is very good and if you get a hen from them that is very noisy he will exchange it for another one.

 

Am I panicing for nothing or could this all turn out to be a mistake??

 

Don't worry wanna be small holder there are lots of people on here who keep hens in urban areas with no problem at all. They will always make some noise but its not bad compared to the general noise of living around other peoples houses (dogs, children, DIY, lawn mowers etc!). I love having hens but have also worried about noise in the past.

[The Dogmother]

All I can say is that some people find that their hens are less noisy/disruptive than they think.... one of mine does a good seagull impression but our neighbours took 3 weeks after moving in to notice that we have chickens

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I have one noisy mare who makes me rush out in a panic to shut her up (doesn't always work ). My neighbours (who are very close) have never complained and the one next door says she likes the noise. "Ooops, word censored!"ody woke up when they were all screeching at a fox attack at 5am a few weeks ago, so I reckon it's not nearly as loud as it seems (they are right outside my open window).

[Alis girls]

I have new ones who seemed to make a racket but have quietened down a bit (hope they arent reading this!) a Sussex and a RIR. I am still slightly paranoid but the kids next door but one make more noise and I havent complained - YET

[wannabe smallholder]

Fingers crossed DonnaC we are worried over nothing. Thank you for reassurance.

[Donna C]

Fingers crossed but not looking good as really noisey again today. Had to bribe with porridge and pasta. Tried ignoring them but by golly they go on and on and on

[wannabe smallholder]

Have you asked neighbours how they feel? Maybe Dogmother is right. Could your hens not be as noisy for others as you think? Hope you get some answers so you can keep your girls xxx

[miller30]

Some orpingtons just moan all the time mine do and my god my cuckoo if she was human im sure i would have given her a slap by now thankfully she is broody at the mo and sat on eggs so it is quiet she will stay like that until she leaves her babies at about 8 weeks and then she will start again she is a good mum and has a couple of broods a year and we all get some peace leanne

[Chortle Chook]

Hi. I am now having a mild panic attack having reading a few threads now about noisy hens. We haven't got our babies yet, still a few weeks so going through the 'not long now!' phase and trying not to bore everyone stupid with 'did you know we're getting chickens?' Whether its last minute nerves but I'm now worried that we might become a noise nuisance. Our garden isn't huge and backs on to other gardens. There are lots of shrubs and trees around and we are placing the WIR at the very top of our garden. We have mentioned to neighbours on both sides that we're having hens, one side said 'Oh lovely, no problem', other side said 'Are you having a cockerel? No? Should be ok.' Never really see neighbours behind us to mention it. We are hoping to get 3 large hens (a lohman brown hybrid, a gold laced wyandotte and a light sussex). Am I panicing for nothing or could this all turn out to be a mistake?? Sorry for such a long panicy post!!

 

Have the courage of your convitions, wannabe smallhoder and don't worry. Your hens will not be un-noticeable - you are not getting a set of tortoises after all, but once you start to share around the eggs your neighbours will be your best hen fans. Some chooks do make an unholy racket but it either seems to happen during the day when "Ooops, word censored!"ody is around or at weekends when it is drowned out by playing children and lawn mowers

[ohcarolina]

For goodness sake don't bribe them regularly - then they'll be worse as every time they see you they'll expect the treats!

 

Sometimes mine are noisy and sometimes not. Babs my ex-batty was named after Gobby Babs who I used to work with as she never shuts up from the minute she see's anyone!

 

BTW - I still prefer my chooks racket to the idiots ouside the pub opposite making a racket aftter closing and the noiosy kids that used to plague the estate that I used to live on. But then I think I am officially a 'Grumpy Old Woman'!

[The Dogmother]

Please don't bribe them, if anything a good dousing with a super-soaker will do the trick.

 

The yappy dog at the end of my garden, and the neighbours' bellowing kids make far more noise than my hens

[DeeDee]

Hi Donna C,

 

One of my girls is really loud as well, for no reason she does her alarm call and can go on for a while and has done this at 4am for no reason at all, had to run down stairs and go in the garden to tell her to be quiet!! Like you I was really worried about neighbours but one side is up early and has said they like to hear the chickens and the other day our other neighbour stuck her head over the fence as I was cleaning out the chickens and they were being a bit noisey and said it was the first time she had ever heard them make any noise and we have had them for five months! So maybe it is not as bad as you think, and giving the neighbours eggs does help as well I think

[Donna C]

I really do try not to bribe them but it can go on for hours and am aware have dr's next door who do shifts and young babies. Have tried water pistol but no good. I did ask neighbours before getting batts but they were never this noisey and am frightened to ask them direct incase they say yes, get rid of them. Can't bribe neighbours with eggs as don't really get any They have been o.k til last few months ( they are two yrs old) really don't know what to do

[The Dogmother]

Perhaps you'd be best looking for someone local to rehome them. To be honest, most chickens will make some degree of noise, much like children; it's something that you expect, but if you're worried or sensitive to it then perhaps they're best off in another home.

 

Do bear in mind though that this forum has a very strict rehoming policy, so posts can't be seen to be seeking rehoming offers

[Donna C]

I'm going to see how they go. Maybe they will calm down if ignore them and if neighbours really are unhappy they will say don't want to give up just yet,it just seems strange that we've gone from nice clucking with occasional out burst to constant squawking . Nothing has changed