wrighty_1977 Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Hi, We have recently (6 months) started to keep chickens (3Nos. x Rhode island Reds I think) in our garden. They have a wooden coop which could house 5Nos. chickens that they sleep in, and that is located within a 20sq.m head height run which has been referred to as a palace by other chicken owners. The idea/intent was to have chickens that I could leave in the coup/run all day every day, apart from occasionally in the mornings/evenings when I am at at home or my son wants to play with them. They seem to be happy and are laying an egg a day each, and have been for about 5 months now (we bought them 'POL' for £5 each). However, my neighbours have complained about the noise they make (sometimes as early as 530am) and quite a bit during the day, and they do make a pretty constant noise - so I can sympathise with them a little (even though their property is min. 15m away from the chickens). I am considering substituting the chickens for a 'quieter breed' if one exists, can anybody help me with this issue?? Kind regards Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
counturchickens Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Hi, Maybe try letting them out a bit later to stop the very early morning noise. You will find in the winter they're up and about much later anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smartrus Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Hi, there. I have 5 rhode island red cross with sussex. They are in the house until we let them out each morning. I find that they are quiet when in the house which I keep quite dark with the air vent shut (there are 2 that don't shut so they still have air). They only cluck when they have laid. However, I do find that they get a bit noisy when bored and want out! They have a substantial run with trees and perches but still love to free range. It maybe that your chickens need a bit more to do, you can get some netting so that they can have a bit of grass to FR on. Do they make noise before you let them out the house? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrighty_1977 Posted September 3, 2012 Author Share Posted September 3, 2012 OK thanks for your replies. I normally don't close their coup so they can roam in and out as they please. They seem to be taking themselves off to sleep quite early recently (well before dusk so about 730pm at the moment). So as I don't shut them away at night, they get up and wonder out into the run and then tell us all about it! They used to mainly make noise when they were laying but now its whenever they hear a noise to tell/ask to be let out. They stop making a noise when I let them out of the run (which is what I did this morning at 6am as I was concious of the noise). I am loathe to really let them roam free all day as I dont want them destroying my garden and thats why I built the palace - but I guess I may have to put more stuff in there to do like toys etc. Any ideas?? At the moment I have half the run with bark chippings and have just mud - with a mirror and a perch - and thats it. I guess it is quite boring for them. Cheers again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smartrus Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 I would really recommend shutting them away at night as this should eliminate the noise in the morning until you are ready to see them! Also I know lots of people who have had a fox clever enough to get in the run. Before I let mine out I put some meal worms, corn, rice etc dotted around for them to find. Also a dust bath keeps them busy for ages! They soon get into a routine of waiting for you each morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 The noisiness or otherwise of chickens seems to vary chicken to chicken and is not really breed specific so swapping to another breed might not help. What you may find is that your chickens are getting you well trained to let them out on demand. This is something you will need to resist even if the noise escalates a little for a while. You'll need to explain to your neighbours that you are working on things, and ask them to please bear with you for a fortnight or so while you put your plan into effect. I would recommend that you put various perches about as well as things like hanging fruit (they like apples) and veg (a hanging co"Ooops, word censored!" works well as do things like spring greens) and then make sure that you only ever let them out to FR when they are being quiet. Chickens are brighter than most people give them credit for and they'll soon have worked out that making an unholy din gives them all the fun of the garden. Another cause for noisy chickens is squabling over the nest box area. You may find that your wooden house does not have enough nest boxes (some wooden houses have plenty of roosting space but very little nest box space). If this is the case you can put an extra box in the main house for them. It doesn't need to be anything elaborate. I used an old wine box for mine for a bit. If you want something made for the purpose, however you can get extra wooden nest boxes off of Flyte So Fancy Do let us know how you get on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daxigirl Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 (edited) Is that 15 miles or minutes. If it's miles I shouldn't think that's yours they can hear. If it's minutes I 'd be sitting by their house of a morning just to listen how loud the girls are at early 0'clock. I can't believe their that loud at that distance mins or miles it's not like there's even a proper flock of them only a few birds. You should hear the starlings that congregate on the telegraph pole in my garden. There's about 50 now. That's loud and very musical. Edit (What a plonker I am) Oh dear never thought of metres. I assumed you lived in the sticks. So yes they would hear them. Edited September 4, 2012 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackian Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 I shut mine up at night although they FR most of the day. I let them out at about 6.45 - 7 .While they are shut up you can hardly hear them and they are only about 8metres from the house in a wooden coup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Potts Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Hi. We have three recycled hens (ex battery/barn) in a 6m square run, nothing as wonderful as your space sounds. I do lock them in at night and let them out at about 7 am. They don't free range until the evening and sometimes not even then, so we've popped quite a few things in. There's three perches of two different heights, a log pile, currently a cat basket and a low, long table like thing that used to be the top shelf of a set of shelves in the distant past. They've also got two feeders, two drinkers and two hangers for grass/vegetables. They love anything hanging up! As Chubby Chook says, it doesn't have to be expensive. Tree stakes make good, cheap perches. The shelf thing was something that was going to the tip, the cat basket kind of stayed in after a recent trip to the vet (one can't jump onto the perch at the moment and loves sitting in it, head peeking out - the others love boinking up and down on top). Good luck with the entertainment. I do have to say that I did darken the coop with a wooden board during high summer - enough to let the air circulate, but close enough to make it a lot dimmer. I can see it would be a nuisance to have to close up/open up if you had not planned on it, but better than having to get rid of them? I don't have a lot of experience of different breeds, but all my hens so far have been, ahem, refreshingly individual on the noise front. Mrs Potts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
