My 6 pullets are coming into lay and have become obnoxiously vocal! I'm afraid it is going to disturb the neighbors! We can keep chickens only if we aren't a disturbance. Well they are constantly "crawing" when they see me. It only gets better if I lock them up in their coop but only a little. Then they start in with loud egg songs but no eggs I have yet to see an egg and song together. The couple that do lay don't sing at that time but feel free to sing loudly at other times such as perceived danger or separation. Any helpful hints before someone forces me to get rid of them? Who ever said hens are quiet?!
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It is day one of reintroducing my bully Goldie back in the flock. This morning I broadcast seed into the run and put Goldie in it. We then opened the coop and let the flock out. Wow, very interesting! First they were only interested in eating. Then Goldie saw the hen she was horrible to. My little red hen was still afraid of her and ran. Suddenly out of nowhere the only bird who Red ( my little red hen) was " over", came charging in pecking at Goldie's back feathers. Then Link the bird that had taken the lead role during this separation inserted herself between Red and Goldie. Both Link and Goldie stood very tall staring at each other. Link then jumped on Goldie's back pulling her back feathers and attempting to " spur" her. Throughout the morning both Rocky( whom I thought was lowest bird) and Link have kept Goldie in check. Goldie still goes after Red, and Red runs like hell ( often to Link). I will remain very watchful.
An interesting note. One stand off, Link actually got Goldie to squat down with her head lowered. Link then just stood very tall over her. When Goldie did that to a couple of my birds, she would then proceed to peck relentlessly at their comb. I hope Link remains in charge of the group. She appears to be a strong and just leader.
Oh PS. They are slightly less noisy as they are getting use to laying. Not a lot but slightly. And Links first egg was so tiny and pretty, but 5 eggs later and she is laying the biggest eggs of all!
Also, she has done it off and on for a few months and none of the other birds are affected.
I wonder if she is bothered by the DE....?
erniee85017 > Kathryn HenzerlingJune 19, 2012 at 2:20pm
It seems to me that if we are supposed to be very careful about not inhaling DE, the same would hold for chickens. Even more so since they don't have "lungs" like we do. Some places say to use DE for fly control, and others say never. It never helped with the flies, but the STINKY fly traps did. (That is, if you can ever make a dent in the fly population!)
My silver laced wyandotte occasionally sneeezes, honks and shakes her head as if she got dust in her nose or something.
Does anyone else have this with their chickens??
erniee85017 > Kathryn HenzerlingJune 18, 2012 at 7:56pm
Kathryn,
Does she have a runny nose, er, beak? If so, does the drainage smell bad? Any sounds of congestion? If so, it could be coryza.
As for the noisy ladies, I'd just wait to see if anyone complains. Are you really close is proximity to your neighbors? Some will enjoy the chatter. Your bully may settle down once laying is established. If not, she needs a new home. There is a blue spray (can't recall the name) you can get at the feed store to put on the wounds. Supposed to stop them from going at the wound again. YMMV
I do have a wyandotte , I think she would be called a silver laced red. She doesn't sound like any of the other birds. It sounds more like a whistle and she was very quiet until yesterday. Now she is LOUD. I also have a BR( occasional egg calls only a couple eggs in the past 3 wks), Black sexlink(constant crawining unless I pay attention to her, she jumped the fence to lay her first egg but I blocked the escape route now), a RIR( not a peep out of her until this morning. She started laying 4 days ago), an amerarcuna who I suppose is being quiet. Who would know with all the noise. And last but not least my gold sexlink ( the bully) who was put into confinement due to drawing blood on my RIR comb. She became relentless so we brought her in the house and into a kennel. She continues to lay eggs like its no big deal. After she was removed the RIR then the BSL started laying. The rest are nervously pacing in and out of nesting boxes. Today was all of that and a crescendo of noise at 6am! I know their group dynamics have changed and they are all coming into lay, but any words of advice? And has anyone had any luck separating a bully and successfully returning them? Goldie is such a great layer! So matter of fact about it!
Sorry, I don't have any advice mine do the same thing but start at 5am when I go out to milk :( It goes on for about 30 minutes. There have been times I ran over to the coop thinking something must be at the chickens, but nope...they're just being noisy chickens! Some mornings they don't do it at all. I don't have a clue what sets them off, I used to think it was a hen version of crowing in the morning, but how do you explain the days they don't do it??? The good thing is it's so hot now everyone has their windows closed & a/c on :)
Replies
It is day one of reintroducing my bully Goldie back in the flock. This morning I broadcast seed into the run and put Goldie in it. We then opened the coop and let the flock out. Wow, very interesting! First they were only interested in eating. Then Goldie saw the hen she was horrible to. My little red hen was still afraid of her and ran. Suddenly out of nowhere the only bird who Red ( my little red hen) was " over", came charging in pecking at Goldie's back feathers. Then Link the bird that had taken the lead role during this separation inserted herself between Red and Goldie. Both Link and Goldie stood very tall staring at each other. Link then jumped on Goldie's back pulling her back feathers and attempting to " spur" her. Throughout the morning both Rocky( whom I thought was lowest bird) and Link have kept Goldie in check. Goldie still goes after Red, and Red runs like hell ( often to Link). I will remain very watchful.
An interesting note. One stand off, Link actually got Goldie to squat down with her head lowered. Link then just stood very tall over her. When Goldie did that to a couple of my birds, she would then proceed to peck relentlessly at their comb. I hope Link remains in charge of the group. She appears to be a strong and just leader.
Oh PS. They are slightly less noisy as they are getting use to laying. Not a lot but slightly. And Links first egg was so tiny and pretty, but 5 eggs later and she is laying the biggest eggs of all!
Thank you for the update! It will be interesting to see how thing go as time progresses.
Isn't it fun to watch them grow? Egg laying is like the initiation into adulthood. :)
Organic Feed- Contact Scott Brown on this permaculture group.
They order about once a month or every other month.
Also, she has done it off and on for a few months and none of the other birds are affected.
I wonder if she is bothered by the DE....?
It seems to me that if we are supposed to be very careful about not inhaling DE, the same would hold for chickens. Even more so since they don't have "lungs" like we do. Some places say to use DE for fly control, and others say never. It never helped with the flies, but the STINKY fly traps did. (That is, if you can ever make a dent in the fly population!)
Where did you find your organic feed?
How is the noise level?
No runny nose.No smelly congestion.
I did just lay down some DE a few days ago.
But I noticed it off and on when I switched from crumble chick starter to the organic feed which is a little more powdery.
My silver laced wyandotte occasionally sneeezes, honks and shakes her head as if she got dust in her nose or something.
Does anyone else have this with their chickens??
Kathryn,
Does she have a runny nose, er, beak? If so, does the drainage smell bad? Any sounds of congestion? If so, it could be coryza.
As for the noisy ladies, I'd just wait to see if anyone complains. Are you really close is proximity to your neighbors? Some will enjoy the chatter. Your bully may settle down once laying is established. If not, she needs a new home. There is a blue spray (can't recall the name) you can get at the feed store to put on the wounds. Supposed to stop them from going at the wound again. YMMV
Sorry, I don't have any advice mine do the same thing but start at 5am when I go out to milk :( It goes on for about 30 minutes. There have been times I ran over to the coop thinking something must be at the chickens, but nope...they're just being noisy chickens! Some mornings they don't do it at all. I don't have a clue what sets them off, I used to think it was a hen version of crowing in the morning, but how do you explain the days they don't do it??? The good thing is it's so hot now everyone has their windows closed & a/c on :)
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