Is there anyway to keep chickens quiet in the morning??

[katharine]

We have two pet hens. One of them is SO loud. She basically crows! It is manageable except she starts between 5:45 and 6 a.m.!!

HELP

 

[sumi]

If she starts getting noisy when it gets light I think you should try and keep her in the dark, like in a well ventilated box, until a more civilised hour and see if that helps. Or dry and block the light from their coop with curtains or something. Just make sure you only block light and not the air flow! Good luck.

 

[centrarchid]

Katherine,

The hens making so much racket in morning is a method for attracting interest of a rooster. Hens I have with a rooster are very quite. When they are separated from the rooster they get noisy like you describe. System works very well. Roosters have particular interests in roosting locations and sometimes only some of the hens roost with a rooster. When birds come off roost the hens are mated by the rooster roosting with them. Then rooster finds hens roosting alone and mates with them as well. Rooster also tries to prevent other roosters from mating with hens he roosts with. Whole thing is funny to watch every morning as birds come down. Lots of neat chases and displays.

 

[3against2]

Hi. I had the same issue. One of my three crows noisily early in the morning and was annoying the neighbours. I ended up covering the window in the coop so very little light got in, and she is much quieter. Not silent, but no more noisy than the ambient birdsong. Hope this helps.