If you think chickens are noisy pets, think again. Unlike the barking and meowing that you often hear around the neighbourhood, many people keep chickens in their backyard without their neighbours even being aware. Chickens are a great addition to any backyard and need not be confined to a farm or rural area.
Who makes the most noise?
If you're worried about waking up early every morning, together with your neighbors, due to the sounds coming from your chicken coop, be sure to exclude a rooster from your flock. Roosters naturally see the morning in with an enthusiastic crow but aren't in fact necessary in your backyard. Many people are unaware that roosters aren't necessary for egg production. So, if you are after some organic eggs for your breakfast table and a nice sleep-in in the morning, do not include a rooster in your backyard flock of chickens.
Laying eggs - let us get excited!
Having chickens for many years, you may be surprised how long it took for me to realise the tell-tale signs of a chicken laying a egg. Apart from the very obvious thing of an egg appearing in the laying box, chickens let off an excited little sound know as a cackle to announce to the world that they have laid an egg. When we had a fox in our area I kept thinking that he was lurking around until my husband informed me that the chicken was just excited about laying her egg for the day! If you’re waiting for your breakfast to be laid, what a great alarm to tell you when it’s ready in the chicken coop!
If danger is lurking...
If something is threatening your chickens, such as a fox or neighbourhood cat or dog, your chickens are likely to get excited, but not in a good way. Our smallest, but oldest chicken has decided to take on the rooster’s role of warning all the other chickens of danger, since we don’t actually have a rooster. She has survived several fox attacks when our chicken coop was not quite fox proof. When a fox comes by, she lets off lots of noise which is great, as it lets us know that something is wrong. Fortunately our chicken coop is fox proof, but she doesn’t obviously realise that.
Apart from roosters crowing and hens getting excited after egg laying or in the case of danger, these creatures really are very quiet. You will have many more neighbours complain about cats and dogs lurking the neighbourhood than you will about chickens in their chicken coop. Neighbors are usually also quite happy to look after your pets while you are away because they know that some eggs will be coming their way.
Looking for a chicken coop? Check out the range of quality mobile chicken coops from Royal Rooster.