Are Chickens Noisy?

If you are planning to keep chickens in your backyard, you may be wondering, are chickens noisy? Have no fear! You don’t need to be the noisy neighbor on the block!

When many people think of chickens they imagine roosters crowing at the crack of dawn. Luckily, you can raise chickens for eggs without a rooster. In fact, many cities don’t allow roosters at all.

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If you do want a rooster and it’s allowed where you live, they really aren’t much more obnoxious than a dog. They will crow in the morning and when they feel threatened or sometimes just for no apparent reason at all.

I have a small bantam rooster and I actually enjoy hearing his crowing. Our next door neighbors have a giant loud rooster, and even it is less annoying than the dog two doors down.

If you have just hens, it will be even quieter. Hens will make some noise. They have an “egg song” after they lay eggs. They will also sing to themselves or squawk to get out of the chicken coop in the morning.

And chickens have their own personalities too. Sometimes two ladies of the same breed will have different ways of “talking” and one will be quieter than the other.

Which chickens are the quietest?

There are some chicken breeds that tend to be quiter than others. If you have a very small space, this may be helpful for you. If you are worried that chickens will be noisy, start out with some of these:

Buff Orpington

These make great chickens for small backyard flocks. They are quiet and very friendly. Most Buff Orpingtons will let your kids carry them around like a pet. They are also decent layers for several years.

Wyandotte

Some of my favorite hens have been silver laced Wyandottes. They’re very popular for suburban homesteaders and are very pretty. They’re fairly friendly, quiet, and good layers. I think the gold laced variety is gorgeous.

Bantam

Bantam chickens are smaller versions of the breeds. I have a bantam hen who is quiet, friendly, and a great mother. Some of her offspring get a bit broody, but they manage to still produce a decent number of eggs. Silkie bantams are great fun to have because of their crazy feathers.

Brahma

Brahmas have feathered feet. They aren’t the best layers, but they’re calm quiet birds. The two Brahmas I have personally met were excellent birds for young kids.

Cochin

One of my all time favorite hens was a cochin. She was cold hardy, a great mother, quiet, and friendly. She was fun to watch run around and also not too rough on the garden. If you want to hatch out eggs, they are a great bird for that.

Astralorp

Astralorps may not look terribly fancy, as they are all black, but they’re good all around birds and not too noisy. We had one in our first flock and she was a solid layer for several years.

If you really want to keep the noise down, make sure your hens aren’t bored. They should have plenty of space to roam and scratch around. Give them fresh greens as treats if they don’t have access to grass. Also make sure they have enough feeders, waterers, and nest boxes so they don’t squawk at each other in competition.

Generally chickens are not very noisy and are quite pleasant to listen to when they do chat with each other. Really, anyone who lives in a neighborhood where someone has a dog, should never be worried about their chickens being noisy!