Be honest..how noisy are they?

[MotherQueenXeno]

We were thinking of keeping 3 chickens in our suburban back garden. My neighbour is concerned about noise, is this a legitimate concern? I don't want to cause bed feeling with my neighbour but at the same time they are not particularly quiet people.

I'm laughing at my earlier post on this. We have over 30 chickens now. At the moment that includes 4 roosters. They are EXTREMELY noisy.

Awwww, that's so sad. I ran away from my soulless estate and now keep chickens. I hope things change for you, I feel your pain. ❤️

Thanks so much for your kind post 😊i still am toying with the idea of just getting a couple of hens and not saying anything!!

@BooseysMom ooooohh go on. Just have a plan for a rehome in case someone remembers the deeds and forces you to stop...But just quietly go ahead and see what happens. <naughty encouragement> 😁😁

Ha! I like your style!😁OK, I'll give it a go. Wish me luck!

I hope your neighbours don't notice or care 😁 2 hens can't really bother anyone. Good luck

We live rurally. Neighbour keeps chickens, they are quite ‘chatty’ in the morning but we like the sound they make. Its not offensive and you’d have to be a light sleeper for the noise to wake you. What I don’t like though is that they attract rats, and that is a bone of contention. The rats have chewed through wires belonging to our septic tank. Not good.

@AndTwoFilmsByFrancoisTruffaut that's not good. We live in a little hamlet of three houses. Between the three houses we have 3 cats all of whom hunt so touch wood, we've been ok.

Chewing through the septic tanks pipe isn't pleasant though!

@BooseysMom The Allotments Act 1950 give you the legal right to keep rabbits and hens (not cockerels) on any land, so long as they are for personal/domestic use. This overrides any restrictive clauses in deeds, leases and council bylaws. It applies to gardens, not just allotments (any land). You can find the full text online.

Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in any lease or tenancy or in any covenant, contract or undertaking relating to the use to be made of any land, it shall be lawful for the occupier of any land to keep, otherwise than by way of trade or business, hens or rabbits in any place on the land and to erect or place and maintain such buildings or structures on the land as reasonably necessary for that purpose:

Provided that nothing in this subsection shall authorise any hens or rabbits to be kept in such a place or in such a manner as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance or affect the operation of any enactment.

Three hens wouldn't be too noisy. The food attracts rats, that's a bigger worry in a suburban back garden

My friend B lives very near a big housing estate, and she has a very large garden. She used to breed rare breed chickens, so had a couple of cockerels from time to time. Very sadly she lost the lot to foxes one spring. However she was most disgruntled over 3 months later to get a complaint via a friend A who lived on the estate about her cockerel waking a neighbour really early every morning - A's neighbour asked A to tell her it was being noisy, even though A said she thought B didn't have any chickens.

Turned out it was another neighbour had set his phone alarm as a cockerel for 5.45am.

I have had more trouble with rats in compost bins than I have ever had with chickens attracting them. Keep the feed in a galvanised bin with captive lids and don’t spill it, use a feeder like the Eglu Grub that is awkward for rats to get to.

Re noise, I had a neighbour complain and when I got up early and listened it turned out to be the rooks on the church tower.

Well exactly! We get endless barking from dogs every day, so the neighbours should remember that their pets are equally if not more noisy!