Do they want attention?

[Knittycat]

I don't understand what's going on with my chickens lately. They make a huge racket, doing their annoyed cackle, or sometimes even their predator call, until I come outside. Then they shut up and wander around quietly like normal. They've got food, they've got water, there aren't any nasties around. They will do it over and over and over. I'll ignore them, but they'll carry on for over an hour until I come outside. I don't know what to do.
I don't interact with them, all I do is open the door. Sometimes I wander into the yard. Then I go back inside, and they start up again. I've tried chasing them, cooping them up, and even throwing pecans from the ground at them in case they're looking for some sort of reward or treat. (not as a treat, but to smack them on their butts to startle them. Not hard, just enough to get their attention. I don't want to throw rocks, and the pecans aren't going to hurt them. They aren't cracking them open and eating them either) To show them that screaming until I come outside does not net them anything good.
They're still doing it. Sometimes they'll stand outside my bedroom window and squak like they know that's where I'm napping.

 

[Cotton42]

Chickens are loud sometimes. Mine make noise all day long, whether I'm with them or not. Personally I don't see what the point of hitting them with nuts is, sounds cruel and ineffective.

 

[Knittycat]

I'm not talking about general noisiness. We've had them for two years. I know about the noise. This is a new thing that seems specifically aimed at getting our attention. The point of the nuts is showing them that screaming until we come outside will not result in treats, but a swift pecan to the butt. Cruel? phphpht hardly. Have you seen how chickens behave to each other? This affects them less than a peck. Mostly it's to startle them. Chickens learn.

 

[Hishigata]

I have the same problem. My hens are usually fairly quiet but occasionally, usually when their buddy is up in the nest box, they decide to complain. The racket is terrible; an incessant buh-bu-buh buh-khak! I have an urban flock so I am sure the whole of the neighborhood knows when my girls are unhappy.

As soon as I go outside the noise stops. I thought it was just a case of she couldn't find her friend, so I would carry her to the house and show her where her friend was laying her egg. The hens would have a subdued little back and forth, as if agreeing where to meet up later and things calm down. I go inside and 5 minutes later the racket resumes; as soon as I walk outside my hen comes running up to greet me. She then follows me everywhere like a dog, sometimes practically below my feet so I worry I might trip over her. On several occasions she has even come into the house when I open the door to let myself back inside.

I do think they get lonely and want a friend, chickens are flock animals. I recently added two new hens to try and ease separation anxiety during egg laying but occasionally my little hen will still make a racket and fly in my window pecking at the glass until I come outside and spend some quality time with her. Food can act as a temporary distraction (especially if you have compost or something they have to work at to find food) but otherwise no amount of negative reinforcement has helped. I have not resorted to pecan tossing but I once brought the offending hen inside and put her in the empty bath tub and closed the curtain as time out. It worked for about 2 days...



Salt decides to makes herself at home in the kitchen.