Chickens screaming like teenagers

[Bede]

Hello! I am new here but have kept chickens in the UK for around 3 years. However, I find myself desperate for some advice. Two of my chickens will often scream for no apparent reason, often very early in the morning. These aren’t alarm calls or egg cackles. The noise is akin to a toddler or teenager having a tantrum and is essentially a repeated, strangled screech. Normally, this means ‘let me out’ or ‘I need food and water’, but more often than not there is no obvious reason why they are screaming at the void. It is very frustrating and I know our neighbours hate it. It can go on all morning until noon. You’d honestly think we were torturing them, rather than providing a nice home with fresh food and water. It’s driving us nuts...the chickens are otherwise in rude health, laying and eating properly.

 

[DobieLover]

How many chickens do you have? How large is their coop and run? What is in the run?
Pictures would be helpful.
They could very well be bored and are complaining.
Or they are just fat mouths!

 

[Bede]

We have four chooks, one is a bantam (we had two bantams, but one got foxed). The noisy ones are a white leghorn and a cream legbar. Photos of the coop attached (sorry it is a comedy photo...). They have a fair amount of room to wander beyond the coop - about three times the space shown in the photo. The white leghorn looks like she has a sour crop, but trust me, she's fine, she just has a slightly distended crop from a survived fox attack. Anyway, she's been noisy ever since the day she arrived. Similarly, the cream legbar is extremely noisy and aggressive. It seems that they are very unhappy about something, but I don't know what. My presence makes no difference, they just keep yelling. Sometimes it seems that the white leghorn thinks there is someone or something in the nesting boxes, because she stands at the entrance and screams into the nesting space for HOURS, before eventually going in. There is never anything in the nesting box when she does this. Are they just depressed?

 

[aart]

Could just be spring hormone urge and they are 'cranky'.
..and maybe the others have learned to scream from the leghorn?

Do they shut up when you let them out of the coop/run?
That enclosure is very small.
Have you checked the birds and nests for external parasites?

My Bug Check notes:
Have you checked them over real well for mites and/or lice?

Google images of lice/mites and their eggs before the inspection so you'll know what you're looking for.

Part the feathers right down to the skin around vent, head/neck and under wings.

Best done well after dark with a strong flashlight/headlight, easier to 'catch' bird and also to check for the mites that live in structure and only come out at night to feed off roosting birds.

Wipe a white paper towel along the underside of roost to look for red smears(smashed well fed mites).

Good post about mite ID by Lady McCamley:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-chicken-has-mites-now-what.1273674/page-2#post-20483008

 

[aart]

Any chance of video, so we can hear them?
Upload to youtube then link here.

Oh, and....Welcome to BYC! @Bede
Here's how to add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[MokiYoki]

I have a few hens that do this also! And I know what the want too, they are calling for roosters. Sometimes you can satisfy them with a good stong backrub. But usually when they are that "thirsty" only a real rooster will do. Good luck!

 

[Bede]

Thanks for all your suggestions and sorry for the slow response...another one of our hens has got really sick, so I’ve been a bit distracted. I think the issue is crankiness and Spring hormones...I haven’t tried rubbing their backs yet, but I can try! I think catching them might be the first challenge and they definitely ring squat for me...