Help !!

If the neighbours are happy and they say they cant hear them then i would keep the ones you have got. All birds are different the same as all people are different and it would be awfull to get rid if the ones you have just to replace them with other birds that make just as much noise. It sounds as if you are quite rural and people realise that if they are in the country near farms then they are going to get country noise.

I had this concern last week and we live on a housing estate.  Luckily it only seemed to happen for a few days and all has now gone back to normal.  I think it was that egg laying seemed to coincide with their door opening so they got up and came out only to realise they still needed to lay and felt the need to announce it to the world!   As their laying time has moved round a bit the noise has stopped.  Hopefully this is all thats the matter with your girls too and peace will soon return.

As for the neighbours if they haven't complained i wouldn't worry yet, start to think of contingency plans if complaints start.

Good luck

cheers for the advice all , i sat and watched them for a few hours and it seemed to be just the ex batt making all the noise she has not layed since september and is getting on a bit so i decided enough was enough and she has now gone , and replaced her with a rhode rock 26 week old and has layed an egg in the first hour so now i will still have 2 hens no noise and 2 eggs a day so problem solved
again thanks
kev and shalona

a couple of mine used to make a real racket when they had just lais, would stand at the entrance of the house and announce it to the whole village. They have quietened down alot now.

Going right back to your first post, if the neighbours say it's not a problem, why didn't you believe them and accept that they were happy with any noise they could hear? 

Many people like the sounds that animals make if if they cannot or choose not to keep any themselves.

I think you will find hens do make noises and dispatching one, because the noise upsets and inconveniences you is really not the best answer. As Joyfull said, ex-batts aren't going to lay continually as they are in retirement.

If the noise is too much, why not buy some plastic hens so you can just look at them in your garden, you could even stick some eggs in there to pretend they have laid. Does that fit better into your lifestyle?

who said anything about dispatching the hen ? i have 2 chicken farm within 5 min of my house that have both batt and free range and she has now gone on one of the farms as a farm hen , and the hens are there to produce me and my family eggs .
 i am sorry if i have stepped on some people feet but i believe i am giving them the best possible life while they are with me and producing eggs but when they come of age i can not really see the point of spending money on feed etc for nothing , you ask a farmer if he would be feeding cattle if he was not going to get a return ,
i also keep asmall holding of pigs and if they were not to give any return would not waste the time and effort in raising them , again im sorry if i have upset people but im sure there is a lot of people out there that would agree with me
atb
kev and shalona