Denob - all chickens make noises - hens included. If there is no need for stealth then a rooster crowing is rather pleasant - anytime other than BEFORE you wake up 🙂 Hens cackle when they lay eggs and for other undetermined reasons...

Some times the dam hens make so much noise. early warning if an eagle fly's over or something.

Denob - all chickens make noises - hens included. If there is no need for stealth then a rooster crowing is rather pleasant - anytime other than BEFORE you wake up 🙂 Hens cackle when they lay eggs and for other undetermined reasons...

Not really a stealth issue, we are allowed here to keep chickens...just thought having a rooster to keep my own flock going would be a nice idea, but I'm not sure the neighbors would like it so much.
Maybe I could meet up with a local farmer and work out a stud deal with him.

I'm a complete novice with chickens (never owned a chicken in my life) what is the best (read least likely to drop dead) chicken to begin with?

Susannah755 - it will depend on where you live and since that's in Australia...we might not be the right people to ask! If you have a local farm store that sells chicks in the spring (usually) you would just get whatever they recommend - here the most common egg layer sold at the farm store is the RedSexLink - great egg layers - do well in all temps and are generally a healthy sturdy bird.

There is more information than you will ever need to know at: http://www.backyardchickens.com

This is THE site for anyone who has questions about poultry - including quail which is our next project 🙂

Thanks Anita - I'll check out the site and start asking some questions locally.