Most of the time hens are fairly quiet, but they do tend to cackle on a bit just after they have laid an egg. Also, first thing in the morning can be a bit noisy. When my dad kept hens, he would give them artificial light in the winter, because it seems that it is the length of day which fools them into thinking it's spring. I think the lights would come on around 4 a.m. in the depths of winter so they had at least 12 hours' feeding time. If I ever got up to go to the loo at that time, the whole back garden was bathed in fluorescent light and there was a right old din. From about 12 years from 1972 onwards, he had about 200 hens in houses in the garden. We lived in a rural area and the hen houses backed onto a slaughter house, so no-one noticed really.