Egg song - false alarm?

[Agathe]

Can a chicken egg song be a false alarm? We've suspected a couple of our chickens of eating their eggs so we've been keeping an extra eye on them, and I frequently hear them making the egg song but when I go into the coop there aren't any eggs. The suspected offenders aren't consistent in their eating so it's been hard catching them and besides we've made some adjustments to prevent egg eating (like adding curtains, giving more protein/calcium and so on), so we don't want to take out any innocent birds. Which is why I wonder if any of you experience the egg song and they just didn't lay any eggs? Nothing has scared them and hens are in and around nesting boxes so it's clear what they're trying to communicate.

 

[fluffycrow]

That's because it's not an egg song. It's a call for the male to come and take them back to the group. Even when there is no male, and the birds do not free range (and thus, there is no need for the bird making the call to be led back to the group), they use this call. Your birds might've been checking out the nest boxes and wanted to be escorted back to the group. They'll even use this call when they're far away from the nest boxes, and simply got separated from the group

 

[Agathe]

That's because it's not an egg song. It's a call for the male to come and take them back to the group. Even when there is no male, and the birds do not free range (and thus, there is no need for the bird making the call to be led back to the group), they use this call. Your birds might've been checking out the nest boxes and wanted to be escorted back to the group. They'll even use this call when they're far away from the nest boxes, and simply got separated from the group

I had no idea they did that, thank you!

 

[theoldchick]

Rats and snakes can also eat eggs. Some chickens are more chatty than others. Young birds will practice the 'egg song' as hormones flood their systems. Heck, my rooster will, at times, sing the egg song right along with his hens. The hen is bellowing, the rooster is bellowing, the dogs start howling. It's quite a noisy affair at my place when the pullets start to lay.

 

[Agathe]

Rats and snakes can also eat eggs. Some chickens are more chatty than others. Young birds will practice the 'egg song' as hormones flood their systems. Heck, my rooster will, at times, sing the egg song right along with his hens. The hen is bellowing, the rooster is bellowing, the dogs start howling. It's quite a noisy affair at my place when the pullets start to lay.

We have no rats or snakes here, only mice, but I certainly hear our rooster chime in from time to time. During egg laying hours in the early parts of the day it can be quite noisy indeed!

 

[aart]

Also, the 'egg song' sounds very much like and alarm call.

 

[wrathsfarm]

An excellent article about it...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...t-about-the-egg-it’s-an-escort-call.74386/the