First Egg Countdown

[foreverlearning]

Ok now! folks have really been confusing me about the egg song. I have always thought its the song that the hen sings after laying an egg and everyone seems to join her. But I have seen posts here where people think that the sound most hens make when they become of laying age and want to lay an egg as an "egg song" that is not true. I don't know what to call it but it is not the "egg song". At least thats what I think, you guys can correct me.
I am talking about the sometimes all day sound/song laying hens make. Its somewhat like "Kaw.Kaw,Kaw,Kawww, Kawww Ka, Kaww, Kaww" and its similar but different for every hen.
Any takers?

When mine were about to lay they started to sound like a duck honking all day. (In all fairness we do have ducks in the pasture next to the girls pasture, they could have learned it there) When they started to lay their "egg song" sounds like an alarm call with gralwing and my rooster seems to like to join in while pacing back and forth in front of the door. This is followed by a crow when the girl has finished laying the egg. I think he is a proud rooster!

 

[Hayduke27]

What I refer to with the egg song is very specific, it's a loud clucking sound (like the Cadburry bunny) and before they were laying age, I had only ever heard it when they were extremely worked up (like one time when one escaped into the neighbor yard, and I had to chase him down). I had only ever heard this sound about twice before last Friday. Since then, it happens about1 time per day. Today, the hen in question did it before and after she laid her egg, and the rooster joined in both times.

 

[LadyCluck77]

Yes, the egg song can be different depending on the bird. I will try my best here..... Most of them have a "buck buck buck BUGAWK!!" Sort of sound, with their own variation, but one of my leghorns makes a scary velociraptor roar/screech instead. "Scree-Arrrrrrgh!"
So in the end, you may be able to hear, from the house, exactly which hen is laying at any given moment.

 

[kpsocalchicks89]

This is midnight we are thinking she will be the first to lay since her comb and waddles are way bigger then the rest of em.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Also, I noticed how when my hens sing the egg song, my rooster loves to join in. He gets very worked up when singing the egg song. If this is the case when all 11 hens are laying, he's going to have a lot more excitement in his life!!!

Yep, my roosters sing with the girls too. It's their way of letting her know where the flock is, so the hen can find the flock again.

Chickens have many, many, many different vocal sounds. The egg song is very similar to the alarm call, only the alarm call is a higher intensity. I about jumped out of my skin the first time my rooster growled at me. It was dark, and I was closing up. The screechy sound someone else mentioned is a warning - it gets louder and higher in intensity depending on how far the threat is. (mostly for alerting for aerial predators though my roosters have done it for airplanes and helicopters too

)

 

[mckenzy]

Ok now! folks have really been confusing me about the egg song. I have always thought its the song that the hen sings after laying an egg and everyone seems to join her. But I have seen posts here where people think that the sound most hens make when they become of laying age and want to lay an egg as an "egg song" that is not true. I don't know what to call it but it is not the "egg song". At least thats what I think, you guys can correct me.
I am talking about the sometimes all day sound/song laying hens make. Its somewhat like "Kaw.Kaw,Kaw,Kawww, Kawww Ka, Kaww, Kaww" and its similar but different for every hen.
Any takers?

My more mature girl (still hasn't laid yet) had been singing that song for months. At first I thought she was mimicking the owl that roosts nearby. So I think your lady is just singing. What breed??? Mine is EE. And the other EE doesn't sing that song. Same age.

 

[chickenboy190]

My chickens still aren't laying yet and they are 25 weeks old.

 

[foreverlearning]

My chickens still aren't laying yet and they are 25 weeks old.

Some breeds take a little bit longer, mine are about 8 months and 2 just started laying. None so far from the rest. The true to breed and duel breeds tend to take a while as they have not been cross breed to increase egg production.

 

[Junibutt]

My more mature girl (still hasn't laid yet) had been singing that song for months. At first I thought she was mimicking the owl that roosts nearby. So I think your lady is just singing. What breed??? Mine is EE. And the other EE doesn't sing that song. Same age.

Ok seems like people still are not differentiating between different sounds and still calling two different songs an egg song. So I will try to post videos but till then lets do with the phonics:

1. The Egg Song- Song which usually a hen sings after she lays and egg (probably to announce it and show off) and then other hens/rooster join her in it. Its some what like someone said here: "buck, buck buck buck, buckawk" Or "cut cut cut cut cuttawk". They also sing it sometimes if they are started by something and want to alarm. In case of being startled they might just stop at buck, buck buck buck.

2. Unknown name: Song which only hens (not roosters) sing when they become of egg-laying age. They sing it all day sometimes and becomes more and more prolonged and intense as they get closer to the laying time. Some hens are just quiet and don't sing the song at all or barely. For some hens it sounds like "Kaw, Kaw, Kaw Kaw, Kaw Kaw, Kaaw, Kaaaw". Others might just do Kaaaaaw and stop. This song has no relation to any alarms/warnings in fact they stop singing it when threatened. Is it called "clucking"? Here is a video of it where is not that intense.

3. The Crow- I guess everyone knows how it sounds like.

4. Unknown name: The growl from the rooster. Its hard to do the phonics for it but its like half a crow and sounds somewhat like the pig getting killed on Angry Birds. Someone please do the phonics on it.

5. Unknown name: Its the come have the food call. Sounds somewhat like buck buck buck but really fast and short.

6. Broody hen's growl: Somewhat like the growl from the rooster but she repeats if the threat continues.

 

[eyotig25]

Thank u for posting those clips...very helpful