My HEN keeps HONKING!??

[Tarina-Rose]

My three hens are about 16/17 weeks old, I have been woken up by an extremely loud honk the last few mornings. It is unlike any sound I have heard a chicken make, the sound usually lasts for about three seconds and it is quite like a goose/air horn; she does this every 20-30 seconds. I am new to raising chickens so any insight can help!
Thankyou

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Mine will do that when they pick up a slight respiratory problem, usually in the fall, it runs it's course, but sometimes the honking hen gets picked on, certainly watch for any wheezing or trouble breathing, or any sign it's getting worse, it's a chicken version of a cough.

 

[Teila]

Howdy Tarina-Rose; Welcome to BYC

First question would be, are you positive she is a she and you are not hearing crowing attempts?
Second question, what breed?

I had a Silkie hen [RIP sweet Tina] who did pitch perfect peacock impressions.

I now have 2 x 5 month old Silkie X’s who sound more like ducks than chickens.

I also have a Bantam Cochin who will voice her dissatisfaction that breakfast is 2 minutes late and if it does not arrive promptly, will crow!

Dusty, a Bantam Langshan and the whinger of the flock, had a particularly bad morning and was whinging significantly more than usual; that afternoon she had ‘lost her voice’ and was hoarse.

I freaked out, thinking she may have picked up a respiratory disease or was unwell, but she got her voice back.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/979074/can-a-chicken-lose-her-voice

All of my girls make some very strange noises prior to laying an egg, I call it their ‘gunna lay egg’ song and this is followed by the ‘I laid egg’ song. The ‘gunna lay egg’ song normally goes a lot longer than the ‘I laid egg’ song to the point that one of my girls is nicknamed Nike … Just Do It!

So, while I totally agree with oldhenlikesdogs that there could be an underlying illness and you need to keep a very close eye on them, I have also learnt that these feathered friends of ours have an extensive and varied range of vocalisations, none of which actually sound like what you would expect from a chicken

 

[Tarina-Rose]

Well I can't say I'm 100% positive she's a female, but I am quite sure she is. And I honestly don't know what breed she is either haha! I have a feeling it isn't anything to be concerned about medically, as she stops as soon as she get's what she wants, which is usually food or being let out for the day. thankyou for your suggestions! I will keep an eye on her.

 

[Teila]

Hey Tarina-Rose

Yep, it could just be her way of letting you know that she requires attention of some description.

I know that if I ignore my gals because I recognise their vocalisations as non-urgent or just pettiness, they will up it a notch until I react

With regards gender and breed, you could try posting some pics either in this thread or a new thread requesting opinions. There is a Forum under Chicken Breeds ‘What Breed or Gender is This?

 

[CanaDawn]

I wouldn't have thought of this until I was reading about sexing hens recently, and read about what I called "chilly roosters"....'hens' that hatch after a slightly cold brood may be feminised roosters that live and function like hens (laying eggs and everything!) but are genetically roosters. Totally weird concept, but then just this week one of my hens sounded like she was trying to crow and I started wondering if chilly roos would try to crow (the hen here is about a year old now, has been laying since last fall, and I haven't heard her do it before this week, so I dunno, just speculating).

I'd probably work with the "it's a cough" suggestion just so that you keep an eye on the bird overall, but it could well be "this bird's kinda weird".

Got photos? I'm curious now!

 

[Teila]

One of my gals, pre moult, had me thinking she was turning into a Henster.

She woke me up with crowing a couple of mornings.

Then she was ‘standing guard’; she was ‘watching’ while everyone else was scratching and having fun in the garden AND she was picking up bits of grass, bugs etc and calling over the others and feeding them! We gave them all meal worms and she took hers and called over one of the others and fed it to her! She NEVER shares food; especially not meal worms!

She was also ‘rumbling’ a lot; …pacing around, rumbling at things, growling under her breath.

Her behaviour was kind of typical of a broody except that she was not being grumpy with the rest of the flock, more protective and feeding them. Also she is over two years old and has never been broody.

She was doing everything a rooster would except trying to mount them.

Then she started moulting, finished her moult, returned to laying and also returned to her normal self. No crowing and definitely no sharing of treats.

I’m thinking hormones!

Another of my gals, the matriarch, does crow on occasion if she does not get what she wants.

All my research indicates that older hens may take on the rooster role and will crow if there is no rooster in the flock but normally the younger ones will not crow unless they are, in fact, roosters.

And, yep, I am curious now also and want to see some pics!

 

[CanaDawn]

OH! Well, given the fact that my yard looks like I have been pillow fighting WITH the chickens, maybe it's hormonal here too.
The Silkie is the "mama" of the group and the one that calls everyone over for deliciousness, but one of the Seramas is the one making crowing sounds. And the Silkie changes her mind about being loving and giving when she's broody, and stomps around grumpily - pretty funny, actually!

 

[Teila]

Tee hee CanaDawn my first experience with a hard moult, I came home from work saw all the feathers and thought something had attacked one of my gals!

Yep, having bantams who tend to go broody, I am very experienced with Broodzilla’s and have been chased across the garden by a broody hen determined to separate my toes from my feet

Ya gotta love um and they definitely are funny little critters!

 

[CanaDawn]

Tee hee CanaDawn my first experience with a hard moult, I came home from work saw all the feathers and thought something had attacked one of my gals!

Yep, having bantams who tend to go broody, I am very experienced with Broodzilla’s and have been chased across the garden by a broody hen determined to separate my toes from my feet

Ya gotta love um and they definitely are funny little critters!

Well, I hadn't picked up on the link between moult and crowing, but I bet it's all part and parcel. I thought it was the Silkie moulting post-broody-with-no-eggs, but maybe the other two are getting involved as well. There's certainly a lot of feathers...
Oddly, she remains friendly to the humans while she's broody, continues to treat the dog and cat and guinea pigs with disdain, just is very grumpy about the other birds. Shakes her poufy fist at the magpies, swears under her breath at the small songbirds, lures the other hens over whispering about treats, then kicks them in the groin (not really, but that's how I envision her streak of mean towards them!)