Chicken to English Dictionary

Through my journey with chickens and observing their behaviors and personalities, I have begun to understand their language to some extent. Just like people have different accents, different chickens have slightly different dialects and here are some translations from our flock:



The Egg Song – An oldie but a goodie, that “go tell it on the mountain” announcement that an egg has been or is about to be laid. “Buck buck buck buck buck buck B’GOCK!!” Sometimes one of my girls will shout out her own egg. Other times one will give another a pat on the back for a job well done! Many times, they will all form a lively gospel choir to celebrate a sister’s egg. Quite often the egg song is easily confused for the “get the cluck out of that stall, I need to go!” Oft times I think someone is laying, when indeed they are egging on a particularly slow layer to move over and get out!



The Predator Alert – Sometimes suddenly all of my girls will go stock-still and one or a few of them will make a very quiet, very soft purring or growling sound. This one says “don’t anyone move a muscle – I hear a hawk.”



The Broody Blues – An unmistakable sound is the hissing shriek and guttural clucking of a broody lady. She walks around all puffed up with her wings forward, tail feathers vertically fanned and issues a very low “gluck gluck gluck gluck gluck” and if another hen or person comes near, you might mistake her demeanor for the first trimester of pregnancy. If you disturb a broody hen in the nesting box or come too close to her (even if you are another hen!!) she will make the unmistakable broody sound – a shrill high-pitched “schreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeegh!!” with a clicking/hissing quality to it and she might give you a few pecks to match.



I want out! – My hens will often let me know that they would really like to bust out of the run, using repetitive urgent panicky low clucks. . A “gluck gluck gluck” similar to the “buck buck buck” that precedes the the egg song, but without the “B’GOCK.”

The translation is made very simple for me by the accompanying frantic pacing back and forth at the door as though the run is on fire



You have food and I want some! – This one also comes with handy body language as a tool for translation. Since they risk their lives juking my ankles and a certain unnamed Speckled Sussex literally dive bombs me, it is fairly easy to decode this particular verbiage. It comes in a variety of dialects – one says “BaDep BaDep BaDep” which promptly speeds up to “Bedebedebedebedebede!!.” The others make it clear that they shouldn’t have to wait for the treat to come out of the bag by exclaiming, “GOCK GOCK GOCK COCK GOCK GOCK!”, to which I usually respond “Good Lord!” or something perhaps a little less polite…



Whatcha Doin’? I have been cleaning my ladies’ runs for years, every single day, so you would THINK that they would know the drill, but every day is groundhog day for my gals. Each day when I come in with my garbage bag lined bucket and little shovel they come over and ask politely, “so what exactly are you doing right now?” This translation, too, depends on the dialect of the hen. Frodo the Dark Brahma, God bless her, sounds completely pathetic and wimpers and whines a nervous “Reeeeeeeeee? Reeeeeeeee? Reeeeeeeeee?”. Nelly the leghorn sweetly asks “guhhhh-guhhhh-guhhhh - guhhhhhhhhh???”. My Cookies and Cream (who always looks surprised) utters something that sounds like an incomplete egg song at volume 4. My bully Buff Orpington does a timid and sweet sound that belies the darkness within. Hers is “UmBeeeeeep Beeeeeeep Beeeeeeep” “UmBeeeeeeeep Beeeeeeeeep Beeeeeeeeep” sweet and soft. (go figure?)



Get out M’way! Only one of my hens does this. Fancy Pants the bully buff. She will seek out anyone enjoying a dust bath, a nibble of food or just a quiet sunny spot, and she will grunt “Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr” “Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr” Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, promptly issuing a jab. And this is inevitably followed by a shriek from another girl.



Jeez what is your issue??! When on the receiving end of FP the bully buff, the answer is one of these. Frodo, the self loathing beauty with low self esteem, will go “AWWWWWWWWWWCHK!” which sounds as though she has been unspeakably violated, even if it is just a typical Fancy Pants peck. The rest of them just say “Gaawwk!”

The Gossip! - The maniacal old man laugh that results when I come in to the run with something new - a new bucket, a new pair of boots...."Gahhhhhahahaha. Gahhhahahahahahahahaaa!"

Oh look – a dog! – Every day, being ground hog day, my dog Mia is a new horrifying character on the stage. Cookie (my Cookies and Cream - creative, I know….) will sound the alarm with her modified, abbreviated, volume 5 egg song variation. This, with a trained ear, can be distinguished from her other abbreviated egg song variations. “guck guck guck guck guck guck guck guck…..”Then they all hide under the chair.

UPDATE - as we have added to our flock we have had some new language influx! Here they are:


I'm Laying an Egg (or pretending to!) - This is the sound of soft bubbles popping. This says "Mom, I know you want to clean the coop right now but if you don't mind, can you come back later?" This sound can also mean "Look at me! I am laying an egg too! See that?" even when a certain older buff hasn't laid in months.


Are you stealing the eggs? - When cleaning the coop daily, unfailingly, whoever is on guard duty that day (one of three rotating volunteer moms) will come waddling in with a soft purring that almost has a question mark attached to the end of it. While taking a quick peak into each nesting box, she will ask me with a soft cooing - "you're not going to take them right?"


*Author's Note: I have discovered since writing this article that sometimes a few birds of the same breed will make similar sounds. Additionally, the languages from breed to breed are very varied. I have two green queens who both have the sweetest most pathetic squeak that they follow me around with. It is a language I am not fluent in, because everything they say sounds the same to me. My Dark Brahma makes a dinosaur sound when the other ladies pick on her. My bantam frizzle named Dinky, who is a tiny snowball and acts like a helpless kitten literally walks around saying "Uh-oh!" If I say "Uh-oh!" to her, she will come sit on my lap.

Please share some translations from your own flock!

Periodically I learn a new word or phrase, so every day is an adventure. I hope you find some fun in the languages spoken at Koenig’s Coop! Please share any famous lines from your flock!