Singing the Song of Their People: The Egg Song, Why do hens sing?

I always think about this now, when my hens are chattering over their handiwork, "Where is my Uber!?"... it makes more sense than them just helping me to know where to find their eggs!

This article was very thoughtfully and concisely written, with great pictures.

Interesting reading. Another explanation I heard was hens typically lay approximately a dozen eggs before going broody ( obviously this can vary widely). If they lay an egg a day and raise a ruckus for 12 days straight,and no predators have found the nest , then it is likely a safe place to broody. Then they go full stealth with very little movement or sound while incubating the eggs.

I always liked to think it was because my ladies were just proud of themselves, but this succinct explanation probably makes more sense!

Very interesting to learn the origins and reason for the egg song!!! :clap

Excellent, personable article with good stories illustrating the song!

My buff orpingtons make a little sharper egg song. Overall, this article is excellent. :goodpost:

Well I would like the article wouldn't I. Chicken behaviour is a subject that fascinates me.
I can recommend working through the video clips on By Bob's thread,
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/fluffy-butt-acres-stories-of-our-flock.1286630/
There are some great chicken misbehavior clips in there.

Lovely to see you turned our chicken chatter into an article for everyone to learn from, Thanks Bob.

This is great! The Egg Song described in layman's terms (yuo, that's bad pun!) But the best part of the article is the audio-visual. VERY nicely done!

I really liked the way you used stories from your flock to illustrate your points - it really helped! Thanks for writing it up :thumbsup

It always sounded like "Predators! Come and get me!" to me.
Thanks for the enlightenment @ByBob

A well-written article which gave me some new insights into flock behaviour.

Wonderful article, makes a lot of sense and is enjoyable to read.

Thanks, Bob. Excellent summary. I actually wish people wouldn't call it the egg song as it really isn't. In my all hen flock my Beta does escort duty & some of my girls are rowdier than others. One or 2 never call for an escort & sometimes we have *group hugs* where a gaggle will go all together.

Singing the Song of Their People: The Egg Song, Why do hens sing?

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