The Egg song, it’s not about the egg; it’s an escort call.

Yes!- I’ve seen a lot of this and agree. These are location/ escort calls. Makes better sense.

I love it! My rooster which I call Mr.Rooster is a Sebright, he is half the size of the hens but he does such a great job looking after the girls. I will have to keep a closer eye on them to catch this ritual. Thanks for the info!

I'm wondering if someone will chime in who has multiple hens and no rooster. I'm curious if the egg song is longer, shorter or non-existent.

Thoughtful information to make me a better chicken mom, thank you for sharing. I have often wondered and it does make perfectly good chicken sense.

This is a very good explanation and seems to be backed up with experience. The article is very well written and clear.

Great observation! Not all of my gals make the call.. and it’s not very often... perhaps because they are in an enclosed run?? And there is no rooster?? I have also noticed that when they ARE calling.. if they see or hear me they stop.. don’t know if that means anything but I wonder... seems logical!

This makes a lot of sense, and I do believe you are correct. This article is also very well supported.

When the weather gets a little nicer I’m going to look for signs of this in my flock.

I have noticed this behavior with my one tiny flock as well. Every time I was outside to observe when I heard one of the girls start in with her "egg song", the cockerel would show up to bring her back to where ever the flock had wandered to.
I never really fell for the theory that the pullet was celebrating laying an egg. Didn't make sense. This does. Thanks for the article.

It makes perfect sense. I’ve observed the exact same behavior and inadvertently put myself in place of the rooster at times. We have a couple nesting boxes on our back porch, in addition to several in the coop. Frequently I will reward a hen singing the egg song with a treat of mealworms and she immediately stops singing. I thought she was just wanting the treat but now I see what was going on. My real roosters rush to the coop whenever one of the girls sing and immediately mate with her. In both situations it has only been when they were laying away from the rest of the flock. Great article!

Since reading in one of your earlier posts your ideas about this being connected with an escort request (rather than a celebration of having laid an egg), I have been watching my flock with it in mind, and my experience is consistent with your hypothesis. My hens call for an escort whenever they've laid in the coop and the rest of the flock is not in the vicinity, and the rooster (I have only 1) answers promptly and comes running, then the pair return whence he came, with or without him trying to mate her (he has no competition). If the flock is in the vicinity, the hen emerging from the coop after laying does not 'sing' but just joins the rest quietly.

What a neat concept and well thought out plan. I'll definitely be watching ... and listening to ... my hens a little more closely for a bit. I love this whole idea!

Most definitely an interesting idea that the egg song is a call for a rooster. In natural habitat it would make perfect sense. The main part of the flock would have each other to warn of danger, but the solo laying hen is at risk. The observations are well stated, and I like the first hand knowledge of the flock and it's interaction. Nice work.

I always thought that the song they made was only to say they laid a egg. This article was informative and well written.