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

I will definietly watch the flocks activities around this song after reading this great article

Great observations! I appreciate that the theory was backed up by personal experience and experimentation.

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

Wow, I don't even have a rooster and all my hens preform a little "egg song" when on the nesting box. Great Article! Contains personal flock experince!

Wow. I am so impressed by what you've discovered. I think as often as I can I may go out to the hens when they're calling for an escort, enter the pen and go to them if need be to see what happens.

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.

Groundbreaking and useful info. High research standards. Well written.

Rereading this article brings a smile, again! I loved the story about the rooster and hens, photos of them IN the nest together, and can now relate to their funny behavior even more so as we notice and report things to one around our flock. First of course I noticed the singing and seeing Cash the main rooster streaking across to escort the happy hen leaving the hen house. This very week Johnny, the other rooster, was seen hanging out with the one hen that stayed behind and they both were in the nest…..too sweet! He once was the one in charge before his eye was injured by Cash during a fight over who was in charge, and became the top “dog”. Thankfully, gradually, over months Cash has lightened up, and they have apparently decided two guys are better than one and actually are agreeing to work as a team!! Thanks for sharing what helped me understand a lot more about the BYC behavior happening here.

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!

Well thought out.
Clearly written.
Work could be submitted to a professional organization of ornithologists who study behavior.
Brava!!!

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.

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!

Very entertaining read. Thank you.

Amazing article. It’s so sweet that roosters care about their hens!

Love this notion. Thank you for your observation!

I found the information shared most useful and very interesting!
Our chief boy is very lovely with all the girls, finds treats and shares them!
I will pay more attention to the "escort call" now that I know the behaviour to look for!
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I am a big believer in spending time with my flock, abserving moslty. I’m always in a constant need to learn more. Just today when one of my hens started making that sound they make when there ready and looking for a spot to lay, like a whiny almost honking noise, I remembered this article so I paid very close attention and soon enough there was my lead hen she’s always been very dominant always the “lookout” (replacement for my wounded Cornish x & my Silkie rooster who was keeping him company) she’s the rooster in this situation I saw the two run behind the shed, after some time I noticed the lead hen was back with the flock, and Rusty (hen trying to lay) was stil Behring the shed. Than we all heard it the buk-buk-bukaw sound the lead hen & I went running over and there was her egg, she was safely escorted back to the flock.

I have always been fascinated by a rooster's and hen's reaction to each other during the laying process. This article was interesting in the observations made.

Sweet pickle juice!!! Great article with tested theory!! I learned something new.