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

Great article, and interesting test of a theory. Good use of scientific method and logic. Nice use of pictures to illustrate your points. this is an interesting article that may change folks' minds about what that egg call is all about. thank you!

Thank you so much for this information! I’m new to chicken-keeping and this type of knowledge is priceless. I appreciate your time in writing this. — My flock consists of 3 Jubilee Orpingtons & 6 Salmon Faverolles. One of the Favs is our boy, Mr. Blue. He’s a 7mo old cockerel right now and a bit of a handful; however, he’s good with his girls. Some of the girls have started laying and I’ve noticed him hanging around the nesting boxes when they lay an egg. (It’s usually 2 of his favorite girls more than the others) I thought he was just being overly curious and nosy; but now I know his role is much more than that! ~

Excellent observations and testing to verify your hypothesis. The explanations I’ve read for egg songs always seemed odd - and out of character - for a prey animal.

Interesting article and thoughts - my roosters make this call alongside their hens often, and I've often thought about how it must have functions other than simply an egg song or alarm call.

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.

My roosters have done that before, and i always said he was pretending to lay an egg! Chickens are smarter than people think. Amazing article, great observations.

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

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

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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Amazing!!! i never knew. you have such great observations.
that deserves an award!!

This is a really good article, very informative with good observations from personal experience. Thank you @Shadrach for writing this!

Very informative Shadrach, thank you for your observations.

Amazing information. Do you now by any chance if those observations apply to quails too? I am trying to make my favourite quail hen trust me again. I made one tribe out of two and separated the old rooster because he would not mate any more. Shall I put her back with him although he was occasionally aggressive even to her? She hates the new one.

Love your writing style. So much helpful info for me now I can tell what my hens are saying to me.

Love this notion. Thank you for your observation!

Fascinating theory! I'll have to check it out in my own flock. I also particularly enjoyed the creative names of the author's chickens!

I enjoyed reading about the tribe behaviors regarding egg laying.

Interesting information. I love all the new things I learned here and the pictures are really fun!

Something cool I noticed that might help prove your point is that ever since my roosters started mating I haven't heard the egg/escort call. I guess that is because the cockerels always over-mate the pullets and aren't very popular at this age. I can't blame the girls

Thanks for taking the time to make this!

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

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.