Baby Girl screams like this all the time. Noise of distress? Normal chicken talk?

[Lyris]

I rescued Baby Girl and two sisters from a "hatchery" a little while back. She's gone from being in an unclosed area that has no food/shade and four thousand other chickens, to my garage with two sisters. Her sisters like to go outback a little bit now and then. Baby Girl goes out with them, so she knows where they are. But she often screams like the video. With or without her sisters. Sometimes the cry will go on for ages, other times it stops quickly. She does it whether I'm in or out of the room. What causes it? Is she just chattering? It sounds distressed to me.

When her friends are in the cage she's often tucked where they prefer to lay their eggs. Sometimes she tucks an egg I thought maybe broody, but she hops off too readily. I've also been told Lohmann Browns don't really go broody. Not sure if that could be related to the sound or. It.

You can. see Baby Girl's cry here:

 

[Lyris]

That's a relief! I've never had adult hens before. I always deal with baby chicks. They're all very timid and still learning to be chickens. Last thing I want is for them to be upset!

 

[The Happster]

My hens do that a lot. Usually if they're being put away for the night. One especially is very noisy. Nothing to worry about. I love hearing them 'talk'

 

[featheredplanets]

To me it sounds like one of the many noises of a chicken. Some of my hens did this when something curious happened, like someone walking past or if I bought a new plant pot. She’s not in pain or distressed.

 

[LaFleche]

Could be she is still missing some of her former friends and is calling for them.

 

[Lyris]

At least two of them are laying. I don't think it's an egg song. She will come in from outside and begin screaming, or when I come in to say hello in the morning. Half the time she does it while I'm watching her. I did have someone sing the egg song a few days ago, which was very different.

She's definitely a quirky girl if nothing else. She was "commando crawling" yesterday while purring. Still not sure what that was about.

 

[LaFleche]

She's definitely a quirky girl if nothing else. She was "commando crawling" yesterday while purring. Still not sure what that was about.

Sounds like she was dustbathing or streching out in the sun?

 

[Lyris]

Sounds like she was dustbathing or streching out in the sun?

No, she was walking across my garage. She would stay like she was sitting on something, then take a big step while low to the ground. Kind of walking on her entire lower leg. And she kept making a rapid fire sound. Like blowing bubbles under water with a straw? She eventually found her two friends and continued walking on her legs while trying to burrow underneath the other chickens. I have a video that kind of shows it. By then she wasn't commando crawling as much and her noise didn't pick up well though. It was the strangest thing I've ever seen.

 

[Lyris]

I had a hen do that. (Without the noise) She died in her pen overnight..... I don't know for sure it was connected. Hopefully it wasn't. It was about seven years ago now. She was only a few months old.

Hopefully not! She's about a year to a year and a half old. Aside from sour crop and possible mites, nobody has reported anything wrong with these girls. Just very shy, timid, and recovering from horrible abuse. She's up and active today at least. She took a dust bath and ate more cat food that wasn't meant for her. My cat, who was eating it, wasn't amused.

 

[Lyris]

So it turns out the noise is probably related to her going broody-ish. She's sitting on eggs today looking clueless. Thinking back, the screaming begins once I clean out the eggs.

I'll add that to my list of things to figure out! It took us an hour for her to figure out how to roll into her *side* and not back. Teaching her how to be broody sounds like a chore. Breaking her sounds traumatizing for her. Poor thing.