Chicken calls

[kathyp3]

I am curious as to the noises my girls make during the course of a day. Can everyone let me know what different sounds mean? Lilly the leghorn makes a low chatter sound when she is pacing waiting to lay an egg. Millie the Rod Island Red makes noises when she can't see Lilly who is in the coop laying. Its like she is callout out to her or raising alarm bells that Lilly is missing. Tillie the black astrolop, crows like a rooster when Lilly comes out from laying. They are all the same age, 18 mths and have many calls. I would love to hear what you think the calls mean. Thanks Kathy

 

[PrairieChickens]

Without hearing the calls for myself, it's really hard to say. A lot of calls are basically just ways of saying "Where are you? I am here!" Some calls are distress sounds... "I'm in pain!", "I'm alone!", "I saw a predator!", "SOMETHING'S GOT ME, HELP!" My rooster Mars will "purr" when he finds something really tasty, but all of my chickens have their own "yummy" sounds. Then there's chickens who will make little muttering noises when they're uncomfortable, like when a hen is about to lay an egg, or a chicken is soggy. I had one hen, Tina Eggturner, who would stand in the middle of the run and just sing for no reason at all. She was quite the vocalist.

I've been studying my chickens' "language", trying to learn their various calls and even imitate them. I've found that by imitating certain sounds my roosters make when they're around each other, I can put them at ease. Other sounds make the chickens lift their heads up and check out what's going on. (I like making the "I just saw a large bird" sound when I'm trying to take their picture so they'll look up for the camera)

 

[math ace]

I've noticed that the birds have their own intonation when it comes to speech. For example, ALL my roosters crow BUT I can identify each rooster's crow. They are all crowing for the same reason and at the same time, yet each has their own distinct crow.

I would assume the hens would be the same way .. .
Some say - -
Hey y'all
others say - -
Hello
Still others say - -
Hi

They are all greetings, but unique to each person