Chicken clucking VERY LOUDLY, walking around doing nothing

[lases77]

She could also be getting ready for a molt.

Ooo, I didn't think of that. They will fluff up and cluck around all the time before a molt cycle begins? Interesting!

 

[KansasChickenMama]

Chicken vocals are interesting. They all mean something.

The one we always keep our ears tuned for is the alarm that means a predator. This is one vocal, even if you have no idea what any of their noises mean, that speaks very clearly that you'd better run out with a gun or can of bear spray. It's not just one chicken "going off". It's total bedlam - screeching, squawking, flapping and general sounds of universal panic. There is no defined vocalization, just chaos.

There is a vocal consisting of five notes rapidly executed by the first chicken to see an intruder, and if you happen to be right there, you will be forewarned that something is about to happen. It's a sinister sound. I've heard this and looked up to see a bear approaching the run. Good times. Then chaos ensues. Some of the screeching is even coming from the chickens.

When you hear a laying hen clucking steadily and fretfully when she's normally laid back and quiet, she's feeling the need to lay an egg but she hasn't really connected the sensation yet with a decision to head for a nest. This is a loud, repetitive and annoying sound. I usually encourage the hen to find a nice nest, and she quiets right down.

Many novice chicken keepers mistake clucking that precedes going to a nest to lay for a sign the chicken isn't feeling well. Chickens that don't feel well are mute. They don't make any noise at all when sick or in pain. They do tip you off by standing around on the perimeter with their tail held low and flat, and often their feathers are all puffed up.

A hen that is going broody begins up to a week before actually going broody by making occasional "popping" noises punctuated with a "growl". At this early stage, most people miss the change that's coming over their hen. Each day, the "popping" gets more frequent, and so does the growling, and this is often accompanied by puffing up and shaking out of her feathers, but she's still mostly behaving in her normal fashion, not at all interested in nesting. She's also beginning to annoy the other chickens and they will show their annoyance by pecking at her. The popping sounds, which remind me of an old child's toy that sounded like a pop corn popper when pushed along, get more and more frequent and insistent until she finally lays her final egg and glues herself to a nest.

We all have heard the "egg song", a rapid bawk-bawk-bawk-BAWK! over and over, either preceding the egg or following the egg or both. My Welsummers even stand by as a friend is in the nest laying, "bawking" the entire time as if serenading her efforts. Charming and very noisy. Glad I have no neighbors.

Those are but a few of the vocalizations. Chickens actually have a language we can understand if we listen. They string notes together in definite patterns that mean the same thing as our words when we form a sentence. It's called syntax. I can understand "Chicken" but I can't speak or write it. But knowing what " here comes a bear" means when my chickens belt out the phrase is plenty, believe me.

Thanks so much for all this information! I'm a new "Chicken Mama" and had heard the "egg song" in my first laying hens and was delighted. But this third new layer today has been just restlessly wandering between egg boxes and yard, bawking at the top of her lungs, so I started to get concerned that something was "stuck". Now I think she's just expressing the combination of being anxious over the very high winds today combined with her newness to laying. I'm going to keep an eye on her and whichever nest she chooses with less of my own anxiety and much gratitude for your informative and entertaining post...Sharon

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Thanks so much for all this information! I'm a new "Chicken Mama" and had heard the "egg song" in my first laying hens and was delighted. But this third new layer today has been just restlessly wandering between egg boxes and yard, bawking at the top of her lungs, so I started to get concerned that something was "stuck". Now I think she's just expressing the combination of being anxious over the very high winds today combined with her newness to laying. I'm going to keep an eye on her and whichever nest she chooses with less of my own anxiety and much gratitude for your informative and entertaining post...Sharon

When I had Ancona hens they always let my know hours before an egg was coming. Some hens are more vocal than others about the whole process. Generally a hen having problems will be more quiet.