Chicken languages... What do they mean?

Quote:LOL, I talk to my chickens all the time, Ive had chickens for a couple of years and all Ive learned is the hide call from the roosters and when a hawk is above when I here him make this real shrill long call i automatically look up and sure enough theres a hawk or in most cases several hawks hovering up there,and all the girls run for cover immediatly other than that my Uno talks to me all the time and follows me around just chatting away, I got no idea what she is really saying , but I talk back all the same, Pretty sure she is either a gossiper or a tattletell telling on someone, just don't know who. LOL Gotta love those girls!

 

I was just telling my husband how the chickens actually HAVE a language and make different sounds to each other to communicate. He looked at me like I have been spending too much time in the chicken yard.

 

Quote:Pretty sure they do, but then again I could be spending too much time out there too, LOL but for sure they have a hawk call.

 

I carry on a conversation with my chickens daily. They seem to answer me back. Sometimes I feel like one of my hens is fussing because I don't let her out of the run soon enough, but most of the time the conversations are pleasant. LOL

 

Quote:My Delaware fusses at me all the time! She fusses when she wants out...she fusses when the wind blows the door closed and she needs to get in and lay an egg....she fusses when I walk outside without having her a treat.....she is my high maintenance girl Gloria the diva chicken!

 

I understand chicken, but I don't speak it. I'm just not that good at mimicry! Now, my daughter can imitate anything. She can do an egg song that is indistinguishable from a hen's. Broodies make a kind of soft "buk buk buk buk" sound that is similar to the sound a rooster makes when he finds a good treat and wants to call his hens over.

There used to be a kookaburra at our zoo's walk in aviary. My daughter would do her imitation of a kookaburra's laugh, and the real bird would reply. It was really cool. Then one of the birds allowed free flight in the aviary, a white rumped shama, perched on the kookaburra's cage. The keepers hadn't realized it, but the cage wires were far enough apart so the kookaburra was able to grab the smaller bird with her beak and pull it inside her cage. Kookaburras prey on other birds in the wild, and sadly the shama was killed before it could be rescued. So of course the kookaburra was relocated elsewhere.

 

Quote:this is how I would describe it. I don't even think her mouth opens, it's more muttled sounding. when we had a broody girl that hatched her own, it was so amazing to watch her teach her chicks. before having chickens, you don't even think about how they "learn" to do what they do! but someone has to teach them what to eat and how to do things, and to keep them in line and protected. I think that was one of my most favorite times, was when we had a momma teaching her babies

 

Mine know how to say "Let me out of here right this minute!" and they frequently utter it when they wish to free range. It sounds like someone doing karate... Waaaaaaahhhhh!

The roo tells his girls often "Hey baby, look what I've got here." then he shows them some morsel of food his fervent and diligent search has uncovered. It sounds like a short cluck of sorts.

The hens proudly proclaim "HELLO THERE, ENTIRE FREE WORLD! I MUST SAY THAT I'VE JUST LAID THE GRANDEST EGG IN THE HISTORY OF EGGS! NO OTHER EGG WILL EVER COMPARE IN THE GRANDNESS OF THAT EGG THAT I LAID JUST NOW!!! IT IS TRULY A THING OF BEAUTY AND YOU SHOULD ALL BE SO BLESSED WITH EGG LAYING SKILLS SUCH AS MINE." whenever they leave me a gift in the nest. It sounds like Bok, bok, bok, bok, bok, bok, bok, baGOOOOCCCCCK! (You must open your eyes extra wide on the "Gock" part for it to be pronounced correctly.)

And then - of course - you have the well known crow of the roo (which contrary to popular belief, sounds nothing like "cock-a-doodle-doo" - shocking, I know). This noise - "Errr, er, er, ERRRRRR" science has translated to mean "I'm here. I'm staying. And nobody's gonna make me leave." Sadly, science has also shown that there is no word in the chicken language for "hatchet".