Chickens and other birds and for that matter nearly all animals, especially woodland creatures have a complex and interdependent language of their own. The best example I use is the Blue Jay (or any Jay for that matter) in the woods or on the edge of a wooded area. When a human enters the bird's area, he or she shouts a very specific call and within seconds, any animal or bird that was out in the open before is no longer to be seen or heard by that human. My brother says this is why some people think it can be creepy entering a woods because it falls deafly silent.
I've only had my peeps since Saturday but I have extensive experience raising birds-- mostly ducks, pheasants, turkeys, quail and chukars. It was when I was a teenager, but in a few years I raised hundreds of pheasants and literally thousands of ducks. I had a bird fascination, what can I say? I lived on a large farm in Pennsylvania with plenty of wetlands and few predators. I was so into my ducks that it amazed my mom and dad that I could call on specific ducks, spot them on sight and be able to do this with a hundred plus ducks who returned every year. For a long time my mom would call me when she would see Owen, an unfortunately named female mallard, return to the bush outside the front porch where she makes her nest every year. She has unusually dark camo in her feathers and the white was exceptionally white. You'd think a hunter would have spotted her a mile away. This duck was raised by my brother and I. She followed us all summer and slept in our room and everything. I'm 31 now... very far from the family farm, but every time I see a mallard I have to stop and wonder if it's one of my own.
Anyway, my point of saying all this is that yes, I bet your chickens are communicating and doing so very well-- probably much more efficiently than most big-brained humans (relatively speaking)! The three buff orpingtons we have now already have a speech all their own. They're quite chatty in the morning so far.
Good thing they were already roosting in a tree for the night, or he might have come after me
