Curiosity or Pecking Order?

[KnARanch]

Hello All

Chickie girls are loving their independence and being outside. I've taken my lawn chair and summer read in several times - along with oats & almonds l- to just be there. They have also discovered worms & grubs!

In the shoop there is a shelf at my eye-height (with my muck shoes, I'm 5'8"). Dove, the Sapphire Gem who was always very skittish has decided to jump on the shelf (so have all of them apparently by all the on it) when I'm in the shoop and have a "conversation" with me. Yesterday, she lifted her head, stretched her neck, stared me in the eye, opened her beak and squawked at me - not clucked, but squawked. I squawked back, she did it louder! We exchanged once more and, although she didn't ruffle her feathers, I wasn't sure what she was going to do.

Thoughts? No other chickens were involved - they were all eating!

Sign me....

~Befuddled

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Of my three pullets, the Barred Rock is the only talky one, and she definitely makes up for the other two! She has a very distinctive “I am starving I am in fact dying I want out of the run Let me in the run Why is the cat staring at me Aren’t you ever gonna feed us again What is in that crackly-sounding plastic bag” three-note call. I bawk it back at her (pitch rises to a minor sixth), and we’re off and running.

Today while sitting out with them as they yard-ranged, I heard a very soft, slightly off-pitch version of the call, and looked up to see the Buff Orpington staring expectantly. Then the Easter Egger did the same. I sang it back at them (on pitch), and they were thunderstruck!

Have we established a language? If so, I need a universal translator!

 

[KnARanch]

I'm not sure - but I'm curious! I've been talking with my pullets since we got them. They don't like my renditions of 70s and 80s songs so I use falsetto to sing "Chickie do dah day" ala Foghorn Leghorn But when they squawk, I (try to) match their squawk.

I'm more concerned about ending up in a fight (for real) with one of them!

 

[thecatumbrella]

My pullet, Wren (featured in my profile pic), is the most skittish and also the most talkative. I think it's just a form of excitement. Now whether that's good, bad, or a little of both, who knows? But most of the chatter is reserved for husband and I!