Does anyone know how to "interpret" different noises your hens make?

[missypebble]

I have 3 beloved hens that I keep them as pets. Each comes with a very distinct personality and I love them dearly. However, I happen to have one hen, Butterscotch who whines and whines and whines and whines constantly! She lays one egg every month or two. She's close to 2 years old and she has never had problem with egg laying, until last year, she decided to stop laying an egg every other day; the last egg I collected from her was in early May this year. I don't think that she's sick, but whenever she whines so much, I put her in a somewhat dark and quiet room so she can stay there all by herself. She would then stop whining. Nonetheless, my hens make all sort of different sound, and the one sound that I absolutely love the most sounds like a "purring" sound - if that makes any sense to anyone! It's the CUTEST sound ever! They make the sound whenever all of them are relaxing on my cool title floor - not standing up, but squatting down. It's truly the cutest image. I want to "understand" their noises so if anyone likes to share his/ her knowledge on chickens' sound and noises, I would totally love to know!

Thanks for reading my post!

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

From what I understand, when a chicken "purrs" it is very content and happy.

Another sound is the "Bawk Bawk Bawkaaaawk" that hens make after laying. This is appropriately named the "egg song". I read before that this means the hen is sort of bragging that she laid an egg, though I have heard my rooster join in on several occasions. So either he is confused, or I am, lol.

My rooster also makes a choppy sound that goes something like "Bok Bok Bok Bok Bok Bok" and he points at the ground. From my observations, this seems to mean he has found a bug or tasty treat. The hens will then run over to him and eat it.

Then of course, my rooster makes the famous "Cocka Doodle Doo", although it sounds more like "Eeer Eeer Oooh", Lol.


I'm not sure why your hen whines. I have never heard of this before.


Chickens sure do make lots of sounds! Good Luck with your hen!

 

[dowgirl71]

I know what you mean by that "happy" noise they make. It is so cute! Two of my chickens are Buff Orpingtons and they are only about 6 weeks old, but they seem to be the happiest of my girls. They make that sound often and always come over to greet me. Mine are a lot of fun and DEFINITELY pets!

 

[ShellLea]

I have one that whines at my feet every time I go out without the treat bucket. She is a greedy little pig and thinks that I am only on this earth to give her treats. Once she figures out I'm not feeding her she goes back to the other birds and I can tell by the tone of her voice that she is complaining about me. I have another that likes to play tag. She will run up to me and then run off repeatedly until I give her a little chase. Of course I can't catch her and she makes a laughing sound when I give up and walk away. Then she starts the game again...

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

I have one that whines at my feet every time I go out without the treat bucket. She is a greedy little pig and thinks that I am only on this earth to give her treats. Once she figures out I'm not feeding her she goes back to the other birds and I can tell by the tone of her voice that she is complaining about me. I have another that likes to play tag. She will run up to me and then run off repeatedly until I give her a little chase. Of course I can't catch her and she makes a laughing sound when I give up and walk away. Then she starts the game again...

I have never heard of that before! That is absolutely hilarious! I have a hen who plays with my dog. This particular hen challenges my dog just about every time she walks past her. My dog will then bark and get down into a play position. Then the chicken will run up to her and chase her, then run away, and so on.

It is so weird.

 

[missypebble]

From what I understand, when a chicken "purrs" it is very content and happy.

Another sound is the "Bawk Bawk Bawkaaaawk" that hens make after laying. This is appropriately named the "egg song". I read before that this means the hen is sort of bragging that she laid an egg, though I have heard my rooster join in on several occasions. So either he is confused, or I am, lol.

My rooster also makes a choppy sound that goes something like "Bok Bok Bok Bok Bok Bok" and he points at the ground. From my observations, this seems to mean he has found a bug or tasty treat. The hens will then run over to him and eat it.

Then of course, my rooster makes the famous "Cocka Doodle Doo", although it sounds more like "Eeer Eeer Oooh", Lol.


I'm not sure why your hen whines. I have never heard of this before.


Chickens sure do make lots of sounds! Good Luck with your hen!

Ah, ok...so the "purrs" is a happy sound! I now feel better!!! They just don't "look" that "happy" to me or maybe I can't tell by their facial expressions!!! But that is very good to know! Oh and I Do have one BO that makes the "egg song" Every time she finished laying an egg. She does it very loudly and I have to constantly "monitor" her timing to take her inside because the neighbor will complain, and I will be in trouble with the city! ; )))
My other hen, RIR sometimes makes a sound before she start laying an egg - I'm not particularly fond of this sound, but it sounds like she's in "labor pain"! but I've also heard that is normal!
For the whining sound, I personally interpret that as she's Very Unhappy! Not sure how on earth she could be...BUT, I do have to lock all of my hens during my working hours....Maybe they feel like I'm not treating them well! But God knows, I love them like they're my only kids!!!

 

[missypebble]

I have one that whines at my feet every time I go out without the treat bucket. She is a greedy little pig and thinks that I am only on this earth to give her treats. Once she figures out I'm not feeding her she goes back to the other birds and I can tell by the tone of her voice that she is complaining about me. I have another that likes to play tag. She will run up to me and then run off repeatedly until I give her a little chase. Of course I can't catch her and she makes a laughing sound when I give up and walk away. Then she starts the game again...

My hens acted Exactly the same way if I don't give them the treats they're looking for!!! My RIR would do this especially loudly, then gave me a "dirty" look and walked away from me immediately! She's a spoiled princess (as my husband called her). And that is Very funny that yours know how to play tag!!! You should share record it next time when you have a chance and we'd love to see her in action!!! It's so amazing how chickens are so adorable with very unique personalities! I dreamt about chickens quite a bit! Am I crazy?!

 

[missypebble]

I have never heard of that before! That is absolutely hilarious! I have a hen who plays with my dog. This particular hen challenges my dog just about every time she walks past her. My dog will then bark and get down into a play position. Then the chicken will run up to her and chase her, then run away, and so on.

It is so weird.

Did you have to train your dog to be gentle to your chickens? I thought chickens naturally are afraid of dogs, but I guess sometimes under the right condition, they do feel comfortable!

 

[missypebble]

I know what you mean by that "happy" noise they make. It is so cute! Two of my chickens are Buff Orpingtons and they are only about 6 weeks old, but they seem to be the happiest of my girls. They make that sound often and always come over to greet me. Mine are a lot of fun and DEFINITELY pets!

I do like BO a lot. They're quite friendly! I wish mine were a little more "cuddlier" for me to hold! One of my BO occasionally would peck at my hand if I try to touch her feeder! She's quite aggressive toward me but she's the lowest pecking order...figure that out!

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

Did you have to train your dog to be gentle to your chickens? I thought chickens naturally are afraid of dogs, but I guess sometimes under the right condition, they do feel comfortable!

Yes, I had to train both of my dogs to be gentle with my birds. All of my chickens have been raised around the dogs, so they are very much used to them.

It's funny, one of my dogs (Hound mix, not the one that plays with my hen) is very scared of the chickens. Its funny to see a 60lb dog go inside the house because a chicken decided to take her favorite sun bathing spot.

My border collie isn't scared of the birds. She is the one who plays with that one hen. I try to limit them playing together though, because I am scared my dog will get too rough. After all, there is a major size difference, and my dog could easily hurt my hen if she started playing too rough. But the chicken is always the one who starts this game with my dog. And my dog just sort of goes a long with it, lol.