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

[azygous]

It's very gratifying to hear from someone else who's learned some of the chicken language! I think it's fascinating.

It's also very useful. My chickens tell me a lot. I used to be on guard all the time during the summer and fall because of the threat of predators to my chickens. But now I relax, and don't even bother looking around since I know my rooster will be the first to alert me when danger is approaching.

The other day when I entered the pen to bring the feeders in (they get taken in at night because of the bears), the hens told me there was danger lurking. A second later, I saw the rattlesnake curled up in the corner of the pen, not rattling since it was tiny and had only one button.

One sound I've never been able to decode is the long, drawn-out keening the rooster does, and on occasion, a hen will do it, too. Any idea what it means?

 

[Daisy8s]

MissyPebble, I raised my first set of chicks inside the house in a home-made brooder. I have 2 dogs that live in the house but roam free outside during the day. The chicks very quickly got used to the dogs and never really showed any fear of them. By the time the chicks moved to the outside coop, they thought the dogs were part of the family and in some ways, looked to them for protection. I was very careful to train my dogs to not harm the chickens, which was my much bigger concern. One dog, Darby, a terrier beagle mutt, was easy to train as she never really took a lot of interest in the chicks. The other dog, Shadow, is a shephard mix and he's also blind. It took a lot longer to train him, because of his personality, breed and his blindness. He's still very interested in the chickens, partly because he can't see them so has to stare in their direction and listen and smell just to figure out where they are. But he's doing pretty well. The big thing I did was make him sit when he's around them. It helps him lower his dominance standing and just makes it harder for him to think of them as prey if he's sitting or laying down. I'm to the point where he can be left alone with them while I'm in the coop cleaning. He even lets them peck at him and walk over his tail without getting up to move. He still gets up and moves when they climb on his back but at some point, I hope he's so used to them that he'll even be comfortable with this.

Guppy

That's so interesting! I have two dogs and they're the same mixes. Just like you my beagle/terrier mix was never that interested in the chickens (she's too busy digging for moles!) And, my Australian shepherd/golden retriever mix is the one who initially killed a hen but, since training, is completely safe with them.

 

[Daisy8s]

It's very gratifying to hear from someone else who's learned some of the chicken language! I think it's fascinating.

It's also very useful. My chickens tell me a lot. I used to be on guard all the time during the summer and fall because of the threat of predators to my chickens. But now I relax, and don't even bother looking around since I know my rooster will be the first to alert me when danger is approaching.

The other day when I entered the pen to bring the feeders in (they get taken in at night because of the bears), the hens told me there was danger lurking. A second later, I saw the rattlesnake curled up in the corner of the pen, not rattling since it was tiny and had only one button.

One sound I've never been able to decode is the long, drawn-out keening the rooster does, and on occasion, a hen will do it, too. Any idea what it means?

Now that it's summer and all the windows are open I use my hearing to monitor the flock exclusively. I know when they've gotten into the garden and are digging up something yummy because the hen "tidbits" for her chicks. But, being so attuned to the outdoor sounds was driving me crazy when a robin pair hatched some chicks in a nest near the house. Even though their sounds are completely different than the chickens I kept reacting to every alarm call they gave--drove me nuts but I couldn't NOT look when they were sounding it (and I'm glad I did as I caught my dog pestering the nest a few times).

Twice I've heard my rooster do a mournful mewling sound when he's been very upset (restrained and separated from the flock, then released and going in search of them). He sounds like a softly whimpering human baby. Is this what you mean? I wouldn't really call it keening, though, as it isn't loud or wailing.

 

[missypebble]

Yeah I think my hens definitely "spoke" those languages that you were referring to! Although I'm terrible at truly paying attention to their "languages", I think they do have certain sounds that they make to communicate different messages. I've yet to learn how to have a voice recorder handy whenever they "speak" because I think this will be very interesting to share/ and to learn from people! I definitely understand whenever they are alearting each other about a potential danger or that they just saw something quickly passed by! It's quite comical to hear it! There's really one thing that I wish chickens can do and that is whenever they are sick or unwell, they would "speak" and let me know immediately. I found out that chickens are good at "hiding" whatever that's killing them or making them sick and since I'm very new at raising chickens, I most often don't know what's going on with them most of the time.

 

[missypebble]

CHicken sounds: what I found is that I can pretty much understand the language of chickens if I use both my emotions/intuition and also my visual observations of what they are doing when they make a particular sound. Purring chickens -- one always likes to hear that, right? Well, in part you can tell by the fact that the sound is nice and enjoyable that it means "I'm happy." THe sounds my hens make when they are whining, really SOUND like whining! Annoying, irritating to listen to, they whine when they see me come to their coop, begging and whining for scraps and treats. The bok bok bok they make after laying an egg, I call the "I laid an egg!" triumphal call. THen there are crying sounds, which I don't really hear except from my bantam, which are soft and plaintive, meaning, "help me, I need help". THere are sounds that mean, "I just saw a rat!! Take care!!" when they see some rodent scurry across the way: a call that is urgent and quick and short. THen there is the "I'm pi$$ed" sound which is different from the whiny begging sound: my Sussex is pi$$Ed when I put her in isolation to get her to stop brooding, and I can tell from her tone. There are also questioning sounds, that sound like the chicken is asking, "SO what is this? What's going on here? I'm curious?"

I read that chickens can make about 30 different kinds of sounds. It's fun to learn to understand all these!

(By the way, why is backyard chickens censoring the word pi$$ed? I typed it in normally and it came out all asterisks. THis is not a profanity.)

One of my BOs definitely LOVE to make the "I'm ******" sound!!! As a matter of fact, she does it E.V.E.R.Y D.A.Y!!! She's also the one that's been making the whining sound - and yes, like you said, it's a very annoying sound to hear. She does it then she gave me a "I'm not Happy!" look at the same time!!! I picked her up and at first, I didn't know, she would peck at my lips, and they did bleed!! I had that happened a few times so now whenever I want to pick her up or cuddle with her, I have to hide my lips!!! But she continues to whine even if I give her treats or spend time with her! I do not know what's going on with her, except that she's a spoiled rascal!
My other RIR would make the "I'm here...ain't nobody mess with me!!!" whenever I let her out from the coop first thing in the morning! She would make the sound louldy and proudly and walk about with her chest protruding forward and continued making the sound for the next 5 minutes! I think she thinks she is a rooster!!!
I do also think it's fun to learn all the sounds that they make!

 

[missypebble]

Now that it's summer and all the windows are open I use my hearing to monitor the flock exclusively. I know when they've gotten into the garden and are digging up something yummy because the hen "tidbits" for her chicks. But, being so attuned to the outdoor sounds was driving me crazy when a robin pair hatched some chicks in a nest near the house. Even though their sounds are completely different than the chickens I kept reacting to every alarm call they gave--drove me nuts but I couldn't NOT look when they were sounding it (and I'm glad I did as I caught my dog pestering the nest a few times).

Twice I've heard my rooster do a mournful mewling sound when he's been very upset (restrained and separated from the flock, then released and going in search of them). He sounds like a softly whimpering human baby. Is this what you mean? I wouldn't really call it keening, though, as it isn't loud or wailing.

HA! I didn't know rooster gets upset when it's not with the rest of the flock! That's really cute though!!!

 

[missypebble]

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.

That's very nice!!! I want to get a dog, but I don't think I have the ability to train it not to hurt my hens. One of my hens got attacked from a strayed dog more than 2 years ago, she passed away the next day (I spent over $600 for the vet to close the wounds). I've been in mourning ever since...I couldn't get the picture of the dog attacked my hen out of my head. I still cry whenever I remmeber that day/ hours. ....Anyway, I love animals, but I think I will only be able to have a dog if someone would help me train it very well!!

 

[CaCO3]

D@mn got censored on me too. I felt so.... Naughty.

 

[missypebble]

I hope I don't come across as officious sounding, but the "sounds" you all are talking about is really a language, and it's a language complete with syntax, like the sentences in which we humans speak. This has been verified by recent bird studies.

If you pay close attention to the "Bok, bok, bawking", you'll begin to discern a sequence of notes with accents on different notes according to what a chicken is saying.

For example, the phrase for, "Here comes the cat", is five notes with the same emphasis on all five notes, while the phrase for, "Here comes the human", is five notes with the emphasis on the third note." A phrase I dread hearing is very similar to "Here comes the cat or here comes the squirrel", but it is spoken in a very low, discreet tone, and it means, "Here comes danger." When I hear that, I know when I look up, I'm going to see a bear coming toward the pen.

The thing that clued me in to the fact that chickens are speaking in language was a two-day old chick I was holding when the cat walked into the room. The chick chirped out the exact same phrase for "Here comes the cat" as I'd heard my adult chickens utter when they saw the cat. It was after that that I really started listening to my chickens. They have a lot to tell us.

I really wish you could make a video so I can learn all the "languages"! That's funny that they actually make a different sound for "here comes the human" vs. "here comes the cat"!!! I do know that my chickens are especially "talkative" whenever I have a guest/ stranger comes over to visit them! They would first "Check" out the stranger by circling around her a few times, of course, keeping a safe distance, while being VERY talkative at the same time!!! I can't tell if they're happy there's a stranger or if they're annoyed about it! So as I am writing this thread, my BO is making the "I am SO BORED" sound....I don't know how to describe it, but it's a long "booooooooooaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh" sound and end in shrieking, then it gets louder and louder! And right about now, I have to get up and put her to bed!!!

 

[CaCO3]

CHicken sounds: what I found is that I can pretty much understand the language of chickens if I use both my emotions/intuition and also my visual observations of what they are doing when they make a particular sound.  Purring chickens -- one always likes to hear that, right?  Well, in part you can tell by the fact that the sound is nice and enjoyable that it means "I'm happy."  THe sounds my hens make when they are whining, really SOUND like whining!  Annoying, irritating to listen to, they whine when they see me come to their coop, begging and whining for scraps and treats.  The bok bok bok they make after laying an egg, I call the "I laid an egg!" triumphal call.  THen there are crying sounds, which I don't really hear except from my bantam, which are soft and plaintive, meaning, "help me, I need help".  THere are sounds that mean, "I just saw a rat!!  Take care!!" when they see some rodent scurry across the way: a call that is urgent and quick and short.  THen there is the "I'm pi$$ed" sound which is different from the whiny begging sound: my Sussex is pi$$Ed when I put her in isolation to get her to stop brooding, and I can tell from her tone.  There are also questioning sounds, that sound like the chicken is asking, "SO what is this?  What's going on here?  I'm curious?"  

I read that chickens can make about 30 different kinds of sounds.  It's fun to learn to understand all these!

(By the way, why is backyard chickens censoring the word pi$$ed?  I typed it in normally and it came out all asterisks.  THis is not a profanity.)

(That last post was in response to you)

And my chickens make weird noises especially the silkies they sound like kazoos