Does the, "I made an egg!" crow start first? *Update:First egg pics*

[ChooksChick]

Saturday our point-of-lay 21 week-old BR started crowing like she'd been peeled.

DDs and I dashed out earnestly anticipating our first egg, but were disappointed to see Moe standing on the patio braying like a donkey. No egg there...

We looked in the nesting boxes, alas, disappointed.

It's a huge yard filled with a billion places to hide eggs from us and egg-colored leaves everywhere 4 inches deep, so I'm really not surprised, nor do I blame her for hiding the hen-fruit...if that's what happened, but I'm irritated that I'm not around to see the spot. Our neighbor has reported crowing during the day, and Sunday my kids heard it start while they were in the yard...but no suspicious behavior occurred immediately prior...so my question:

Do pullets crow when gearing up to become layers, or is it strictly a response to having done the deed?

 

[basicliving]

I wouldn't call what my hens do "crowing" - it's more like a "bawk bawk bawk bawk BA_WOCK" The last syllable is VERY loud.

Most of mine do it after they have laid an egg - but I have one that is very melodramatic. She begins her yelling as she heads for the nest, continues the entire time she is in the nest, gets even more frantic with it as she is laying the egg, keeps right on a good 3 or 4 minutes after she's laid, and then runs into the chicken yard for her grand finale to declare she has, once again, laid a golden egg.

You need to catch her right when she starts the yelling. Other than the melodramatic one, the rest of mine begin as soon as they lay.

Good luck!

Penny

 

[aiwetir]

my girls have bok bok bok ba gawked for no apparent reason or maybe it was at a falling leaf

 

[ChooksChick]

Do they ever start this operatic ba-BOOOCK stuff before they are actually layers? Is it something she could be doing that isn't really about an egg hiding in my yard?

Am I possibly too expectant?

Also, if one locks the birds in where the nest boxes are during the time they start to lay, will they possibly make their deposits in the coop despite having a lovely yard in which to hide them? I'm afraid I'll never have my eggs if let them free-range as they always have, but I'd like to let them continue free-ranging...feel free to lie to me to make me feel better.

 

[courtshep]

I was just going to post on this topic. I have a Buff Cochin, as far as I know she hasn't laid yet. All day long she "bawk bawk bawks" like and egg is going to pop out. Nothing yet!! My EE has laid and my bantam has. What color egg does a cochin lay? Why is she so loud??

 

[BawkinOnTheBench]

2 of my hens laid for the first time last Friday. We got an egg really early in the morning, and I didn't expect anything more. I let them all out to free range around noon, and perhaps an hour later another of them returned to lay her first egg in the nest box. If I'd thought another was going to lay, I wouldn't have let them out precisely for that reason, but as it turns out, it wasn't an issue.

And we only got the egg squawk that one time. I picked the egg up, walked back up the path and all of sudden the air raid siren started! I quickly gave her some sunflower seeds to shut her up!

 

[the1much]

when my hens lay their quiet,,,,,, but that doesnt go for her CHEERING SECTION.,, man sometimes 4 hens cheerin 1 on ( so they can all take turns in the 1 nest

) ,, then the "layer" finally does her BOCKK BOCK,, after she's done.

 

[ella]

Some will absolutely start bagoking before they've ever laid an egg. I've had hens that start weeks before they lay their first, though it's normally only a few days to a week early.

You don't need to lock them up to get them to lay in the boxes. When they're getting ready for their first egg they will search all over for the perfect spot, most find that the nest boxes that we humans make for them are perfect.

Don't be surprised if you see nesting behavior too, she'll get in the nest kick stuff around, make weird noises, celebrate the egg she hasn't laid and leave- she's just practicing. Eggs will come eventually, neither you nor she has any control over when it happens.

You can help them pick the right spot with some fake eggs though. They like to lay where there are already eggs. Golf balls or anything that looks/feels a little like an egg will work too.

 

[ella]

Duh, should've added that that call is also their 'ground predator alert' they'll do that if they see a dog or cat or chipmunk.

Also other hens and roosters will pick up the call if they hear someone doing it.

 

[ChooksChick]

Perfect...my DD put a couple of peach-colored golf balls DH brought home for her into the boxes, so that might help.

So far they've shunned the nest boxes, but I suspected it was because our yard is full of spots that could yield privacy and coziness.

Thanks for all of your help! I'll keep you updated!