egg song & much more.... all chickens involved!!!

[Edel]

loco is right!!! lol! fun to watch!

 

[Edel]

that is funny! These chickens sure make me laugh! I thought they were all coaching her.... but maybe they were all just being crazy..... lol!

 

[MadamPoofyBrow]

Hey!

I have 12 giant cochins that are six months old. Three are roos, so I'm still waiting for the eight hens to start laying. Their combs are starting to turn, but no other egg signs. No squatting, no 'courting' from the roos, and no hen behavior. Any idea how long until I start getting eggs???
These guys are HUGE!!! They free range, but have nesting boxes in their coop and go up at night. Think they're laying elsewhere, or just haven't started yet?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Hey!

I have 12 giant cochins that are six months old. Three are roos, so I'm still waiting for the eight hens to start laying. Their combs are starting to turn, but no other egg signs. No squatting, no 'courting' from the roos, and no hen behavior. Any idea how long until I start getting eggs???
These guys are HUGE!!! They free range, but have nesting boxes in their coop and go up at night. Think they're laying elsewhere, or just haven't started yet?

Cochins are generally a very slow maturing breed - were your birds sourced from a hatchery or breeder?

 

[MadamPoofyBrow]

They are from a local breeder specializing in giant Cochins

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

They are from a local breeder specializing in giant Cochins

Then they are going to be more in line with the breed characteristics and will likely be quite slow to mature and seem "late" in laying (they'll be right on time for their breed, but they are not going to lay as early as more production geared breeds). The hatchery version of the breed would be more likely to lay a bit earlier.

 

[MadamPoofyBrow]

Okay, thanks! I have forty other hens LAying so I'm not that impatient, I just read they started laying before silkies which is what I'm used to so was expecting an egg a lot sooner.
And meant to ad, one of the Roos mounted the biggest hen yesterday. Does that just mean he's mature, or possibly mean she may lay soon?

 

[cluckcluckluke]

The "egg song" is not really directly related to the laying of eggs - it is just most commonly associated with that event, so that is the name it's become stuck with. It is more reasonable (and understandable as a group activity) if you think of it as a chicken game of "marco-polo".

To my knowledge the 'egg song' is actually connected closely to the laying of eggs. Before gallus became domesticated, a harem of Jungle Fowl hens would all stockpile their eggs in a nest ready for incubation. After every egg laid the chicken would walk out from the secret nest spot and begin squawking, today know as the egg song. This very selfless squawking would lead the attention of any nearby predators away from the valuable eggs and upon the noisy hen, therefore safe guarding the next generation.
Nowadays they no longer need to worry about their eggs being stolen from the evils of the jungle, unless you count us humans daily egg collection, and yet they still continue to sing their wonderful song much like their ancestors did many a year ago

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

To my knowledge the 'egg song' is actually connected closely to the laying of eggs. Before gallus became domesticated, a harem of Jungle Fowl hens would all stockpile their eggs in a nest ready for incubation. After every egg laid the chicken would walk out from the secret nest spot and begin squawking, today know as the egg song. This very selfless squawking would lead the attention of any nearby predators away from the valuable eggs and upon the noisy hen, therefore safe guarding the next generation.
Nowadays they no longer need to worry about their eggs being stolen from the evils of the jungle, unless you count us humans daily egg collection, but they continue to sing their wonderful song much like their ancestors did many a year ago

The other theory behind it is what I subscribe and was referring to - the "Marco Polo" analogy relates to the theory that the "egg song" is related to the same basic scenario you are describing except that rather than calling predators away from the eggs it is a "where are you/here I am" call between flockmates to help coordinate and allow for reunion of the flock after a bird has gone off to lay their egg. The reason it is not believed to be specific to egg laying is that it is also used during other times when a flock has become separated - the generalized useage of the call/respond "song" is seen in many other situations that are in no way related to the laying of an egg - hence the belief that it is a much more generalized call than the name would lead you to believe.

 

[cluckcluckluke]

Quote:
Oh yes for sure. I wasn't trying to say that the call was specific only to that behavior but that it is still used when egg laying has taken place (for either theory). My hens do the egg song, or perhaps a slightly different version to it when one gets lost while free ranging or when an eagle swoops over head and they all want to meet up under the coop to talk evasion tactics hahaha.
Personally I have only observed about four main vocalizations from my chickens; the egg laying/distressed call from hens, the happy clucking which includes variations when eating or foraging, a gargling sound from the roosters which I think is when they are happy or just talking to gals (usually happens after mating) and another squawking/ gargling sound from the roosters when they see danger. Other people have said that their roosters can even distinguish between certain types of predators or a predator from a distance/ close and have different calls for each. So all up there isn't a huge array of calls and obviously chickens are able to use generalized calls and still get across their message