Hen "i found a bug dance"

[AnnPann]

I feel silly asking this, but I don't know what to search for here to find this answer and am wondering if there's some logical "chicken behavior" answer. I wish I had a video, but I rarely have my phone with me at the coop.

4 yr old Orpington. She's not the greatest forager, but when she does manage to find something like a grub or a catch a cricket that she's really excited about, she'll do this thing where she puts the bug down, makes tiny little clucking sounds, bobs her head, picks up the bug again, put its down, makes her noises, etc, etc. Sometimes this repeats 10 times before she finally gets around to eating it. That's if the other hens don't immediately hear her making her "i found a great bug" sound and run over and steal it from her, which happens 90% of the time. It's quite pitiful to see it happen to her over and over again.

Is this explainable chicken behavior? I'd think she'd have learned by now that she's going to get her bug stolen by doing this dance. She doesn't do this about every bug - only some. I watched her uncover a nest of grubs tonight, and she did this same dance 10 or 15 times (the other hens were out of earshot tonight).

I just am fascinated by her behavior, as none of my other hens do this. What is she doing?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Very normal. They get excited when they catch a bug, and some make such a ruckus over it that they alert the rest of the flock.

The picking it up and putting it down can also occur when the bug (or other food item) is positioned in the wrong way to easily swallow, so they'll try to reorient it. Or if it's large, or still squirming, they want it smashed up and dead, so they'll whack it a few times first.

 

[raingarden]

Has she ever had chicks?

 

[AnnPann]

Has she ever had chicks?

Not that I know of, but you know, that was my first thought is that almost seems like she’s intentionally calling and saying “eat this”. And it’s not wild and crazy - it’s a very calm and sweet “dance.” I got her from a neighbor - will ask her if she did.

 

[AnnPann]

Very normal. They get excited when they catch a bug, and some make such a ruckus over it that they alert the rest of the flock.

The picking it up and putting it down can also occur when the bug (or other food item) is positioned in the wrong way to easily swallow, so they'll try to reorient it. Or if it's large, or still squirming, they want it smashed up and dead, so they'll whack it a few times first.

I have seen her reposition a frog or other large bug when it’s really big, and I’ve seen her whack at one to kill it or rip it to pieces. But this is definitely a different routine than those times. It’s very interesting to watch them!

 

[AnnPann]

Has she ever had chicks?

Confirmed she has not had chicks. It's like she's sharing. I've seen her get mad at other hens for stealing something she found, but I realized that when she does her Grub Dance, she never gets made when they take it. It's really very sweet. Interestingly, she's the Hen in Charge (I have 7 hens, no roosters). Silly birds.

 

[raingarden]

Confirmed she has not had chicks. It's like she's sharing. I've seen her get mad at other hens for stealing something she found, but I realized that when she does her Grub Dance, she never gets made when they take it. It's really very sweet. Interestingly, she's the Hen in Charge (I have 7 hens, no roosters). Silly birds.

That's wild. It's like a rooster tid-bitting for his hens, not a hen tid-bitting for her chicks.