Is it normal for chickens to make a purrring sound?

[abhaya]

My new girls got the first day to free range I was out chopping wood and working on my new coop and heard this wierd sound. The new girls were dust basting and purring is that normal? I hope it means they are happy

 

[CoffeeCow]

they make all kinds of strange noises, from growls to almost human words!
I heard one person say that when their chickens saw a hawk, they would actually yell "HAWK!"

 

[kla37]

I have had 2 of my australorps do that when I'm holding them. It's like this weird super soft clucking while their eyes are drifting closed for a nap. I love it!

 

[gritsar]

I hear the purr/growl when something's up; when the chickens percieve a danger, real or only in their minds.

 

[greenSearcher]

Being a cat person, I find the purring so neat. My first batch hasn't purred to my knowledge, but the babies this year I have spent more time taming. The NN purr when being held and the bare skin is being stroked gently, but the silkie simply vibrates like a small engine. I give Gimpie Reiki a couple times a week, and during the session he seems asleep, but when he has enough he starts to purr and shortly there after chirps and wants down. He had a splayed leg when he arrived 4 weeks ago, and it is slowing responding. He is smaller than the other silkies, but gets around, eats treats with all the others and is actually sheltered by the EEs and other Silkies. As long as he thrives and keeps growing, I will do Reiki on him and let him be with the others. I tried to brace the leg, but he screamed and fell over and was immediately pecked on by the other chicks. As long as he is part of the flock and is happy, he won't be culled.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Chickens do purr. They can purr silently, so that you feel it when you are holding them, and also audibly.
I love to listen to my Golden Campines, who purr almost every night when they are closed up in their coops. "Brrrrrrrrrr"

 

[kitkatnoah]

Mine all purr when they see me with food & when they find something tasty when they're free ranging

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

The first time I heard "the purr" was when I decided to turn the light bulb back on in the coop for my girls (that I've had the longest now), when they were just getting fully feathered.

I thought, you know, it's too cold for them. And windy. So I went back out to the coop and turned that light back on, and Whoa!!! The sound they made was the HAPPIEST chicken sound ever- a true purr- my first.

 

[ladybug99]

mine purr .. i make a point of touching each one before I leave the coop at night.. each one has thier own special little purrr it is very cute

 

[Cavendish Chickens]

I can tell when my hens make happy, or content, sounds. But my rooster is more difficult to tell. He does make a certain cluck I've learned to understand. It's when I throw them out a treat and he is first to it. He makes this excited clucking sound that brings the girls over. There is a noise I too question. It's like a cross between a purr and a growl. It starts off low pitch, to high pitch, to low pitch. I'm not sure what it means. He could just be standing there by himself with no one, and nothing, bothering him and does it. So I'm not sure what it means.