Loud chicken!

[aleia]

I have a flock consisting of light brahmas, barred rocks, and a golden-laced wyandotte, all of varying ages. The girls all get along quite well. However, my oldest light brahma is VERY loud! She began the behavior about 5 weeks ago - two weeks before she began laying - and at first I thought she was just trying to figure out how to lay. She is now a fairly consistent layer, but she is still so darn loud! She starts first thing in the morning, and then periodically throughout the day. None of my other chickens - laying or not - are doing this. What is going on?

 

[jstlitlome]

I'm fairly new and have 24 week old chickens who are all starting to lay over the last 3 weeks. They have just started singing the egg song. Not all of them, but a few of them. Its like they had to develop and learn it. I think its pretty cute, but I'm pretty far from any neighbors so we are the only one who have to hear it.

Is this what they are doing?

 

[aleia]

Yes it is!!! But she does it intermittently all day long, not just when she's laying. It is cute, but we do have neighbors. Will this mellow down so that she only sings when she's laying?

Even if not, it's nice to know that her behavior is normal. Thanks.

 

[Mac14]

I'm also going to guess it's the egg song.

 

[HereChikyChiky]

My Rhode Island Red, Scarlett makes a noise that does not sound anything like what's on the video. She's the only one of my 3 who does this. Ginger, the smallest of the girls is laying and does not make any noise except a little muttering. Ruby also lays and does not do this. I've checked for eggs whenever Scarlett starts the squawking, but no eggs. She just started squatting about 3 days ago, but she's been screaming like this for a couple of weeks. They are all 19 weeks old. Help...

 

[Mac14]

My Rhode Island Red, Scarlett makes a noise that does not sound anything like what's on the video. She's the only one of my 3 who does this. Ginger, the smallest of the girls is laying and does not make any noise except a little muttering. Ruby also lays and does not do this. I've checked for eggs whenever Scarlett starts the squawking, but no eggs. She just started squatting about 3 days ago, but she's been screaming like this for a couple of weeks. They are all 19 weeks old. Help...

This video reminds me of my chickens, they do this all the time, demanding treats.

 

[JonB]

HereChikyChiky-Nothing to worry about; our BR is always doing this when she wants out to range. She's a pushy girl..lol.

 

[jstlitlome]

Yep! I have several chickens who make this squawk sound. Usually because they want out of the coop, or they want food, or they want attention. I noticed on one of them, this squawk eventually sort of turned into the egg song, and she doesnt squawk anymore.

Its not a pretty sound, is it?

 

[crc310]

My rooster does an egg song when my hens lay! Lol Is that normal?

 

[chooks4life]

There are a few meanings behind both sounds. People have already stated some but here's my experiences.

The 'egg song' (or 'bok-bagark' as we call it), is often also used as an alarm call. This is not an issue, until you have a spacky neurotic chook who makes it when there is no issue at all. Some chickens can get mentally trapped in the looping circuit of making that noise all day, every day.

It's not actually too natural nor instinctive for a hen to scream the location of her precious nest to the world. Many birds celebrate laying with singing --- but away from the nest, usually. In this case I believe what we call the egg song is actually a modified instinct caused by human's long history of raiding chook nests. It is after all the natural panic or alarm call they tend to use when predators are in the area or their nest has been raided. I speculate that many hens reacted in that manner to finding humans had taken their eggs, and it's just bred on, like so many incorrect behaviors. Truly smart/instinctive hens do not advertise the location nor presence of their clutches.

I used to reliably know something was wrong and needed fixing when my chooks made the so-called 'egg song' because they didn't make it when laying, but only when predators were in the area. So I'd hear it a total of maybe once a month, or less. Later on, I got newer chooks who were mentally aberrant and liked to repeat this noise over and over and over again, all day every day. They were spacky, stupid, and neurotic.

In no time at all they had the whole flock joining in and repeating this nonstop all day, every day. Times that by 100+ chickens with close neighbours and you see the severity of the issue. It was insane. I managed to train some to shut up on command, but ended up culling the noisiest, and watching what I breed from more carefully. A noisy rooster or hen produces vocal offspring the majority of the time. Also, people repeating their own noises at them can bring about this nonstop noise-making. I have actually had hens who would repeat it until they ran out of oxygen, unable to stop themselves. They were hysterical in the clinical sense of the word and I culled them too. Yeah, I do a lot of culling. It's far quicker and more effective than breeding bad traits out.

About the 'roarrrr' noise they do, as people have noted it means they want something. In this case I think she possibly wants a rooster. My hens don't make that noise unless locked in a cage, which is rarely done to them, and even then they rarely complain for long because I cull for excessive complaints of any kind... Most do not complain at all. The majority of the time, when they make that noise, it's because their boyfriend is absent or I've culled a rooster they were used to having around.