No Love

[Chicken Strut]

@Arwenelfmaiden - Chick Pea looks READY! Has she been squatting? Singing the egg song? No eggs yet here! If you are willing to be bored, I have tons of pics to share.

 

[Tati]

@ shortgrass: Maybe, it was that I was a child, but they also made "duck duck" for my mother and grandmother. We have no children we are related to or friends with, so I cannot test our chickens with them. I'm afraid we have to live without "duck duck".

 

[Tati]

@ Chicken Strut: I suppose our 8 pullets were born in late April. (I bought them on clearance sale, some time in May.) They started laying about 10 days ago. We get 1 to 3 eggs a day. We have 2 Wyandottes, 2 Araucanas, 2 Sex Links, and 2 Plymouth Rocks. We don't know which ones are laying and which ones aren't. We are to far from their residence to hear their "success song", and we have never seen one sitting in the nest.

 

[Arwenelfmaiden]

How can you tell when a chicken is singing. I have a Wyandotte that is very noisy but I don't hear singing......???

 

[Chicken Strut]

@Tati - congrats on the eggs! And you'll only be getting more. Can't wait to find that first egg!

@Arwenelfmaiden - not that I have heard it out of my girls yet - but the egg song is distinctive (you'll recognize it when you hear it) and I'm told they sometimes practice it before The Big Event. Here's an example:

Also, my understanding is that getting "noisier" is the lead up to laying eggs for lots of hens.

 

[shortgrass]

How can you tell when a chicken is singing. I have a Wyandotte that is very noisy but I don't hear singing......???

It's not really "singing" per se, but different vocalizations... The egg song is definitely noticeable... Then there's the soft clucks they do when they're curious, the loud screechy squawks when they're upset someone is in their nest box, the growling they do when someone they don't want to share with cones up to the feeder(that one reminds me of the cats lol)... Weird rumbling growl when they're broody and you get too close.... They scream when I take to long with the food

Edit* oh yes, they practice the egg song... And then they'll do it when anyone else lays, or they pass gas, or get lost, or just feel like it....lol it becomes a cacaphony of egg songs once they get going; its quite musical sometimes, I guess

 

[Chicken Strut]

Mine also do this kind of squeaky honk that sounds like you quickly squeezed the bulb of an old timey bicycle horn - cracks me up! It's used to warn others away from what that one's eating, usually. Love those chicken sounds...

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Mine also do this kind of squeaky honk that sounds like you quickly squeezed the bulb of an old timey bicycle horn - cracks me up! It's used to warn others away from what that one's eating, usually. Love those chicken sounds...

I also love the kung fu movie noises some of my roosters make, they usually do it right after a more dominant rooster has moved them off, hyyaaaa.

 

[shortgrass]

Mine also do this kind of squeaky honk that sounds like you quickly squeezed the bulb of an old timey bicycle horn - cracks me up! It's used to warn others away from what that one's eating, usually. Love those chicken sounds...

I also love the kung fu movie noises some of my roosters make, they usually do it right after a more dominant rooster has moved them off, hyyaaaa.

ROFL

 

[PowerHens]

We only have 4 chickens. I have always thought that somehow they have pulled us in to their social circle. Because there are so few of them, they somehow need us. Lol! But who really knows. We lost our "lap chicken" this summer. She got sick and we had to put her down. She is the one who made me start looking at chickens as living, friendly, soci creatures. I have actually learned so much from observing how they interact. My son loves the chickens too, and handles them a lot. They run to him when he goes outside. It is beautiful.
I hope you start getting some love from your girls. You've gotten good advice here about treats and taking the time.