Noisy chickens

[momonator]

My hens have just started laying. And I'm still trying to get them to use the nesting boxes in the henhouse. But lately I've noticed one hen will make a loud clucking noise for several minutes, and then the roosters join in. First time, I thought they were in distress. But no, they were just standing around. Do hens make "announcements" when they lay their eggs? And I did find 9 eggs on the ground so I know they (8 hens) have started laying. I did find 3 eggs in the box in the henhouse, but then after hearing them being very noisy, we looked under the house and found 2 more eggs.

 

[gryeyes]

Yes, that's called the Egg Song! It's very similar to an alert/warning, but hens do announce their egg-laying. And roosters often join in.

The "telling" bit is that is sounds like "bok-bok-bok-bok-bok-bok-bok-BA-GAWK!!!" with great emphasis on the last syllable of the stanza.

 

[momonator]

Thanks for the info. I was getting tired of running around the yard making sure my "babies" were alright. And lately, my alpha rooster has taken to chasing (or attacking my granddaughter). We told her to stand her ground and try to scare him off, but this hasn't stopped the attacks. And he does get in some pecks. We can't figure out why the alpha roo sees her as a threat. And we don't want to have him for Sunday dinner.