purpose of racket hen makes after laying egg

[centrarchid]

Seen enough now in free range setting to conclude hen's racket (cackling / egg song) facilitates regrouping with flock. Hen comes in with rooster and rest of flock, goes to nest and stays for about an hour, while flock wanders off. `When hen is done she leaves nest and makes her "I am done now" racket and rooster immediately responds and goes to collect and cover her as they return to flock. Sequence must be important because flock wanders a couple hundred feet from hen and she would have a hard time finding group without vocal communication.

Sound in hen house probable just serves to get rooster to cover her.

 

[chickened]

I thought it was a diversionary tactic to conceal the nest.

 

[Qi Chicken]

I really agree with the OP. If you look at what happens when the hen does all that squaking. #1. Everybody looks at her, drawing attention to her location. #2 The flock comes to get her or she finds the flock through vocalizations. I've also seen ours do it when they simply have wandered off, no egg laying involved. In the hen house is kind of like a "Dad! I'm done, come get me, where is everybody?!?"

 

[clairabean]

I thought it was a victory cry. Pushing those eggs out every day can't be easy.

 

[centrarchid]

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With some hens it might be diversionary. Sallie, game hen, walks real sneaky like a distance of a hundred feet from nest before making call. Doms go maybe ten feet.

 

[chicknmania]

It's supposed to be diversionary. Ours do it when the flock IS around. Maybe they're just expressing relief that the egg laying is over...

 

[Monk422]

Found out shortly after coming here that it's called "the egg song". Not musical and not amusing early sunday mornings either! Now that were used to it, we kinda like it. When it gets really bad, we share eggs w our neighbors.

 

[chickened]

Maybe it is chickenese for "man that hurt!"

 

[dandelionheart]

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[centrarchid]

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How far does you flock range? Mine forage about a roughly 2 acre patch where linear distances from point to point push 800 feet. The flock easily walks away and out of sight of nest site within a few minutes.