Question on chick behavior

[Firsttimechichmama]

I have 16 week old chicks and this morning one of them was cackling as if they laid an egg but when I ran to the coop I didn’t see any. Do they practice before they lay??

 

[sourland]

As the hormone level rises they can become a bit noisy.

 

[Firsttimechichmama]

As the hormone level rises they can become a bit noisy.

Oh ok cause she was bocbocboc ing as if she had laid and egg if that makes sense. Thx

 

[Sueby]

Sometimes they will sit in the nest for a while, come out & sing like they laid, but didn't & then go back in & lay an egg. & then sing all over again.

Chickens are weird.

 

[Firsttimechichmama]

Sometimes they will sit in the nest for a while, come out & sing like they laid, but didn't & then go back in & lay an egg. & then sing all over again.

Chickens are weird.

She didn’t lay at all lol but yes they are a funny creature

 

[Sueby]

She didn’t lay at all lol but yes they are a funny creature

I had an old lady that stopped laying but she still sat in the nest box every day & sang when she got out. That lasted for months before she finally gave up altogether.

The consensus was hormones (for your young one too, I bet). & I think a bit of habit.

 

[Firsttimechichmama]

I had an old lady that stopped laying but she still sat in the nest box every day & sang when she got out. That lasted for months before she finally gave up altogether.

The consensus was hormones (for your young one too, I bet). & I think a bit of habit.

Maybe cause I just started feeding them layer feed.

 

[Shadrach]

I have 16 week old chicks and this morning one of them was cackling as if they laid an egg but when I ran to the coop I didn’t see any. Do they practice before they lay??

Your hen knows she's going to be laying eggs soon and the call you hear is the call for a rooster to fertilize her eggs. Hens know the eggs need to be fertilized to make chicks and that is why hens lay eggs, although it seems this fundamental fact gets overlooked. Hens don't lay eggs to feed humans.

Most creatures I can think of make calls or give displays to the opposite sex when needing to mate. This is how chickens do it.

 

[Firsttimechichmama]

Your hen knows she's going to be laying eggs soon and the call you hear is the call for a rooster to fertilize her eggs. Hens know the eggs need to be fertilized to make chicks and that is why hens lay eggs, although it seems this fundamental fact gets overlooked. Hens don't lay eggs to feed humans.

Most creatures I can think of make calls or give displays to the opposite sex when needing to mate. This is how chickens do it.

Oh cause I have a rooster too but I don’t want any more chicks right now I have 9 16 week old chicks and one surprise rooster we didn’t know we had until he started crowing. I got them to get eggs to eat so if he fertilizes them then we won’t have eggs to eat right? Or if I get them out of the coop every day once she lays then maybe I can eat them? Or no?

 

[Shadrach]

Oh cause I have a rooster too but I don’t want any more chicks right now I have 9 16 week old chicks and one surprise rooster we didn’t know we had until he started crowing. I got them to get eggs to eat so if he fertilizes them then we won’t have eggs to eat right? Or if I get them out of the coop every day once she lays then maybe I can eat them? Or no?

There is absolutely no reason you can't eat fertilized eggs. Most people dont even know if the eggs they eat are fertile or not.
What one may not want to do is eat eggs that have been incubated by a broody hen.