Why and how do chickens purr?

[fishnet1971]

 

[babbles]

I have a hen called buntey and she purrs I don't know why :/ anyway she is so cute

 

[Dowie]

My new chickens don't purr as much, unfortunately. But when it's cold and raining and they are all huddled together, they let out these strange noises like dolphin sonar!

 

[LuvOurChickies]

One of our chickens, Rose, put her head on my shoulder today and purred. It was one of the sweetest moments of my life. Had to come straight to BYC to see if chickens actually purr. These critters are just the sweetest things ever. Love them. !

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

One of our chickens, Rose, put her head on my shoulder today and purred. It was one of the sweetest moments of my life. Had to come straight to BYC to see if chickens actually purr. These critters are just the sweetest things ever. Love them. !

Oh how adorable! She loves you!

 

[graciesmum]

Sorry to jump on a thread with a totally different q but what are the brown chickens you hqve in this video?

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[ChickieG'ma]

Iwould LOVE to hear the boys purr! you need to tape it. I cant picture the boys doing it. Only my girls.

I have a light Brahma hen that whines and we had a Splash Cochin broody hen who sang (purred) to her babies every night for 1/2 hour or more. But the chicken who will always have a special place in my heart is my GLW roo Bill who sang to a frightened little EE hen the day after a noisy 4th of July night. She couldn't find a safe place to lay her egg after all the hullabaloo. Here he is "singing" to her to calm her down.

 

[estamets]

This is such an old.post but i just had to add. First, this site is amazing. As being a 1st time chicken mother, this site has saved me numerous times from being up sh creek without a paddle, hiben great dos and donts info, helped build my coop, and kept me sane. Second, Im glad i found this post. My chicks are 3 weeks old and have been doing this weird 'tremble' for the past 2 weeks that i was beginning to think was them being frightened, but i noticed they did it as they were falling asleep in my hands. Then my 13 yr old neice states 'i think they r purring!' what a genius this girl is. They don't make.noise just the tremble. Can't cait until they do purr with the noise. Thanks BYC for yet another great lesson.

Thank goodness! Mine (9 days old) tremble, too, and I couldn't tell if they were purring or terrified. They always fall asleep when we snuggle, so I assumed they were content, but I was so worried that I was doing something that stressed them out. Me being a cat (+chicken) person, I liked to believe it was purring.

Nice to know I was right!

 

[pamlsmith]

I'm so glad that someone posted on this topic. I am new to raising chickens. I was watching one of my chickens take a dust bath today. She was rolling around and purring like crazy. I'd never heard that sound before. It was nice to see her feeling so happy.

 

[Ozchick222]

Mine purr when they dust bath in dirt I've hosed on a hot day. Love the sound. I would never have believed chickens could purr.