Why is she doing this?!?

[aart]

This was happening from one of the hens we bought today that is a little over a year old

She could be distressed at being in a new place.
Is she still on the nest and screaming?

 

[Abarta]

N

She could be distressed at being in a new place.
Is she still on the nest and screaming?

No, she only did it for about 20 minutes. Like I said, I am new at this, so I wasn't sure what to think. Is it bad when a hen goes broody? What exactly does that mean?

 

[rIrs roost]

Oh ok. It does sometimes take them a bit to get settled in. She's probably checking out to see if she'd like to lay there when she does start laying.

She hasn't been there all day, just for about 20 minutes. They are all out of the coop now happily eating the bugs all over the yard

 

[rIrs roost]

N

No, she only did it for about 20 minutes. Like I said, I am new at this, so I wasn't sure what to think. Is it bad when a hen goes broody? What exactly does that mean?

It just means that she wants fertile eggs to sit on to hatch babies. Oh and welcome to BYC

 

[lazy gardener]

Some hens are louder than others, and sing the egg song before, and after laying an egg. They sing the egg song if some one else has laid an egg, or even if they are thinking about an egg! Pullets are notorious for singing the egg song when they are becoming sexually mature, but not yet laying. They will scuffle around in the nest, perhaps sit in it for a couple of hours, check out any eggs already in the nest, perhaps sing the egg song multiple times in a day or week before the first egg comes.

Some animal behaviorists think the egg song is used by the hen to help her stay in touch with her flock. In a feral flock, or a flock of Jungle fowl, the hen will move away from the ranging flock to a secretive spot to lay her egg. The flock may very well move on and keep foraging for food. When she comes off the nest, she will then start singing, and often other members of the flock will sing back. This way, she can find her flock easily.

Often when one of my birds lays an egg, or sings the egg song, the rest of the flock will join in. My roo even sings a egg song.

A variation of the egg song is often sung by hens in a flock if they get separated from the rest of their flock. I've seen this behavior often in my flock. A hen will pop out of her foraging spot, not see any one around, and she'll immediately start screaming. The rest of the flock will come on the run from all points of the compass! I believe this is what your new hen is doing: trying to call the rest of her missing flock.