As social creatures, chickens naturally have their own way of communicating. They are very vocal about what’s important to them, and quick to let you or someone else know when they’ve crossed a line. Without ever speaking words, they’ll get their message across through the tone and pitch they use with each call. If you listen closely, you’ll soon be able to catch on to the meaning behind every noise your flock makes. Here are a few popular chicken noises and their meanings.
1. Egg Laying Song
Anyone who keeps chickens is familiar with the popular egg laying song! This is the common “buk-buk-buk-bagawk!” heard when a hen is laying eggs. When a hen’s favorite nesting box is occupied, she may even let out a loud and persistent “buk-buk-buk” to let the intruder know she wants her box back. If you have more than one hen laying at a time, your coop can get pretty loud.
2. Content Sounds
When chickens are calm and peaceful, their sounds will reflect that. You may have heard low murmuring amongst your flock, which is a great sign! You may also even hear purring coming from your flock, especially if you pet them regularly. This is another positive noise that indicates life is great and everyone is happy.
3. Warnings
Chickens use two types of calls to alert their flock of danger approaching. The first is for ground threats, or any predator that can attack from the ground. This call is a repetitive clucking that becomes louder and faster as the predators gets closer. The second call is to alert the flock of an air threat, like a bird. This call sounds like a shriek or a scream, telling all to take cover quickly!
4. Growls
Though hens can growl for a couple reasons, the most common occurrence is broodiness. Until their chicks hatch, broody hens can be quite hormonal and bad tempered. She often stays in her nest, and hisses and growls at anyone in her way when she leaves it.
5. Mother Hen Talk
Once she’s become accustomed to sitting on her eggs, you will notice your hen cooing and murmuring to the unhatched eggs. This is the mother’s way of talking to her chicks and establishing a relationship with them before they hatch. You can also hear chicks peeping back to their mother when they’re close to hatching! Once hatched, mother hen will encourage her chicks to eat with a “tuk-tuk-tukking” sound.
Chickens can actually produce over 24 distinct sounds and calls. They like to stay close to one another to make for easier communication among the flock. Plus, there’s safety in numbers. If you’ve noticed your flock making special sounds, pay attention to their surroundings and you’ll quickly catch on. Though we’d love to get into each and every distinct call, we think it’d be much more beneficial to let you discover the rest on your own!