Re: Chicken vocalizations

pecan wrote:
John Morse wrote:
<hal@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:ejs7j4d447vje4240hpuo3u1qqlpv612pq@xxxxxxxxxx
I've been doing quite well on my first experiment with chicken
farming, thanks largely to great advice I've received here. I have 23
Rhode Island Reds, 20 hens and 3 roosters. The are about 6 months old
and laying like crazy. I'm getting typically 18 eggs a day! The
chickens really have been quite fun to work with. I guess I expected
more indifference on the part of the chickens (in regards to their
surroundings and people), but they really are quite alert, aware, and
very curious. They come running up to the fence when I approach and
follow me the length of the pen when heading for the coop. When I go
in the coop they all come in to see what is going on. If they are all
inside and I talk to them from outside the pen they will all come
pouring out the pophole to see what is going on. Feeding and
watering times seem to be great fun for them and none seem to want to
miss anything. They really do seem to have a rather large vocabulary
as well, which leads me to my question. Are there any sites with good
collections of vocalization recordings with behavioral explanations
for the sounds? At times the squawking the hens make sounds somewhat
distressed, but they may just be chatting. The roosters, of course,
crow up quite a racket at times, in particular the two dominant
ones,(sometimes in unison) but there are a great many other sounds
made at different times and it would be nice to have a better
understanding of what they are talking about.
thanks
Hal

They have a different sound that they make when they see a hawk or something strange flying.
I can't quite describe it though.

John



I have just discovered that differetn hens speak different languages.

I was used to my Silkies, chattering away to their chicks, and I recognised the sounds. Now one of my other hens finally has some chicks, but her sounds are completely different.

Mind you, I'm not sure the chicks are understanding her very well, so maybe she's an anomoly.

Catherine

Try some ducklings under a hen and you will really get some odd sounds from mum when her 'chicks' discover the water LOL

--
Ginny - In West Australia
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Can someone give me some info on hens?
    ... >> thinking about getting a couple hens for eggs. ... >> thing about raising chickens. ... > You need a brooder to keep chicks warm until they fledge. ... > hens, you eat the roosters. ...
    (misc.rural)
  • Re: Chicken vocalizations
    ... 20 hens and 3 roosters. ... Now one of my other hens finally has some chicks, but her sounds are completely different. ... Mind you, I'm not sure the chicks are understanding her very well, so maybe she's an anomoly. ...
    (sci.agriculture.poultry)
  • Re: How many chicks can a hen accomodate?
    ... One of my hens is setting on 15 eggs and she is a smaller ... >I have a batch of 25 chicks expected tomorrow. ... Some years ago we had a medium sized hen hide her eggs & go broody. ...
    (sci.agriculture.poultry)
  • Re: Brooding hen - advice?
    ... blocked it off so the other hens can't pester her. ... if any chicks will hatch. ... wait until the chicks are dry before moving them imo. ... out to catch bugs and eat grass, but the hen can't get out. ...
    (sci.agriculture.poultry)
  • Re: maran broody - chicks imminent
    ... Dear Tim, ... chicks, but the hen will try to protect them and you can do no better. ... > chick crumbs and lots of attention from 3 small children!!. ... Do I need to move the hens & hatched chicks from the small henhouse, ...
    (sci.agriculture.poultry)
Quantcast