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Chickens like to talk, quite a bit actually. Some people even think they have their own language, of sorts. Out of roosters, hens, or chicks, who would you say makes the most chatter?
According to Scientist Dr. Erich Baeumer of Weidenau, Germany, chickens have 30 different sounds, or sentences, that they use to communicate. These different sounds vary from warnings of danger to raising chicks to trying to mate. Which, honestly, doesn’t seem too much different from humans.
One gauge of how your backyard chicken flock are doing is to pay attention to when they are making the most sounds. Most healthy and happy backyard chickens are very active and talkative in the morning. If they are low energy and more quiet, there might be a need that needs to be filled. At night, your chickens will be more quiet and calm as they are getting ready to roost and sleep through the night.
I have written about some of the different types of sounds that chickens make and included some video examples. Hearing the different sounds helps so much more, at least in my opinion. Honestly, a lot of them sound similar to me but maybe I am just not an audiophile.
Roosters
Roosters are well known for their crowing but they do make other sounds as well. A rooster is the protector for his hens so they can send the mood of the flock with the different sounds they make.
Crow: The most well known sound of a rooster. When people think of a rooster crowing, a lot of people imagine a farm with the sun coming up and the rooster crowing to wake everyone up. If you’ve ever been around a rooster, you will know that that is bunk because roosters crow all the time! Multiple times a day. The reason why a rooster crows is not known exactly. But the general consensus is they crow to either look attractive for the hens or as a sounding bar so the hens know where they are.
Source: YouTube
Tidbitting: I had never heard of tidbitting before but I think it is really interesting. When a rooster finds something good to eat like a nice bug or seed, instead of eating it himself, you will see him give it to his hens. He will cluck, scratch and even throw the food in the air to get the other’s attention. Now you might wonder why would a rooster give up the good stuff? Is he a great provider? Nope! Because while the hen bends down to eat the treat, the rooster gets a chance to plant his own seed!
Source: YouTube
Warning: Roosters will make a different warning sound depending on the threat. If it is an airborne threat, like a hawk or bigger bird, it is more of a high pitched sound. Ground based threats is a more lower sounding cluck. This gets the flock’s attention and lets everyone know what is going on.
Source: YouTube
Purring: Surprise! You darling kitty is not the only animal that purrs. Both roosters and hens will purr but I put it in the rooster category because it is more surprising to me for a rooster to purr. Just like with a cat, a chicken will purr when it feels relaxed and comfortable. If your backyard chickens let you hold them, you might have a good chance of getting a nice purr. If you are like me and your flock always runs away from you, sneak out at night just as they start to roost and settle for the night. Purring happens a lot before bed time.
Source: YouTube
Hens
Broody Growl: A broody hen is a hen that stops laying eggs and decides to sit on eggs in a nest to make them hatch. They even will pluck out their own feathers to help keep the eggs warm. They are dedicated mama’s. In an effort to protect her nest, a broody hen will growl at potential threats. I have even heard stories of broody hens pecking and biting. So watch out for these fierce mom’s-to-be.
Source: YouTube
Egg Song: This is probably one of the most heard sounds from your happy backyard chicken flock. Hopefully at least. Everytime a hen lays an egg, they squawk. This is called The Egg Song. It is not really much of a song but more of a series of short and then long a squawk. Buck buck buck buck buck buck bucaaak is more like it. The theory is they do this sound as they are leaving the nesting box to draw attention to themselves to keep predators away from the eggs. I am not a chicken whisperer but that sounds reasonable to me.
Source: YouTube
Contentment Call: You will hear your backyard chickens clucking as they are out and about. You will notice a trend of what is their normal. When there is no danger around or nobody needs anything, there will be a calm clucking among everyone. It is their way of keeping tabs on everyone. I would compare it to your friend sending you a text with a heart emoji. This video is a little quiet but is a great example of a normal flock of happy backyard chickens.
Source: YouTube
Mothering: A mother hen will communicate with her chicks verbally. There is almost a constant communication between mama and chicks. A low “grrrr” will alert them to a danger and means “come to mama”. A hen will squawk out of excitement when she has found something good to eat and wants to share.
Source: YouTube
Alert Calls: Generally, to my untrained ear, anything loud and fast is an alert call. Like with the rooster, a lower sounding cluck will be sounded for ground threats and a higher squawk will be for airborne threats. It is usually a rooster or higher up hen who makes the calls.
Source: YouTube
Chicks
Baby chicks can be so cute. They sure do grow up fast though. If you have ever had baby chicks or been to a hatchery, you know they make a LOT of noise. Luckily, they are so dang cute it makes up for it. Chicks use their sounds to communicate with their mama and with each other, just like with adult hens and roosters. But more of a constant sound.
Source: YouTube
The video above is a great example of calm chicks just enjoying life. Their peeps or cheeps are not overly loud and are in a calm, normal pitch. In the video below, the first chick is an example of a chick that is scared. I does not know where it’s momma is at or it’s mates. You can tell if a chick needs something when it’s peeps or cheeps are higher and louder.
Source: YouTube
University of Georgia
We have all heard about some of the amazing technology and computer systems that are in the world today. I honestly never considered how that would affect raising chickens. But engineers and scientists from the University of Georgia and Georgia Institute of Technology have been helping poultry farmers for almost a decade.
These engineers and experts recorded different groups of chickens during different situations. They changed variables like ammonia levels from bedding that needed changed to changes in temperatures. Situations that make chickens distressed. They also recorded chickens that were happy and not stressed and then they fed this audio into a machine learning program.
The software has been programmed to and can actually detect changes “when the chickens are uncomfortable due to heat stress as well as identify their “rale” sounds—a soft gurgling produced when mucus from a respiratory infection clogs airways.” Their results were published by the IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. They are continuing to do more recording and programming, working on different scenarios like low food or water levels. While also programming the software to more accurately decipher only the chicken’s sounds and not other background noise.
Your Ears
Even with all the technology and sensors, many poultry farmers still rely on their own handy dandy ears to determine the health of their chickens. Spend time with your birds. Observe them at different times of the day. You will learn what sounds they make when they are content or if they are too hot or need more food. Just like a mother or father knows the different cries of their baby , it may seem daunting at first but after time it will become second nature.
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