Wow, I don't even have a rooster and all my hens preform a little "egg song" when on the nesting box. Great Article! Contains personal flock experince!
Thank you for making this article I was very fun and full of information that I did not know. I have noticed that when my silkie hen Charlie would lay blue would be close. And now I know why. Thanks.
Great article, and interesting test of a theory. Good use of scientific method and logic. Nice use of pictures to illustrate your points. this is an interesting article that may change folks' minds about what that egg call is all about. thank you!
Thank you so much for this information! I’m new to chicken-keeping and this type of knowledge is priceless. I appreciate your time in writing this. — My flock consists of 3 Jubilee Orpingtons & 6 Salmon Faverolles. One of the Favs is our boy, Mr. Blue. He’s a 7mo old cockerel right now and a bit of a handful; however, he’s good with his girls. Some of the girls have started laying and I’ve noticed him hanging around the nesting boxes when they lay an egg. (It’s usually 2 of his favorite girls more than the others) I thought he was just being overly curious and nosy; but now I know his role is much more than that! ~
Excellent observations and testing to verify your hypothesis. The explanations I’ve read for egg songs always seemed odd - and out of character - for a prey animal.
Interesting article and thoughts - my roosters make this call alongside their hens often, and I've often thought about how it must have functions other than simply an egg song or alarm call.
I have always been fascinated by a rooster's and hen's reaction to each other during the laying process. This article was interesting in the observations made.
My roosters have done that before, and i always said he was pretending to lay an egg! Chickens are smarter than people think. Amazing article, great observations.
I found the information shared most useful and very interesting!
Our chief boy is very lovely with all the girls, finds treats and shares them!
I will pay more attention to the "escort call" now that I know the behaviour to look for!
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Amazing information. Do you now by any chance if those observations apply to quails too? I am trying to make my favourite quail hen trust me again. I made one tribe out of two and separated the old rooster because he would not mate any more. Shall I put her back with him although he was occasionally aggressive even to her? She hates the new one.
Thank you for reading the article.
I've never kept quail. I would if I could find a family line that had proven broody hens. Such lines do exist.
I tend to go in exactly the opposite direction and split at evey oppertunity. Here, I've found three hens to one rooster the best ratio and I like roosters so the more tribes the better.
I like to keep the pensioners with their tribe until they die.