Do hens "sing" the egg song without laying?

[barred2rock]

Three of my five BRs have large red combs & wattles (one of which has a larger c & w and has had it for about a month). On a couple occasions one or more of them has sang the egg song while up on their roost. But I've gone through their bedding (and of course the nest boxes) and have yet to find an egg or any evidence of egg eating. Would they sing the egg song without actually laying? How long after they grow out their wattle & comb do they typically start laying?

Edited: Oops, thought I was in the behavior section.

 

[The Angry Hen]

Hello There,

My Speckled Sussex sings the egg song 24/7, she won't shut up!
I think your hen is just fine, it is normal. I hold mine and she hurts my ears!

Good luck, nothing to worry about!
(Maybe you can try the no-crow collar if you don't like it! Lol).

-The Angry Hen

 

[JaeG]

They can use the egg song as an alarm call if they think something is not right. But they will also practice their song a little while before they start laying. Other signs they are gearing up to start laying is that they start squatting when you reach over their backs and start to sit in the nestboxes, practising. So hopefully you'll have eggs soon! Generally heritage breeds start laying around 5-6 months old, sometimes earlier. Production breeds lay from around 16 weeks old.

 

[NorthTexasWink]

I had a mixed barnyard "hen" acting like this once. Turned out it was a young rooster trying to crow. It never did look like a normal rooster either, and had an odd croaky-clucky-clicky crow.

But lots of young hens do the egg cheer befor laying, just like @JaeG says.

 

[barred2rock]

They can use the egg song as an alarm call if they think something is not right. But they will also practice their song a little while before they start laying. Other signs they are gearing up to start laying is that they start squatting when you reach over their backs and start to sit in the nestboxes, practising. So hopefully you'll have eggs soon! Generally heritage breeds start laying around 5-6 months old, sometimes earlier. Production breeds lay from around 16 weeks old.

Well, the one largest (been largest since about a week old) has had a full red wattle & comb and squatting since about 16 weeks; but at 20 weeks still no eggs. The two others are also squatting, although their comb & wattle aren't quite as developed as the other.

ETA: Btw, these are all hatchery Barred Rocks, all 20 weeks.

 

[jeria]

What does an egg song sound like? I keep reading about it but have no clue.

 

[JenniferCNY]

My BRs seemed to be getting ready to lay for about 2-4 weeks before they actually did last year. Squatting, red comb, checking out the nesting situation, and the egg song. Out of my 8 pullets last year (BR, BO and EE) my first to lay was a BR at 18 weeks. Good luck!

 

[JenniferCNY]

The egg song is loud. It's CLUCK, cluck cluck cluck cluck, CLUCK over and over and over. It's different from their morning clucking where they want me to open their coop door (which I'm listening to now). It definitely has a chickeny song-like quality. If you Google "egg song" you should be able to find a YouTube with it.

 

[N F C]

I used to have a hen that would sing the egg song whenever one of the other hens laid. I think she just saw herself as the "town crier" and liked to announce coop happenings.

 

[dfalco]

It's kind of a book, bock, bock, bock, BOCK-AAH.