Will a chicken sing the egg song without laying an egg?

[HowIsItDone]

the perfect egg song!

Maybe it's not in the nesting box?

 

[Meg Gerstenfeld]

Maybe it's not in the nesting box?

It wasn't. I checked everywhere in the run. Thankfully that chicken has started laying. Still waiting on the rest of them though.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

 

[WingItRanch]

Funny story and thought I'd add it to this thread even though it's a couple months old...

I have 1 layer out of 11 pullets and 1 cockerel. I've never heard the egg song. Yesterday, I see my single layer in her typical spot but one of my other pullets was standing in the coop door loadly singing away. Then the layer joined in. Then the cockerel joined in with his deeper voice! It was VERY loud and hilarious. I was so excited, though, thinking I'd finally get a 2nd egg.

Nope, not at all. I'd like to think she was being supportive of her "sister" but I suspect she was just singing to trick me! They do enjoy torturing me with the wait.

 

[PopoMyers]

"Egg songs" or ones sounding like them can be false alarms. Says the lady who got tricked several times.

 

[Altairsky]

The egg song is an escort request. Hens sing the egg song whenever they need a rooster to protect them, either to escort them back to the flock after laying an egg or whenever a hen thinks she might be about to be attacked by a predator.
It's not the hen tricking us, but us misinterpreting the chicken language.

 

[Shadrach]

Do chickens sing the egg song without laying an egg?

Sometimes. Some hens will use the call should they get seperated from their group. I had one hen who would use it when she was bored and just wanted some attention.
Pullets/new layers will make the call to attract a rooster even though they haven't laid an egg yet.
For many keepers, primarily those who keep their chickens mainly confined, or have a small enough ranging area that the rooster is rarely out of sight, it's difficult to see what the call does. The keeping conditions have a major impact the chickens behaviour.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Chicken language may be a bit more complicated than we think. I think the "chicken song" is more of an escort song than bragging about laying an egg. The flock has moved while she was laying her egg. She's asking them where are you. Some of my roosters would go get her and escort her back to the flock. He usually mates with her too. Since she is laying eggs those eggs need to be fertile. Some roosters ignore the egg song. Some roosters or hens may call back to tell her where they are.

I've heard a call that is very similar to the egg song but is slightly different has a different meaning. It's an alert. it doesn't seem to signify any specific identified threat, just a feeling that something isn't right. Sometimes that is an individual chicken, sometimes the entire flock takes it up and can get quite agitated. When I see that I usually have no idea what is making them nervous.