Those who keep them can learn to interpret their calls and their body language. A poultry keeper explains: "My current cockerel, Fluffo 2, has learned to make the food call when I ask him if he is hungry. For those who don't know, a cockerel has the traditional cock-a-doodle-do which is a territorial sign, an indrawn shriek which indicates danger overhead (presumably the primitive danger of birds of prey), a purring sound to tell the hens that he's found a good nesting site, a buck-buck-shriek to respond to a lose hen and a turkey-like gobbling call which tells the hens that he has found food, for he will always show food to the hens before eating any himself. Hens on the other hand only have fewer calls - the well-known buck-buck-bwaark to indicate either that they have laid an egg or that they are lost, a conversational clucking between themselves, which indicates that they have found food., and the purring noise they give when contented on the perch at night."
But there are further examples of Chickenese. A reader explains: "I Studied hens from when I was a very small child and I know that hens have far more than two calls. There is the Prating, a long drawn monologue, sounding rather complaining, on a de-crescendoing and falling pitch meaningn "I must find a nest site"; the Growling monosyllabic threat squawk with feathers ruffled meaning "Keep out of my nest -or else"; and the Egg Song O tk-tk-tk-tk-tk. tk KAAH for "I've laid an egg."
Between a hen and her chicks there is the monosyllable Cluck repeated continually - "Mummy's here, darlings. Keep together"; the call to food, a soft high-pitched Tk-tk-tk-tk-tk-tk; Disapproval, a short monosylable Koor "Ignore this, darilngs"; and the Lullaby, a quiet often repeated purring sounds, krrrrr, when settling down for the night with the brood. The chicks respond to the Lullaby with quiet chirruping.
And there are several alarm calls - a hawk alarm too difficult to describe; a ground alarm which is Te-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka; a general alarm call which sounds like the Egg Song but louder and quicker; the Flight Call , a sudden explosion of squawks when the enemy is almost on them; and the Death Squawk when finally caught.
The chicks have their own calls too - a Happy Chick twitter when enjoying something and the Distressed chick call, a single shrill piercing peep to say that it is lost. From a very early age, young chicks will purr if all is OK and they are well fed and watered."
And just one more, sent in by a reader - "the low soft slow sound with The head reaching enquiringly forward, when observing something strange moving on the ground."
