As a chicken owner you’re probably used to the usual clucks, squawks and crowing that are part of daily life with chickens. However loud, frequent screaming from your chickens is not normal and could indicate an underlying issue. In this article, we’ll explore some of the most common reasons backyard chickens scream and what you can do about it.
Screaming After Laying Eggs
The “egg song” is the most common reason why chickens scream. Hens often sing an egg song right after laying an egg, which has more than one purpose.
- Alerting the flock that she laid an egg
- Attracting roosters for mating
- Discouraging predators from stealing the egg
The egg song usually lasts only a few minutes after the hen lays the egg. However, some hens sing louder and longer egg songs than others. This can lead to frequent screaming, especially if you have multiple hens that tend to belt out egg songs. There’s not much you can do to quiet this screaming, as it’s an instinctual behavior. Just be aware it’s normal and should pass quickly.
Reacting to Fear or Stress
Chickens have a strong self-preservation instinct Sudden loud noises, unfamiliar animals or people, or perceived threats can trigger screaming and distress calls This screaming alerts the rest of the flock to potential danger. Some common fear-related screaming triggers include
- Predators like dogs, foxes or hawks on the prowl
- Loud noises like fireworks or thunder
- Children or strangers approaching the coop
- Another chicken being injured or taken by a predator
Try to identify what is frightening your flock and mitigate the stressors. Scare away predators, discourage unsupervised children from approaching, or provide shelter from loud noises. Separate injured or aggressive chickens from the flock to prevent trauma. Over time, the screaming should diminish if the underlying stressor is addressed.
Communicating With Other Chickens
Chickens maintain a social order through vocalizations. Dominant hens will scream at subordinate chickens to establish authority. Roosters crow to attract mates. And chickens use food calls to alert others to potential meals. Screaming can simply mean your chickens are chatting with each other.
However, excessive screaming between flock members may indicate unrest. Aggression from more powerful chickens, problems with too many chickens, or competition over food, water, and good nesting spots can all lead to social stress. Watch how your flock interacts to see if there is any competition or bullying that is making them scream. To calm things down, you might need to separate chickens that are fighting or add more supplies to the coop.
Underlying Health Issue
Chickens can hide being sick, but they may scream if they are in a lot of pain or stress. Screaming can indicate a major health problem like:
- Impacted crop
- Egg bound hen
- Injuries like broken bones or lacerations
- Severe external parasite infestation
Isolate any screaming chicken and examine them for signs of injury or illness. Call an avian vet if the screaming persists without any obvious cause. Pain medications or treatment for the underlying condition can help resolve health-related screaming.
Broody Hen Behavior
A broody hen screaming is reacting to her strong biological urge to sit on a nest of eggs. Broody hens will often scream, shriek and grunt when disturbed from their nests. They may also attack people or flock members that get too close to the nest.
To curb broody screaming, restrict access to nesting boxes and limit protein intake to disrupt the broody hormonal cycle. Screaming should subside once the hen stops exhibiting broody behavior. Removing eggs from the nest can also reduce screaming from distressed broody hens.
Noisy Chicken Breeds & Personalities
There are breeds of chicken that make more noise than others. Some examples are Easter Eggers, Welsummers, and Polish. Even within a breed, some chickens are simply more vocal. There is no way to completely stop these chickens from making noise—they will still scream, squawk, and run around. But you can stop too much noise by staying away from triggers and not reacting to harmless sounds.
Solutions for Excessive Chicken Screaming
If your chickens are screaming more than usual, here are a few tactics to restore some calm:
- Identify and address any fear triggers or health issues
- Ensure adequate space – at least 4 square feet per bird inside coops
- Provide multiple food, water and nesting sites to minimize competition
- Separate aggressive or loud chickens from the flock
- Discourage screaming with squirt bottles or loud hand claps
- Drown out noise with calm music or sounds
- Move coop away from noise-sensitive areas like homes
While occasional screaming is normal, excessive screaming indicates an issue needing your attention. With some detective work and flock management, you can identify causes and create an environment where your chickens can live without constantly crying fowl. A few vocal chickens may remain, but the overall chorus of screams should quiet down or stop with appropriate action on your part. With a little patience, your chickens will go back to their usual clucking and crowing rather than disturbing the neighborhood with loud screams.
Tell-Tale Features of Chicken Noises
Listen for certain things in chicken noises to get a general idea of how your birds are feeling and what they want to do. Brief, quiet, low notes are generally used for contented, communal calls, while loud, long, high pitches indicate fear, danger, or distress. In this way, predators can’t listen in on group chatter, but everyone in the flock can hear warnings, even though the caller, who is usually the rooster, puts himself in danger by making the call. Rising pitches generally indicate pleasure, whereas falling pitches signal distress, especially in chicks, whose calls alert their mother to attend to their needs. Urgency or excitement is portrayed by the rapidity and irregularity of repetition. A sudden explosion of sound also indicates urgency. Wavering notes signal disturbance or distress. White noise is designed to repel or warn. In fact, these vocal qualities are common to many animal species’ calls, and they can help us to form an instinctive feeling for what these chicken noises mean.
Although there are probably many subtle signals we have not identified yet, most flocks appear to typify the following calls.
In the nest, unhatched chicks make clicking sounds to synchronize development and hatching. When a broody hen hatches chicks she makes quiet, low rumbles, which may help chicks to identify her after they hatch. These communications keep chicks together with the parent that will protect and care for them.
As a mother or broody hen walks, she rhythmically clucks with soft, brief, repetitive notes: cluck-cluck-cluck. This call appears to rally the chicks safely at her side. As the mother hen settles, she purrs to attract the chicks to settle with her. Chicks will peep with a falling tone if they are apart from her, to which she responds immediately. Chicks’ peeps have a rising tone when happily feeding. Their regular chatter is a dipping and rising peep which serves to keep them together. Their peeps escalate into rising trills when excited and falling trills when frightened. Fear calls are high-pitched and quavering.
Mother hens advertise a suitable food source with a rapid kuk-kuk-kuk-kuk-kuk-kuk while picking up and dropping food pieces. Chicks instinctively get the message and run in peeping excitedly.
The Sweet Nothings of Chicken Noises
If there is a hen nearby but a long way away, the rooster makes the same sound and moves in the same way when it is looking for food. The better the food, the more excited his call. When she is nearby, his call is lower and more rapid: gog-gog-gog-gog-gog. He uses this low call to court a hen, while he drops his wing and encircles her. It is often followed by a low moan. The feeding display is part of his courtship routine, to demonstrate his value as a provider. He will also court her by calling her to potential nest sites. He uses a low-pitched, repetitive call tsuk-tsuk-tsuk, or a purr for this purpose.
The rapid kuk-kuk-kuk food call has been shown in experimental conditions to be made when anticipating a food treat or access to a dust bath, another highly valued resource. It is also made by hens in adult company, so perhaps it can be interpreted as a call to share a precious finding. Hens are interested in sharing with their flockmates, as foraging in groups provides protection from predators. Food call by a hen when anticipating imminent food or dust bath access (from McGrath et al.**)
Roosters also display their worth by protecting the flock from chicken predators, mainly by keeping an eye out for danger and sounding a warning when appropriate. A sudden alert call baak-bak-bak-bak warns of possible danger, without being so loud as to attract a predator. A more urgent threat from the ground or the trees is signaled by sharp cut-cut-cut noises followed by a loud, high-pitched squawk. A predator in the air is signaled by a very loud, high-pitched scream. These calls are moderated by the amount of protection the caller has and which chickens are in earshot. The rooster makes more calls when close to cover and in the presence of females. His audience understands the different calls and acts appropriately: hiding under cover from an aerial predator; and standing tall and alert for a ground predator.
Chickens that are captured emit long, loud, repeated squawks of distress: perhaps of warning, or as a cry for help. If a rooster pays unwanted attention to an unwilling hen, she only gives the distress call if a dominant rooster is present to obstruct his advances.
Why is my chicken yelling?
FAQ
What does it mean when chickens scream?
Repetitive screaming by a bird is most often an alarm call to warn the other flock members of an imminent threat or danger. Make sure that there’s nothing threatening them, like a weasel or a hawk. You may want to try separating the screaming chicken from the rest of the flock to see if the behavior persists.
Why is my chicken making a screeching noise?
Hens will make a scream of distress, similar to the call made when a potential predator is lurking about, to signal their alarm when they have been hurt.
Why is my chicken being very vocal?
If a chicken is isolated, she may call out for her flockmates. Health Issues – Pain, illness, or discomfort can make a chicken vocalize in distress. Jun 10, 2025.
Why do chickens Scream?
Such as a snake, fox, and so on. Or, they may think there’s a threat or “feel” threatened for some reason. It’s not uncommon for chickens to be spooked by a loud noise either. Anything out of the ordinary that confuses them can cause them to start screaming. Typically hens do not scream at one another.
Why does my broody hen Scream a lot?
In this case, the chicken’s hormones will go a little crazy, triggering noises and unusual aggressive behaviors. Most broody hens tend to make loud screams that can be compared to temper tantrums once in a while.
Why do chickens scream at night?
Chickens are generally quiet and settled during the night, but if they sense danger or predators, they may scream and make loud distress calls. 7. How can I stop my chickens from making too many noise? Regular socialization, enrichment activities, and keeping the environment calm can help your flock stop making too many noise. 8.
Why do chickens scream up a storm?
Chickens are very good at surviving in the wild, and one reason why is because they will scream up a storm if they see a predator or feel threatened. This can mean that they’ve seen something they feel threatened by. Such as a snake, fox, and so on. Or, they may think there’s a threat or “feel” threatened for some reason.
Why do chickens make a clicking noise?
Either way, the chickens make a series of clicking noises in a dull pitch to let others know that there’s food nearby. You may hear these noises often when they find a tasty treat (like worms) in the backyard. This is because these sounds are linked with pleasure rather than satisfying hunger. 5. Chicken Personality.
Do hens Scream?
It’s not uncommon for chickens to be spooked by a loud noise either. Anything out of the ordinary that confuses them can cause them to start screaming. Typically hens do not scream at one another. It depends what the noise you’re hearing is exactly, what sounds like a scream to you might sound like a normal cluck to someone else.