What Sound Does a Chicken Make?

By Staff WriterLast Updated April 16, 2020

Chickens make at least 24 different sounds. When a hen wants to tell her chicks to stay nearby, she makes a clucking noise. If she wants to tell her chicks to hide, she makes an “errr” noise. When a chicken spots a predator, she warns the flock by cackling repetitively.

When chickens are distressed, they make various squawking noises. When they are happy, they make soft peeping and trilling noises, and sometimes they sing. They make loud cackling noises after laying an egg. If a chicken finds a good food source, she tells the others by making a distinctive “tuck-tuck” noise. Roosters crow, croon, squawk and emit sounds similar to an air-raid siren.