Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

I am sure most of us recognize a couple of sounds our chickens make, announcing an egg, alarms etc. So I thought I would look up something a little more in depth. I tried to find an article with recordings, and there are a few, but not extensive. This article from Scientific American I thought was the best overall that I found. In depth enough without being boring.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti ... ech-rdquo/

i have noticed 5 sounds but it is best described as observations in addition to sounds...RIR makes a racket similar to a raccoon attack after laying an egg...no other chickens i have had do this...a loud screaming ruckus (similar to a group of excited young kids) two times when there was a raccoon and another when there were three raccoon babies in the coop ...nervous clucking sound and hiding under cover for an aerial predator...rooster saying "there's a cricket here ladies"...and the "Hey, Boss did you see the weird Covid hair on the humans?" and the Boss saying "It's awful and when are they going to give us something better than the Shur-Gain to eat? I found a cricket!"

Turkeys also have very distinct sounds for aerial and ground predators and another set for when they find a snake and go on he offensive. Wish I could find it but somehere there was an article where the hens figured out when a roostr was lying to them about treats!

My Blue Cream Splash Silkie cockeral has one of the craziest sounds, it's not a crow and it's not a 'come and see what I have' sound. For the longest time, I thought he was sick. I would rush over, pick him up and listen to his chest, see if he had an upper respiratory infection. He would look at me as if to say, 'put me down you crazy person, I'm just fine'. I'd put him down and he'd crowed his face off. None of my other guys names even close to that sound.

I have a hen (Sister) that quacks!

My Serama hens make cute kind of "talking" sounds when I pick them up. Some of my bigger hens cackle when they lay an egg, some don't. I have heard my roosters growl.

Here’s an article in the Guardian that I thought was interesting:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... ays-expert

There seem to be many researchers looking at various plants that could be used to feed people when processed into a “palatable” form with technology and avoid eating animals. Gorse is considered a weed in many areas of the UK but was traditionally used as fodder for livestock and used for prickly hedges to contain livestock. As a member of the pea family it uses atmospheric nitrogen with the help of organisms on its roots to grow without added Nitrogen. It survives on dry marginal lands unsuited to cropping but ideal for ruminants and Dartmoor ponies. So, why not just put the livestock on it and then use the the products the livestock produce rather than invest millions into patented technology that nature already does and use controlled burns and herbicides to control it.

I know many would argue that it would be better not to use the GHG emitting animals to harvest and process the gorse but I expect like other similar sustainable grazing systems the overall benefits to the environment would far outweigh the GHG problem as grazed plants are good at storing Methane in the soil. It’s a native plant that is really good at surviving in poor conditions without any help and edible to herbivores and the bees like it too.

I think I prefer eating the odd gorse fed lamb chop with peas and potatoes…