[plumseverywhere]

Coco (the beautiful black cochin) has settled in really well now and has managed to get all the girls under control (!)
He makes little noises and has funny little ways and I'd really love to understand more about what he does and why! Have tried googling cockerel behaviour etc and all I can find is lots of stories about why do they doodle-doo or neighbours complaining etc.
Any info would be lovely, so I can tell his owner (Eloise - 7) what he's up to 

[sabrina]

I find he tells the girls if he comes accross any tasty bits off food by making little noises, also he burys himself in the straw in the barn and talks to the hen as if he is telling her this would make an ideal place to hide and lay your egg. Iff the girls wander off and he is left he starts making a heck of a racket, calling them back to safety I think, If one hen is being too greedy at breakfast he chases her away with a few pecks to keep her in line. 

[Frieslandfilly]

Yep all the above that Sabrina has mentioned, they also warn the hens of anything they consider a predator, so cats, dogs, large birds, etc

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Hi,

   I think I recently say a book advertised ( could have been on this forum?) about understanding poultry, there could be something in there. A few things that I observe with my boy Edward is, like the others have mentioned, he makes a little chucking noise to show the girls where the food is and pick it up and puts it bown to break it up and mimic the way a broody would teach the chicks what to eat. This is because the hens need much more food than cocks in order to produce their eggs / chicks and so he makes sure they eat before he does. Some people say they do this so that when the hens bend down to eat he can tread them but my boy dosent do this. (you may not want to share this with your 7yr old  )

When the birds sense a threat from the air they make a more high pithched whistle which tells the others to take cover. Another sound that both hens and cocks make is a soft questioning bock,bock,bock? which I call the "what was that?" noise. The birds make it when they hear, see or something out of place. My birds would make this noise for example if they heard a car pull up outside the house even if they couldnt see it or spotted a cat slinking across the far padock. This noise is usally acompanied by standing up tall and looking intently in the direction of the object of suspicion.

Another one is the one I call the egg laying noise which is the bouk bouk, bouk bouk, bukook! noise that hens on the tv or in the movies make. Although it can anounce egg laying it is also made by hens and cocks if a predator is spotted. Occasionally one of my birds will start this off and it goes round the whole gang like they are singing a poultry version of londons burning

Buffy 

[plumseverywhere]

These are brilliant answers thank you all so much!! Will tell Eloise a few of these tomorrow when its letting out an feeding time 
I've noticed coco does the bockbock noise and also a humming sound, he has been showing them the food but standing back like a real gent while they eat 
So happy we have a cockerel, even hubby who's not much of one for livestock has enjoyed watching coco.
Earlier on he was crowing non-stop (about 2pm) and when eloise and I looked outside there were 4 hens all stoof on the fence about to take off out of the pen, coco was probably telling them to get back in then! 

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Hi Plums E.W

                 the book that I was reffering to is called Poultry signals and was featured on the Poultry Site forum. It might give you some more info. I find that observing them when I am out and about in the garden is often the best way to work out what their noises mean. Though most noises are acompanied by certain body language which can perhaps alter the meaning of the sound. One of my girls (Hattie) made the "threat from the air" sound this evening when she saw a blackbird approaching on the ground which suprised her so perhaps the sound means "bird of prey".

                 My head girl makes a soft pworking noise that is a bit like purring or cooing. It may be like the humming that Coco does. I think its a very subtle way of anouncing her presence without her needing to assert herself. She makes it if I am cleaning the coop when she wants to get in and lay an egg but she will also use it if the others are dominating the treats dish. Its usually sufficient for them to make some space for her without any pecking. To be honest it works on me too when she wanders in and out of the coop supervising my cleaning and Pworking gently as if to say "I'm not being funny, but how much longer are you gona be? cos some of us need to get on and lay an egg"

                I'm glad that you are enjoying having a cockerel and Pekins are so sweet. I keep Croad Langshans which are also very gentle. My boy was my most recent addition and although they all get on great with him its fair to say that he doesn't rule the roost. Though I'm not sure that he even tries.

Keep learning the lingo!

Buffy

[plumseverywhere]

Ah that's brilliant, thank you! and thank you for the name of the book, am off to amazon now to see if I can find it.
Have spent a while watching the chickens today and coco is really strutting now, whereas before he used to hide a bit like a shy boy at school.
He seems like a sweetie but I do tend to watch him when I am in there and never let the children in on their own, just to be 100% because he is Huge and I'd hate any change in personality to occur with the girls.

[BlueDaisy]

I am also getting used to my big Buff Orpingtons behaviour.
Yesterday I saw him and his lady buff O hanging about the rabbit hutch where the Sussex (the only laying hen) lays her eggs, I wondered what was going on so went to investigate.
The buff girl was in the hutch but came out when she heard me approaching then he went in and looked around, made some funny wee noises then came back out again. I interpreted it all as the pair of them looking for somewhere suitable for her to lay her first egg of the season.
I went back out later to check and see if she had indeed laid an egg, as I approached I could see 5 hens lurking at the gate. Then I heard funny bubbly/purring noises coming from inside the big henhouse, and I thought 'oh yes, we've got a result' - then I noticed the buff girl in the dust bath having a whale of a time! I peeked into the door of the henhouse and here is big buff boy squeezed into the nest box making funny noises to himself all the while! I opened the nest box lid and he eventually (telling me off all the time) moved himself off a tiny little egg - for all the fuss and care he was taking you would have thought he had laid it himself! ANd he wasn't too pleased when I whipped it away.
It was like he was keeping it warm for her while she had some time off! I asked a few other folk and they have never found their cockerel sitting on eggs! Do I have a modern metro-sexual cockerel?

[northfifeduckling]

Sounds a very interesting book, Buffy!
I am also really impressed with our boy's behaviour compared to the drakes - who seem to be a randy waste of space!
The cockerel really cares for the girls, he even walks them to the house when they want to lay! A real gentleman  I could even imagine some real affection between him and some girls on their own, standing side by side rubbing beaks,    Not much treading going on just yet, but I'm sure that is to come...When I come out he flapps his wings gently which I take as a tiny warning.

[ellisr]

In the next couple of months the cockerals may change there behaviour as the days get warmer and longer. When the season is upon them it is best to have a light weight brush to hand just to keep them at a distance as they will see you as a threat to his girls. Not all cockerals do this but I have found the majority to be protective.

[Hardfeather]

moved himself off a tiny little egg - for all the fuss and care he was taking you would have thought he had laid it himself!

That will be a cock egg.

[plumseverywhere]

In the next couple of months the cockerals may change there behaviour as the days get warmer and longer. When the season is upon them it is best to have a light weight brush to hand just to keep them at a distance as they will see you as a threat to his girls. Not all cockerals do this but I have found the majority to be protective.

ooh crikey    will deffo be armed with something just in case as coco is pretty huge!

[northfifeduckling]

mine never did attack me (yet) not once all last year. I do make an effort walking slowly around him and don't look at him when he flapps his wings. Maybe it is because we knew him from little and used to cuddle him or maybe a gentle breed, who knows... I am always armed with a wee bucket of grain, lol

[plumseverywhere]

I did choose Coco (or rather santa did as he delivered him - but that's a long story!) because I was assured that on the whole Cochins were a gentle breed and would probably be a good  choice for a child's cockerel (why do my children all want farm animals for xmas?!) so hpefully we'll be ok. fingers crossed.
and to be fair, he can't run all that fast 

[northfifeduckling]

oh, he will run faster soon, I'd bet on it!