This Mother Hen Talks To Her Eggs – And They Chirp Back! | BBC Earth
12 Video Views·Jul 5, 2025
Mother hens often “talk” to their eggs with gentle calls, creating an early bond. Surprisingly, embryos in the egg can make sounds in response, suggesting that communication begins in the egg.
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That super fast bundle of feathers was Patricia, a Pekin Bantam chicken.
And she's a hen with a mission.
Patricia is totally focused on looking after her clutch of eight eggs.
She's been sitting on them for almost three weeks.
She's lost weight, food is not the priority.
She needs to ensure that her eggs are kept above 35 degrees and below 40.
The first chicks are due to hatch, so she's speaking to them.
Astonishingly, at this age, unborn chicks are going through sleeping and waking cycles.
And when they hear mum's clucks, they wake up.
No other noise has the same effect.
Moments before hatch off, it becomes a two-way conversation.
The chick begins to chirp, heralding its imminent arrival.
When the first cracks appear, the chick's chirps increase in volume.
And while mum cheerleads, the chick uses a special egg tooth
on the end of its beak to pierce the shell and unzip.
Once out, the chick continues to chirp,
communicating with the remaining unborn chicks to encourage them to break free.
But all that egg breaking and chirping take their toll.
Once Patricia's clutch has hatched,
her focus shifts to keeping an eye on her babies while they play.
And with special clucks, she tells them where to look for food.
If they feel tired or cold, mum's there to provide shelter.
In fact, she's always there to protect her chicks.