Rooster won't stop crowing

Hi, I just went through a similar situation about 3 months ago. I purchased three pullets and come to find out one of the chicks was a Roo. Of course, it had to be my Pet. He was the most adorable creature ever. I tried for several weeks after he started crowing to find a home. I finally had to resort to taking him to a feed store where someone else wanted him for their hens. I did a lot of research and found that nothing helped to stop the vocalizations, as a matter of fact, he crowed more when I tried to stop him.
I went to my neighbors and explained the situation I was in and asked for a bit of time, they were very nice about it and gave me the time I needed to find a home for him. One thing I did was keep him inside a cage in my house with a towel over it until the neighbors left for work in the mornings, then I would take him out and put him with the hens. At night, I would pull him off the roost before I went to bed and bring him inside. Its a lot of trouble but it can buy you some critical time so you can figure out where he will be going.
Good luck I hope you find a nice place for him to live. Please let us know what you find out or decide to do.

RoosterDon said:

You should at least check (like one responder said) to see if you are even allowed to have chickens at all. If not, and on top of that you have a rooster, I fear that you will one day wake up and find them all dead from a disgruntled neighbor who (like many people) don't want to be the bad guy and complain, they will just act in secrecy. You really are playing with fire challenging the law in your area. It might not end well for your poor chickens. 

Even though our deed restrictions allow chickens and roosters, I cleared it first with my neighbors as to whether having a rooster would be a problem. They said no. But they also started complaining when one chicken kept flying the fence and coming over to eat their birdseed. Seriously? Nope, it was not really a seed issue, I think they are really tired of the rooster but just don't complain. Pretty passive aggressive but also quite typical human behavior. 

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I cleared it with my neighbors to my left and right. They are Hatian and Dominican and grew up with chickens. It's my neighbors behind me in worried about. My neighbors to my left and right say they don't hear my roo in the morning. I was going to just go to the house behind me and ask them if they hear but then they would be focused on trying to hear him if they haven't already. I think because of the coop being right up against my privacy fence the sound bounces to my direction mostly.

I think in your situation it's the birds on the fence. Some people get real teratorial I guess. Do you still have your birds?

2WhiteChicks said:

Hi, I just went through a similar situation about 3 months ago. I purchased three pullets and come to find out one of the chicks was a Roo. Of course, it had to be my Pet. He was the most adorable creature ever.  I tried for several weeks after he started crowing to find a home. I finally had to resort to taking him to a feed store where someone else wanted  him for their hens. I did a lot of research and found that nothing helped to stop the vocalizations,  as a matter of fact, he crowed more when I tried to stop him.
I went to my neighbors and explained the situation I was in and asked for a bit of time, they were very nice about it and gave me the time I needed to find a home for him.  One thing I did was keep him inside a cage in my house with a towel over it until the neighbors left for work in the mornings, then I would take him out and put him with the hens. At night, I would pull him off the roost before I went to bed and bring him inside. Its a lot of trouble but it can buy you some critical time so you can figure out where he will be going.
Good luck I hope you find a nice place for him to live. Please let us know what you find out or decide to do.

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That's what my wife suggested. To put him in a cage in our shed and then put him back before I go to work so he won't wake anyone up.

I was thinking of putting Styrofoam up on the ceiling of the coop like a music studio to muffle the sound.

I give my neighbors to my left and right some eggs as like a form of hush money lol. Maybe I should just go talk to my neighbors behind me and see if they hear it. Maybe they don't and I'm just paranoid but he wakes me up and wife every morning at 5am on the dot so I can't be the only one who hears him.

Amen Junebuggena. Ya know, it's fine to be rebellious, but it rarely works. Better to get involved in local politics, and work to have zoning and laws changed.

So I wrote the No Crow collar people a letter and this gentleman by the name Jim responded promptly. I did his recommendations and it has lowered the sound of the crow. I'm going to cut and paste his tips below. Please share this with any of your friends or people on this site.
Here are a few tips and Troubleshooting :

A couple of quick tips - take your rooster out of sight (and hearing) from the flock  ( I go to our small bathroom) to put his collar on. I use an open storage bin with shavings or paper towel in the bottom and sit down with him under my arm, with him facing forward. You can use that arm to hold him and use that same hand to help hold his neck  feathers out of the way. Use your other hand to put the collar on. We recommend  letting him wear it just a little bit loose for a day before tightening it. But, you may skip that if you follow the directions very carefully. And take safety precautions. Do check his environment to remove  anything that the collar could catch on.

Here are a few things that make a big difference in how the collar works:

Put the collar very low on the neck.

Put the collar UNDER the feathers as much as you can. The feathers that grow out of his neck anywhere above the collar should not be laying over the collar (not trapper underneath.) Does that make sense?  The only feathers that should be underneath  the collar are the feathers that are growing out of his neck in the area that the collar is covering. Okay?

The feathers actually help to hold it in place. 
If you can smooth them out as much as possible then he will not notice  it as much and ignore it much sooner.

Make sure that you can just get the little tip of your smallest finger under  all of the edges. The top edge and the bottom edge should be just as snug.

Watch very closely for his  reaction and pay close attention to any obvious signs of difficulty  breathing. It is easy when you are desperate  to stop him crowing to rush and put it on too tight.  He should not be gasping or drooping, hanging his head.  

You have probably noticed that when chickens are nervous  they will often open their mouths a little bit and sometimes pant very very softly. That is normal. Wide open mouth or gasping is definitely  NOT normal. So, tip of the little finger under the edges, put your hand around the collar to press the velcro firmly together. Smooth his feathers. Hold him toward you so you can see his face and how he is breathing. You can hold him and help him to be calm.

Use the box (bin with shavings or paper towel) to help him get comfortable  with the collar. Set him in the center of the bin and hold him gently for a few moments to  help him relax. Then slowly  move your hands away  and let him back into the corner of the box. It is instinctual for them to try to back out of the collar - like something that they can't  see is holding them. Gently move him back to the center  and hold your hands on him for another couple of moments.  He should be standing calmly when you are holding him in the box ( flailing his head or neck or sinking to the ground are indicators that the collar is dangerously tight ). When he is calm release him again. You should do this a few times and then let him rest in the corner of the box while he get used to it. When you have your hands on him he know that  it is you holding him and he is safe. When you let go he feels the collar still "holding onto him" and doesn't know that he is still safe. Each time you put your hands back on him during this process, it helps him to feel safe and to trust that the collar on him is okay.

When you take him outside and put him down, stay right there and watch very closely. If he needs more time to adjust he should be put in a safe enclosed coop where he can back into a corner and rest there until he feels safe.

Quieting his crow is partly anatomical  (the way the collar fits) and partly behavioral. His first few crows with the collar on will probably  not be that quiet. He will be trying to crow as loud as usual despite the effect of the collar. It won't  take long for him to work it out and crow in a way that works for him and is quieter. Temperament has a lot to do with that aspect. If his crow is not quieter at all by the next day then the fit needs to be adjusted.

If the collar gets pulled off or feels looser there  may be a few reasons - too many feathers were underneath the collar and when he adjusted the feathers  the collar didn't  it as snug. Also, if there aren't  enough feathers over the collars it will be more noticeable to other chickens  that may want to investigate or pull at it. One more tip can help keep collars on. If it is possible to put the tag in the back, it will stay on better. Since the collar is made to hinge and bend with his neck, it can loosen if the opening is in the front where he bends  the most.

I hope you find this helpful.

Hey, that could work if your neighbors agree. I hope you can figure out a way to keep him. I was and am devasted over my boy. He was one of the best Dogs I ever had. I would never have bought a Rooster. We were unaware of him being a Roo until he started crowing. He looked just like my Girls. Still miss him.

2WhiteChicks said:

Hey, that could work if your neighbors agree. I hope you can figure out a way to keep him. I was and am devasted over my boy. He was one of the best Dogs I ever had. I would never have bought a Rooster. We were unaware of him being a Roo until he started crowing. He looked just like my Girls. Still miss him.

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I feel ya all we tried to make are own but I dint think it worked

So far I still haven't heard a complaint. I don't know how but I haven't thank god

Blooie said:

But the difference is simple....dogs (noisy or not) are allowed in your area. Roosters are not.

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But, Dogs that bark constantly after a certain time are not allowed either. Fair Game.