Can bird mites cause a rooster to crow in the middle of the night?

[wordsretainpower]

It isn't predators, and it isn't lights... we've now just put a roost inside the pen today in hopes that has been what made them sleep on top of the coop...
So here is the story, at first our rooster only went off in the morning like normal...Then all of the sudden he started going off in the middle of the night. We blocked off the pen from the road now so there are no possible lights waking him up... We used diometricearth or whatever its called this past weekend thinking maybe bird mites were what was driving them to the top of the coop...every time it happens I will quietly go out there hoping to catch a glimpse of any predator that could be bothering them...nothing... not even a ruffle of some leaves... What I've noticed changed is they will still go in the coop when it starts getting dark out, but then by middle of the night they are all up on top of the coop...google told me bird mites can attack them in the middle of the night so that's what made me think it was that...I know it can take 5 days to see results...so I am hoping that could be what's doing it...Out of our 6 chicks, 2 ended up being roosters... we didn't mean to end up with any roosters. I got attached to the loud one ugh. Anyways, what else has changed? The quiet rooster has now started mounting one of the hens...So, on top of putting a perch inside the coop today, we also got rid of the other rooster, so now there are just 4 hens and 1 rooster. I am hoping after all of this that he will be...better.... YES if it doesn't improve by the weekend I am rehoming him. That option is on the table and we are getting closer to making that choice, unfortunately. I wanted to try every possible thing to make him tolerable, but he is upsetting my husband too much and the two of them just might not be suitable and that's fine. It just sucks because he was fine until all this night crowing started... We were all ok with the morning crow...but the middle of the night is upsetting my neighbors too... I got the no crow collar in hopes to lower the volume a bit but that doesn't seem to be working much...So to reiterate the questions I am asking after the back story - Can bird mites cause a rooster to crow in the middle of the night? Could the quiet not dominant rooster who is now mounting one of the hens cause the dominant rooster to go off in the middle of the night? I am just hoping for a "yes" to both questions I guess haha.... The coop is big enough, in fact, it is too big lol so I know that isn't the issue...The only two things it could be is that....and I am hoping that could be the problem which would mean hopefully we solved it today....Other than that we just have an intolerable rooster and that is just an upsetting thought. Our chicken pen is about 10x10x feet, the coop is about **6xby7x ..so 42 square feet. I had my measurement wrong

 

[wordsretainpower]

p.s My rooster is back to normal now after my husband scared him in the middle of the night. He took about an hour longer to come out but he let me hold him and is back to being his sociable self, also isn't growling at anyone so that's good. I was worried about that, but he is still sweet as pie. I know that if by weekend we have to rehome him...this will be THE last time I ever handle a rooster and let myself get overly attached. What a damn nightmare lol... Next time I will get attached to one of the females haha.

 

[casportpony]

Can you post pictures of you coop?

 

[wordsretainpower]

Can you post pictures of you coop?

I am not at home at the moment I can when I get home

 

[theoldchick]

Some roosters just wake up and crow. Though night-time crowing can be caused by other disturbances, you might just have a night-time crower. I've had roosters in the chicken hospital start crowing in total darkness for no apparent reason other than to wake me up.

 

[Isadora]

Crowing is more of a territory/behavioral thing than a sign of discomfort. I wouldn't think mites would contribute to a rooster crowing at night.
Have you actually seen mites or are you just assuming that could be a problem? I would skip the DE as it can cause respiratory issues and check the birds thoroughly to see if there's a mite issue. If there is, use permethrin as directed on the bottle until they're gone.

 

[wordsretainpower]

Some roosters just wake up and crow. Though night-time crowing can be caused by other disturbances, you might just have a night-time crower. I've had roosters in the chicken hospital start crowing in total darkness for no apparent reason other than to wake me up.

ugh fingers crossed that isn't the case...

 

[SueT]

Every rooster I’ve ever had has crowed in the middle of the night. It’s not abnormal, it’s not something to be ‘fixed.’ It’s what they do. I kind of like it.

 

[wordsretainpower]

Every rooster I’ve ever had has crowed in the middle of the night. It’s not abnormal, it’s not something to be ‘fixed.’ It’s what they do. I kind of like it.

Well, he didn't start doing this until about a month or so ago... with it getting progressively worse... also they didn't sleep on top of the coop and all the sudden started sleeping on top of the coop which is why I suspected bird mites, only because they go into the coop at nightfall, but don't end up coming out until the middle of the night for some reason... Unfortunately in our area, we can't have roosters that are a nuisance... It's simply not allowed. We built our coop by hand and set everything up directly outside our bedroom window... (In hindsight probably not the best choice...but we needed to make sure it was far enough away from both of our neighbor's houses) Idk... it just seemed like something changed in the last month, they've been full-grown for a while and he's probably been crowing now for almost 4 months... I don't mind the night crowing but unfortunately, my neighbors and my husband do...It's because my neighbors are upset which really bothers my husband because he doesn't want to upset anyone with our rooster...(I don't either of course.) So that being said, you don't think it could be bird mites? Idk I just find it strange that they are fine being inside the coop from like 8pm-midnight... but then right after midnight, they all start migrating to the top of the coop...Hopefully, the perch and one less rooster will help I guess.. I figured he could just be flaunting his dominance because like I said, the other rooster started mounting one of the hens... like all the time... I am hoping with the final adjustments we've made today that it will help the problem a little. Unfortunately, we aren't all blessed to have a giant property to be able to keep a rooster where it doesn't upset others...

 

[wordsretainpower]

Crowing is more of a territory/behavioral thing than a sign of discomfort. I wouldn't think mites would contribute to a rooster crowing at night.
Have you actually seen mites or are you just assuming that could be a problem? I would skip the DE as it can cause respiratory issues and check the birds thoroughly to see if there's a mite issue. If there is, use permethrin as directed on the bottle until they're gone.

No, I haven't actually seen the mites...I was just doing alll this research and read that bird mites come out in the middle of the night to start feeding and it drives the chickens nuts, so they end up sleeping on top of the coop...and because they are fine with being inside the coop from like 8pm until midnight ish... I thought maybe bird mites are coming out and feasting at a certain time? I think it might be territory issue because of the other rooster... but he is gone now so fingers crossed it will help a little... I will stop using DE.... I didn't realize it could cause respiratory issues...They said it was safe for chickens....Thank you for the advice.