Do You Wish to Have a Rooster but Cannot Because of Close Neighbors?

The cock box may revolutionize chicken keeping in your backyard

I have always wanted to have chickens. I grew up on a farm and a roo named, Baby He was my best friend. He would crow on the front stoop for mom to open the door and Shoo him... But he would stealthfully fly inbetween her legs and up the stairs he went ...right to my room where we'd hang half the morning during the summer Then it would be off exploring with Baby only a few steps behind.
Here I am with my two favorite things... my phone an my Baby


Roosters are full of personality and are so beneficial to their hens. They protect from predators, help nurture young chicks and come in so many vibrant colors that would enhance any garden.

I live in a rural area but have close neighbors in EVERY direction. I wanted my birds including roosters and, thankfully, good ole WV would let me have them but I didn't want to cause a feud by forcing everyone to listen to our early morning music. So my husband came up with the Cock Box!! It has put an end to the crowing until I decide they can start.... around 9:00 ...instead of 5:30

We enclosed an area under our nesting boxes and put a door on it. We drilled holes along the entire top to allow for ventelation. The area under the nesting boxes is the perfect height... just high enough for your roo to stand but cannot extend his body in the crowing position. The box also limits light which encourages crowing. Being on the ground is also a slight inhibitor as roos enjoy jumping up on fences or perches to crow in order to show off their manliness while doing the deed

Here'smy rosecomb roo eagerly making his escape. He the most vocal of all my roos

When we go out to lock everyone up, we just grab the roos off of the perch and lock them in the box til I go out to feed in the morning... at a much more reasonable hour. We've been enjoying peace and quiet for three mornings now and thought it would be nice to share with all of you.

Note: We have a heat light installed in our coop to keep the temps above freezing. I would not separate the roo from his girls if it were going to be below freezing in the coop. The same goes for heat waves. If your temps are soaring, he would need a whole lot more air traveling through the box. You could just screen in the end and hope that the camp space will be enough to inhibit crowing. An option would be to have a box in a dark closet to keep your roo in when temps were extreme.

I did that this summer sort of I kept all chooks in the coop until reasonable hours then let them out after 9 am, now I have my roo in the garage where it is harder for anyone to hear him. I am going to try to come up with a better plan for this spring, either that or my few breeding roos will have to live in the garage coops. I intend to never keep a roo inside for more than 9 months then I will give them to a friend who has a farm up north where they can join a big flock. I also decided that silkies and SH roos are not nearly as loud and that they would be my outside roos this year.

Haha! Great idea, Ms. Bear.
My bantam roos crow plenty, but thank goodness their barn is made of thick lumber and it muffles them so the neighbors don't notice any noise.

The only thing I disagree with you on is roosters protecting hens from predators. I have yet to see a roo do anything but try to save his own hide when varmints come prowling! They do help show the hens where tidbits of food are, though we know it's to help their own selfish aims.

Hey, Im trying to be supportive!!

Are you talking about those pebbles and sticks they always pick up to trick their girls into coming closer ..."come her honey, just a bit closer... NOW I GOTCHA!!!"

nice! thanks!

That's cool

I can't have roos because I live in town. I have a special needs cockeral that I'm just hoping won't learn to crow because I don't know who would take him.

This is really interesting. How is it working out having the rooster sleep in the 'private room' at night then letting him out a little later in the AM when crowing can take place a little later?

This is sort of what parrot owners do. You cover the cage with a blanket otherwise they wake you up at the crack of dawn. I had a parakeet that had to be covered otherwise she would start whistling and squawking at 5:30am

I don't have the space issue as I'm on 5 acres. I have been trying to decide whether or not to add a rooster. Honestly, it's nice to hear good rooster experiences. Seems like all I've been reading here is about horrible roosters and the stew pot.

I tried putting a very loud roo in my house in a dark room in a dark box and he still knew when it was time to crow!!
I the end the house smelled like chickens (even though we cleaned out the box everyday) and so we had to get rid of him anyway