3mo Pullet crowing solutions?

[Proxyn]

They are all very cute. Often times when cockerels first start crowing they sounds ridiculous. I personally love the first crows because they put so much effort into it and sound so funny. Takes about 2 to 3 weeks before they start to sound like your classic rooster crow from my experience.

I’ve never had a rooster sound so… hollow? I’m not really sure how to explain it. It’s more whistle-y than raspy which really threw me off.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I’ve never had a rooster sound so… hollow? I’m not really sure how to explain it. It’s more whistle-y than raspy which really threw me off.

Birds are all different and individuals. They won’t all sound the same.

 

[notabitail]

Please send a picture of the eggs when it starts laying. I'd be really interested in seeing them.

 

[Appalachickens]

I think your bird might be auditioning to be the next model for this wine.

 

[Tib]

My RIR boy started crowing a week ago, we were expecting it and knew he was a he (Fred) and that crow is pathetic like he has a collar on. Real raspy and weak and sounds pathetic - as you described.

Today while cleaning the grill (not in front of the chickens!) he crowed a little better and completed the doddle-do part since we have about 4000 hawks in the area and one is screeching he seems to have gotten a bit fussy about it. Again as expected.

He's friendly, easy to hold, talks to us and generally is a cool dude. Did a great job of integrating the two flocks of kids together but we fully expected to rehome/dispatch him once we got here - and hate to see him go but I don't plan to breed and want eggs. We have been filtering out the requests for him from the typical flakes.

He's almost twice the size of the pullets. It's funny watching him show the girls the nesting boxes, tibitting and other rooster things.

I'm expecting an egg or two any day now as the first two girls have swollen up combs and waddles turned bight red this week. He's been trying to mount the girls but they are still trying to figure it out. 18 weeks old, so a little early still. The nasty heat probably put them off kilter though.

Just to give you an idea the difference, the girls combs and waddles today look like his did over a month or so ago. And still very hen sized. Smaller than these pictures. The Barred Rock our friend took for his new flock looks just like yours.

 

[Proxyn]

My RIR boy started crowing a week ago, we were expecting it and knew he was a he (Fred) and that crow is pathetic like he has a collar on. Real raspy and weak and sounds pathetic - as you described.

Today while cleaning the grill (not in front of the chickens!) he crowed a little better and completed the doddle-do part since we have about 4000 hawks in the area and one is screeching he seems to have gotten a bit fussy about it. Again as expected.

He's friendly, easy to hold, talks to us and generally is a cool dude. Did a great job of integrating the two flocks of kids together but we fully expected to rehome/dispatch him once we got here - and hate to see him go but I don't plan to breed and want eggs. We have been filtering out the requests for him from the typical flakes.

He's almost twice the size of the pullets. It's funny watching him show the girls the nesting boxes, tibitting and other rooster things.

I'm expecting an egg or two any day now as the first two girls have swollen up combs and waddles turned bight red this week. He's been trying to mount the girls but they are still trying to figure it out. 18 weeks old, so a little early still. The nasty heat probably put them off kilter though.

Just to give you an idea the difference, the girls combs and waddles today look like his did over a month or so ago. And still very hen sized. Smaller than these pictures. The Barred Rock our friend took for his new flock looks just like yours.

I had a pair of RIR and they made me fall in love with chicken keeping. My boy was always pretty quiet and only crowed in a morning 2-3 times. Lovely bird.

Honestly the thing that shocked me was the lack of rasp in their crows. Unfortunately due to the fact almost no areas around me allow roosters I may have to dispatch mine. It makes me a little sad because I somehow always end up with really sweet roos. If the red rooster in this post didn’t hate the collar so much I’d keep him.

I do plan on moving in next year or two to larger property in an agricultural zone so I can keep roos again. I just love them so much.

 

[Tib]

I had a pair of RIR and they made me fall in love with chicken keeping. My boy was always pretty quiet and only crowed in a morning 2-3 times. Lovely bird.

Honestly the thing that shocked me was the lack of rasp in their crows. Unfortunately due to the fact almost no areas around me allow roosters I may have to dispatch mine. It makes me a little sad because I somehow always end up with really sweet roos. If the red rooster in this post didn’t hate the collar so much I’d keep him.

I do plan on moving in next year or two to larger property in an agricultural zone so I can keep roos again. I just love them so much.

Yeah my RIR is a rather pretty bird, not what I expected. Funny thing is he is 15 feet from my bedroom window and I can't hear him crowing in the morning and the nearest neighbor is about 300' away, but I can hear every Blue Jay, Crow, Cooper Hawk, Red Bellied Woodpecker, Cardinal, Dog, the Hellcat starting in the morning....I guess the coop/run materials absorb enough sound that it just doesn't travel far.

It's not about the noise for me, just didn't build for more than X birds and can't free range with this many hawks. They just have to accept the big run they have. I'd put up a fence in a heartbeat if I could avoid the damn hawks. They gotta eat too though.

 

[JPadronMiami]

I have a 3mo Buff Orpington* pullet who will not stop crowing. Every morning at 4:30 she starts and keeps going intermittently throughout the day. Shes currently the dominant hen due to her massive size and I really don’t want to get rid of her since she’s my sister’s favorite chicken. She only started crowing after she became top hen.

I’ve come up with a few ideas that may help but I would like further advice.


1) Knock her down on the pecking order
I’ve heard that she won’t crow if she isn’t the boss hen. There are some shamo breeders in my area and I was thinking about getting a hen from that breed as I heard they tend to sit at the top of the pecking order in a mixed flock. RIR are also in consideration but the ones I’ve owned before weren’t particularly dominant. If you know any other dominant breeds I’m open to recommendations!

2) Crow collar
Since she isn’t actually a rooster I’m not sure how well it will work.

3) Add a rooster
I have a bantam cockerel and was thinking of adding him to the flock when he’s a bit older. However, I am going to start collar training him soon and with the anti crow collar I’m not sure he will be effective.

*Shes not an Orpington. The person I bought them from bred several breeds and they must have been mixed up




…I will be rehoming them as cockerels.

You know, Ive noticed that behavior on a couple my Serama Bantam hens....i have a small flock of them, approximately 10 little hens and 2 little roosters, 2 of the hens (under 1 year old) started out being very dominant and were even crowing! that is until i added 1 of the little roosters into their enclosure, they continued to show dominant behavior even towards the rooster whom quickly corrected them, then all of a sudden they started laying and are now acting as hens. So adding the rooster worked for me. I divided the flock into 2 separate groups lead by more dominant roosters. the hens are still a little bossy however not aggressive as they were before...incidentally they stopped crowing as well.

 

[Juleswins3]

I have a 3mo Buff Orpington* pullet who will not stop crowing. Every morning at 4:30 she starts and keeps going intermittently throughout the day. Shes currently the dominant hen due to her massive size and I really don’t want to get rid of her since she’s my sister’s favorite chicken. She only started crowing after she became top hen.

I’ve come up with a few ideas that may help but I would like further advice.


1) Knock her down on the pecking order
I’ve heard that she won’t crow if she isn’t the boss hen. There are some shamo breeders in my area and I was thinking about getting a hen from that breed as I heard they tend to sit at the top of the pecking order in a mixed flock. RIR are also in consideration but the ones I’ve owned before weren’t particularly dominant. If you know any other dominant breeds I’m open to recommendations!

2) Crow collar
Since she isn’t actually a rooster I’m not sure how well it will work.

3) Add a rooster
I have a bantam cockerel and was thinking of adding him to the flock when he’s a bit older. However, I am going to start collar training him soon and with the anti crow collar I’m not sure he will be effective.

*Shes not an Orpington. The person I bought them from bred several breeds and they must have been mixed up




…I will be rehoming them as cockerels.

My grandpa told me a whistling woman and a crowing hen will always come to some bad end. When I was a kid I had a hen crow and a few days later something got in the pen and killed her. I became a believer!

 

[Appalachickens]

My grandpa told me a whistling woman and a crowing hen will always come to some bad end. When I was a kid I had a hen crow and a few days later something got in the pen and killed her. I became a believer!

A whistling woman will come to a bad end? Yeah, that’s not at all misogynistic.