Are there any "quiet" breeds of roosters?

[Farmer Mike S]

I understand that all roosters crow, but I'm wondering if there are any breeds that don't crow loud and crow less frequently. I really want to hatch some eggs and the only way to do that is to have a rooster, but I only live on a 2.5 acre property. I don't want to waking myself up or any neighbors. My friend got a cockerel that the farmer claimed won't crow a lot and won't crow loud, but who knows how true this is and my friend doesn't even know the breed lol.

 

[Whittni]

Bantam breeds are usually quieter, and higher pitched, but sometimes crow more often (like little dogs acting bigger). Big breeds are usually louder, but usually deeper sounding, crow longer but not as often.

Small ones eat less and won't rough up the hens so much. Big ones eat more and can rough up hens pretty bad.


However, you may go through a few roosters until you find one that doesn't crow so much or so loud. The crowing is genetic so it will always vary between breeds.

 

[saladin]

I have had my strain of Kulang Asil for 5 or 6 years now. I have never heard one crow. Don't mean they won't; I've just never heard nor seen one crow.

 

[McGobs]

I have 5 roosters. 1 white leghorn, 1 wyndotte/red cross, 1 silkie, and 2 bantam frizzles...and they all crow..a lot..all day. I've yet to find a quiet breed. Like mentioned before, the smaller they are the higher pitched it is, and they do crow more often.

 

[shanadienne]

I can't volunteer any specific breed with certainty, but the number 1 thing you can do to keep crowing to a minimum, regardless of breed, is only have one rooster, and don't let him hear other roosters or otherwise feel he needs to assert dominance. They're like humans: it's the insecure males you need to worry about. By the way, if you already have a particularly tough hen at the top of the pecking order there is a small possibility of some extra crowing but that'll go away once she accepts the inevitable.

I'd go for a heavy breed described as calm/docile and tolerant of confinement (even if they free range). In the past few years the only large fowl roosters I've had were easter eggers, and they've been quiet in my opinion. Bonus of an easter egger is that his daughters should lay green eggs!

And this is probably a complete coincidence, but in the past any white hens I've had were much noisier/flightier than other colors. If I were in your position I'd avoid a white rooster, just out of paranoia, lol. (Plus if they free range, white does nothing for camouflage.)

This may help:
http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/chick_selector.html
There's one for disposition under "show more characteristics."

 

[CherylR]

I don't know if this helps very much because I think that everyone's experiences are different, but I have both cochin and silkie roos. In my experience, the silkies crow ALL THE TIME. Well, this might be a little exaggeration, though sometimes it seems that way! Anyhow, their crow is pretty shrill and quite loud. I love them though (my husband does not!) so I tolerate the noise, make excuses for them to my husband, and am continually grateful that my nearest neighbor is out of ear shot! The cochin boys, in my opinion, are much more laid back and have a lower pitched crow that is much easier on the ears. My friend had a cochin roo, too, and often remarked how seldom he crowed and that it was much lower pitched and easy on the ears compared to other roosters she'd had! I love all my boys, but agree that the smaller they are the more annoying the crow is. I also agree that it would help to only keep one rooster if the crowing bothers you as they kind of feed off of each other, getting a real crow-fest going sometimes!

 

[mcbrown7513]

If crowing is genetic, can I breed a quiter too strain?

 

[Anit]

I have two roosters that never crow. My son hatched a lot of chicks and gave me 15 chicks. 10 were roosters and I gave them away as they started crowing. I have two left that sure the heck look like roosters but haven’t crowed whatsoever but they are busy trying to mate. Any suggestions?

 

[nuthatched]

I have two roosters that never crow. My son hatched a lot of chicks and gave me 15 chicks. 10 were roosters and I gave them away as they started crowing. I have two left that sure the heck look like roosters but haven’t crowed whatsoever but they are busy trying to mate. Any suggestions?

For what?