I was wondering when a young roo starts crowing. Also, how often do they normally crow? Is there a such thing as a quiet rooster? Can you train them not to crow? I'm trying to think of any way I can keep my young (most likely) cockeral.
This is an interesting question and one I would love to hear an answer to. From what I have read there is no way to keep them from crowing (I am also wanting to keep one of my roos). I did read something about rooster boxes that you can build so they can't stretch their neck out to crow (you put them in them at night) but it sounds kind of cruel to me. Maybe someone with much more knowledge and experience than me can offer some better advice. Regardless, good luck!!
Sorry, a rooster is going to crow. That's what roos do. A determined rooster is not going to allow being stuck in a box stop him when the mood strikes. Some cockerels start crowing at the tender age of a few days old, others are a year old or older before they decide to sound off.
In my exprience, roosters LOVE to crow and there's really no stopping them. People ask about this kind of thing frequently because the crowing is exactly why there are city ordinances against keeping roosters - they disturb the peace! Of course, I personally like crowing much better than lawn mowers, loud bumping music on blasting stereos, exceedingly loud muscle cars and motorcycles, etc, etc. But, that's just me and I don't make the laws, unfortunately I am raising my first personal flock right now and I have four cockerels that are 11 weeks old (I will be keeping two). The "head rooster" started to try to crow at about 6 weeks and it actually sounded like a crow by 8 weeks and at 10 weeks he was really good at it. Nowadays, when the mood strikes, he crows 5, 10, 15, 20 times in a row and then stops for a while. So far, he hasn't bugged us in the early hours of the morning, but that may come. He definitely crows at varying times whenever there is daylight.
I now have 2 Roosters. One is an Americauna and the other is a little Bantam Japanese that my daughters won at a Poultry School (they got a pair). Well, the Americauna crows at 3:30am or so and then all day till dusk (not sure when the boy sleeps) and now the little guy gets his croaky crow going on too. Boys, can't live with 'em, and life ain't fun without 'em!
Last week I decided to mess with Thor's head. He was in the front yard so I stood on the screened porch hidden from his view and played the rooster crowing ringtone from my cell phone over and over again. Every single morning since then the first thing Thor does when I let him out in the morning is go to the front yard and crow repeatedly. He's determined to find that "other roo" so he can kick his butt.
I had an EE roo who started crowing at 10 weeks. My cochin was nearly 20 weeks when he started. It depends on the bird. Most of my roos start up around 6:30am, and then will crow off and on as the mood strikes. Sonja
I had a bantam cochin begin at 5 weeks old, and an Ameracauna start at 14 weeks old. However the Ameracauna crows all hours of the day and sometimes the night. Normally he starts about 5am, but has been known to crow around midnight. I think he just likes to hear himself.
They will crow In the snow In a cage No matter the age On a stump In the dump In a box Filled with socks In the air In a chair On a grandfather clock Because they are a cock.
