Crowing Rooster ..all night long

[hennanny]

so we got a young Rooster this summer and he has grown into a fine looking boy and doing all the things a Rooster should do..BUT. he crows and crows all through the night. You can wake up at 0200 to go to the bathroom and you can hear him. Wife thinks it's our dusk to dawn light that's triggering him ( Our first Rooster in my avatar never did such foolishness), we should be starting to get some eggs but they are few and far inbetween so thinking maybe the ladies are stressed. He also puts the ladies to bed awfully ealy. We are in Nor Cen Mo it's 4:00 and they are all ready up on their roosts and it's cloudy day but even on sunny days he puts them up waaaay before dusk.

thoughts????

 

[thecatumbrella]

I would do everything in my power to keep that coop plunged in darkness. Do you have motion lights that are getting set off? I know mine trigger over every little mosquito and spider.

 

[hennanny]

I would do everything in my power to keep that coop plunged in darkness. Do you have motion lights that are getting set off? I know mine trigger over every little mosquito and spider.

no it's dusk to dawn..sunlight or lack there of triggers the light. I am in no control. Our old one we had control of and when we turned it off it plunged us into cave like darkness. My wife and I both have PTSD ( for different reasons) so blackout conditions is a non starter altho it would be nice for stargazing.

 

[thecatumbrella]

no it's dusk to dawn..sunlight or lack there of triggers the light. I am in no control. Our old one we had control of and when we turned it off it plunged us into cave like darkness. My wife and I both have PTSD ( for different reasons) so blackout conditions is a non starter altho it would be nice for stargazing.

I gotcha. I'm guessing your coop has windows? What about installing some little blackout curtains for them that can be pulled shut before bedtime? They also make blackout cling film for windows, but that would mean a permanent reduction in light.

 

[hennanny]

I gotcha. I'm guessing your coop has windows? What about installing some little blackout curtains for them that can be pulled shut before bedtime? They also make blackout cling film for windows, but that would mean a permanent reduction in light.

the windows provide the warmth for winter and we leave them open for ventilation and cooling in the summer. To be truthful he's not worth that much effort & I seriously dont think we could plunge that coop intothat kind of darkness but I do appreciate your thoughts.

 

[FrostRanger]

the windows provide the warmth for winter and we leave them open for ventilation and cooling in the summer. To be truthful he's not worth that much effort & I seriously dont think we could plunge that coop intothat kind of darkness but I do appreciate your thoughts.

Completely valid solution, if you aren't all that attached to him, rehoming or eating him and getting another rooster that's a bit quieter during the night works. However, before you do that make sure there's not a predator prowling around and setting him off. Sometimes a rooster will crow at night because of that and that is an issue unto itself

 

[hennanny]

let me get this out there. his crowing does not bother us but we are concerned his crowing and early to roost behavior is stressing our what were otherwise good laying hens ( Buff Orps). before he matured there was no problems but now he is mature we are just wondering if that might not be an issue..after al it's all about the eggs.

 

[thecatumbrella]

his crowing does not bother us but we are concerned his crowing and early to roost behavior is stressing our what were otherwise good laying hens ( Buff Orps).

Fair. I mean, I'd be stressed out to be in there with him!

 

[hennanny]

Completely valid solution, if you aren't all that attached to him, rehoming or eating him and getting another rooster that's a bit quieter during the night works. However, before you do that make sure there's not a predator prowling around and setting him off. Sometimes a rooster will crow at night because of that and that is an issue unto itself

we certainly do have plenty of possums and bandits about but our place is very secure but thats not saying you may not have valid point. I may put a game cam out and see

 

[ChicoryBlue]

we certainly do have plenty of possums and bandits about but our place is very secure but thats not saying you may not have valid point. I may put a game cam out and see

If there are windows that they can see out of, and you have the yard / coop / house area lit up like daylight, he will see everything that goes on. Could be mice, rats, weasels, raccoons, coyotes (I don't know if you're urban or rural but they are everywhere), fox, possum, neighborhood or feral cats, etc...Being a young rooster he is learning to differentiate threats and will be prone to err on the cautious side.

But I doubt the crowing is stressing your hens. However - have you had cameras in there and see a change in behavior at night, compared to before this fellow came along? I think your Buff O.'s will accept his behavior as normal and won't be stressed out by his crowing. Often a crow is an "all clear" signal, so it's a reassuring sound to them instinctively. Is he giving a warning / alerting sound prior to that and getting everyone on alert? That would "wake" them up fully if so.

[You may know already, so forgive me: chickens are up and down in the night usually. Sleeping, preening, hanging out, etc, dozing again. They will sleep with half their brain and stay "available" with the other half. They do sleep with all their brain too at times but it's not the whole night.]

I am quite a bit north of you but here too everyone goes to roost about 4-4:30, even the experienced hens. It's wintertime here in Central New York with the sun low in the sky and still short days.

Of 3 two-year-old Buff Orps only one has started up laying again, and that was only about ten days ago. Of the other two hens, one is getting a reddish comb and one is still very pale. My Buckeye 5+1/2-year-old lady I don't expect to be laying much at all, she's a garden manure provider now, but she might have a Spring Flush and lay one or two, which hasn't happened yet. None of my four Buckeye pullets, hatched late July /early August, have begun laying either, though Buckeyes are a late-laying breed.