De-crowing Options

[CNJ]

Thank you I'll experiment with this a little more!

I have a two chicken limit on Oahu residential zone, but I have 5 roosters and 17 hens. I gave one of my neighbor chicks and gave the other eggs and my neighbor in back raise chickens, so no one complained yet.
I make my 1 1/2 inch velcro collar as tight as need be to get the sound I want. I mark my black velcro collar with white out during the adjustment and I move it 1/8 inch at a time.
I notice that certain blood lines can't wear them like one of my Breese lines. The skin on its neck is too thick. I think Green Fire farms brought in two lines and I have both of them. One of their lines can wear rooster collars and one can not.
If your rooster is wearing them and is still alive it should be okay to make the adjustment to the sweet spot.
I can barely hear my one year old rooster...........

 

[Jenessa_096]

Ha - WA isn't any better, I'm always astonished at the rental prices on new apartments

I’m in Oregon and honestly, same !

 

[ChookieG]

Partly that was because I was not arranging the feathers so they would be smooth under the collar. Once I found the perfect spot (for my roo about 3/4 down the neck) and smoothed the feathers and then put on the collar so I could barely stick my pinky just inside the collar, it worked perfectly. He's happy and hopping around, eating and doing all those roo things. He crows but it's very soft. I cannot hear it at all from inside the house.

what do you mean by "smoothing" the feathers? I thought you have to lift the feathers upward toward his head before slipping the collar on?

 

[ChookieG]

You might want to look at how your crow collar is fitted. I have been working with my young rooster for about a month before I finally figured out the fit and placement. Some of the videos say to put it high, some low, some that it does not matter. I suspect that it depends on the bird. One thing for sure, i had it far too loose. Partly that was because I was not arranging the feathers so they would be smooth under the collar. Once I found the perfect spot (for my roo about 3/4 down the neck) and smoothed the feathers and then put on the collar so I could barely stick my pinky just inside the collar, it worked perfectly. He's happy and hopping around, eating and doing all those roo things. He crows but it's very soft. I cannot hear it at all from inside the house.

what do you mean by "smoothing" the feathers? I thought you have to lift the feathers upward toward his head before slipping the collar on?

Scratch that I think I've nearly figured it out.. I adjusted the collars as much as I can based on what you've said and one of my roos did only whispering crows this morning.... well it was more like a screeching crow but with 10-fold less volume.. the other only did a cock-doo (as opposed to a cockle-doodle-doo).

 

[ChookieG]

Once I found the perfect spot (for my roo about 3/4 down the neck) and smoothed the feathers and then put on the collar so I could barely stick my pinky just inside the collar, it worked perfectly.

@lesliedow, was wondering how wide your collar is? ie. are you using the no-crow collar or did you make your own? I actually made two home-made roo collars for each cockerel .. each about 2.5cm wide (about an inch) using flannel material with velcros at the ends. I noticed my 5 cm wide (2 inches) collars don't fit very well - especially at the bottom of the neck where it curves upwards. The two separate collars seem to fix that problem with the lower one fitting perfectly round the curve.

 

[Granny23]

Scratch that I think I've nearly figured it out.. I adjusted the collars as much as I can based on what you've said and one of my roos did only whispering crows this morning.... well it was more like a screeching crow but with 10-fold less volume.. the other only did a cock-doo (as opposed to a cockle-doodle-doo).

I tried a no crow collar on my rooster and he flipped out. He was doing somersaults and backing up ....I hadn't even tried to make it tight. I just put it loosly around his feathers. Never tried it again after that.

 

[ChookieG]

I tried a no crow collar on my rooster and he flipped out. He was doing somersaults and backing up ....I hadn't even tried to make it tight. I just put it loosly around his feathers. Never tried it again after that.

they'll reverse back to try and get the collar out of them as they're not used to it. It may take them a while to adjust to it.. sometimes they'll just sit there for a few minutes looking sad but they'll get over it soon enough. Putting it loosely is the right thing to do for first timers. I do that for my cockerels too. They take only a day to get used to it and then you can start tightening it the following day and monitor and adjust accordingly.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

I think that if he is like family, it's a tough decision but you should try and find him a loving family that he can live with and crow in the new location. Or maybe someone can take him where you live now. Decrowing seems like there are not too many options that aren't unnecessary medical procedures. Just like it's wrong to declaw a cat, I think it could cause him undue pain to remove the instinct. Rehoming is a noble thing if you're doing it for the benefit of the animal's quality of life

 

[Soonermagic254]

This thread has me SMH.
If this rooster is like a child to your family why in the world would you buy a house where one of your children wouldn't be allowed?
I don't see an option that would work.

Perhaps it’s a red headed “step child” and there is no available land in the desert for red headed children to live.

 

[The Moonshiner]