Finally Got my Roo To Stop Crowing!

[Cab1344]

Well, I hope you update us on your experience with it.
I really wonder how it will stay on a chickens neck.

Well, the rooster was fine with wearing the collar and the collar functioned as advertised, but the rooster didn't seem to care that the collar vibrated and made an alarming noise every time he crowed. I had the collar as tight as the straps and buckles would allow and it was fairly snug on his neck with about a fat fingers worth of space. My rooster is pretty tame and lets me handle him freely. He fussed a bit with the collar after I put it on, but was fine with it after 5 minutes max. I have tried it for one 24 hour cycle so far, but since i didn't see any real affect on his crowing I think this experiment might be a dud. But if you think your rooster would be deterred by a vibrating collar or beeping/alarm sound maybe it would be worth a try for you. The collar has several alarm sounds to choose, some more annoying than others (I tried most of them) and even lets you record a sound to play when the collar is triggered. The nice thing about this collar and why I choose to try it was that you can adjust everything from your phone as long as you are within about 50 ft, so I didn't have to bother the rooster at all to change settings. The one thing I might still try is recording a sound that the rooster might not like, like a hawks cry or something he'd be naturally afraid of. The setup was super simple and I liked that the pro version kept a log of all the roosters crowing so I could look at the data and make sure there was no false triggering. The collar also measures the sound level of the noise it hears which is cool. I had to set the sensitivity to the minimum for it to catch all his crows. It didn't have any false triggers which was good to see. I'll post again after a bit more experimenting.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

So, you could also track results over time to see if he is crowing less frequently? Maybe he will crow less tomorrow if you pick a sound he might not like, like a hawk, and use it consistently. I'd be interested in seeing the results of such an experiment. Perhaps if he thinks his crowing brings the hawk, he might decide to stop?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

What breed is this rooster?

 

[Father Cluck]

Hello friends! First post but a LOOOOONG time lurker! Sorry for the post length; TL;DR at the bottom. I know the title sounds like a clickbait article, but this has been a bumpy road for us! I have a small backyard flock in the suburbs of a major metropolitan city. We don’t have any laws about chickens or chicken noise specifically but I always try to be extra careful of my neighbors because I don’t want to be the reason we end up with chicken rules.

And then we accidentally adopted a rooster.

You read that right. I occasionally foster for a local dog and cat rescue and am the only one in the organization with chickens. Then I get a call that there’s a therapy rooster (yup. He was a companion animal for a woman who had cancer.) that needed a new home with someone who would be gentle with him. So they called me. And I said ABSOLUTELY NOT. NO ROOSTERS. My coordinator said, “Just go meet him and then see what you think.”

Later when she asked how it went, I said, “Well now we have a $%@#*$% rooster so thanks for that.” Within two seconds of meeting him I fell in love with his sweet, goofy disposition.

I brought him home and my immediate neighbors were thrilled! However, his crowing (he didn’t crow much to begin with) was driving ME BONKERS. And I had someone a few doors down scream at him to “SHUUUUT UUUUP!!” So I thought yelling his name out the window every time he crowed would get him to stop. Yea, I know. Absolutely dumb idea. Instead of teaching him to stop crowing, he learned that when he crowed it got Mom’s attention. So he crowed even more.

Then I made him a Velcro No-Crow collar. I thought, “YES! A solution at last!”

It worked for a day or two. Then he figured out how to rip it off. And every time I put it back on, he ripped it right off. I timed him. Less than a minute and it was on the ground.

So I bought a fancy No-Crow collar online. And thought, “GOOD LUCK GETTING THIS OFF, YOU BUTTHEAD.”

SUCCESS! For a day that is. I found it laying in the yard the next day. I put it back on him and then watched. He tried pulling it off himself for about 5 minutes. When he couldn’t get it, HE CALLED ONE OF THE HENS OVER AND HAD HER PULL IT OFF.

I was stomping mad. I refused to be outsmarted by a chicken!!!

So then I researched like a madwoman. I came across a type of “no-bark” collar for dogs that beeped and vibrated to deter a dog from repeatedly barking. The bonus was it was specifically built for dogs 4lbs or less!

So I bought it, skepticism in hand. It took repeated tries to adjust it to my now cranky roo, but it *seems* to be working!! It’s a plastic buckle with a woven strap so his normal tricks to rip it off aren’t working. I have the sensitivity setting so he can make his normal chatter to the girls without setting it off.

*I don’t want to spoil it, but he’s been quiet for 3 DAYS.*

Crossing my fingers this will continue!

TL;DR - I used a vibrating no-bark collar for 4lb dogs on my rooster to keep him quiet and it seems to be working!

All these years later, would you train a rooster with the no-bark collar again or did it end up not working?

 

[aart]

All these years later,

...the OP here hasn't been back for 5 years.

 

[cate1124]

All these years later, would you train a rooster with the no-bark collar again or did it end up not working?

Really enjoyed this post, and I sure appreciate your kindness to all animals. I briefly tried a similar device on a buff Orpington hen -- my flock leader -- who had become VERY noisy with spring hormones and the presence of youngsters I was integrating into the flock. It may -- or may not -- have had some positive effect, but it made her so unhappy that I quit. I didn't want her to get hurt trying to get it off, or be unduly stressed. Like all things, her increased vocalizing eventually passed. My boisterous bossy blonde is now 10, and fading. She will be greatly missed -- noise and all --when she dies.

 

[Father Cluck]

Really enjoyed this post, and I sure appreciate your kindness to all animals. I briefly tried a similar device on a buff Orpington hen -- my flock leader -- who had become VERY noisy with spring hormones and the presence of youngsters I was integrating into the flock. It may -- or may not -- have had some positive effect, but it made her so unhappy that I quit. I didn't want her to get hurt trying to get it off, or be unduly stressed. Like all things, her increased vocalizing eventually passed. My boisterous bossy blonde is now 10, and fading. She will be greatly missed -- noise and all --when she dies.

She sounds like a great bird with a super personality.
I would sure like to avoid my sweet roo going in the pot. Right now I keep trying different placements of a velcro collar (higher and lower on neck), and I take him in the house before dusk til 9 am to keep the neighbors happy. He is quiet in the box in the house. I have orderd the vibrating dog collar and will try adding it to the training.