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I've heard that roosters often stop crowing or crow less when there is a more dominant roo higher up on the the totem pole.
I have a Polish crested who had been crowing since I got him in the beginning of June (rehomed rescue). I was told at the time he was about 2 months old. He didn't crow much at first, only once every few days, and steadily increased to around 5 or 6 times a day for a duration of about 4-5 crows in a row. But now for the past few weeks or so he has not crowed at all.
Neither he nor any of my other fowl (chickens, ducks, guineas and a goose) exhibit any sign of gapeworm, and all my other birds make the same amount of noise as ever. He is the only rooster. We have a male goose but he is kept separate, and some young'uns that might be cockerels, but they haven't been introduced to the big chickens yet.
He doesn't seem sick or depressed, either. All his behavior is the same as always, gentle, curious, tolerant of being held and petted, eating, drinking, strutting, and sleeping necks entwined with the same silkie he always goes night-night with. (So cute.) Crop's not impacted either.
It's really strange, as if one day he just changed his mind about crowing and decided, "Okay, I've had enough of that." He still makes his normal happy noises when eating or startled noises (being a Polish, his crest limits his vision and so lots of things startle him), that sort of thing, but no crowing.
I did have one possible theory. I have two EE girls who are dominant over the whole flock: might this be why he isn't crowing? I didn't think that a dominant female would have the kind of effect a dominant male would on a lower-ranking male, because she herself wouldn't be crowing (well, 99.9% of the time; I know there are exceptions - the DH used to have one).
But the thing is, my rooster had been living in the same coop with the alpha females for about 7 weeks (after his 6-week quarantine) before he stopped crowing. If that is what's going on, would it have taken this long for the change to occur? He was crowing more and more, not less, before he suddenly stopped.
I'm keeping an eye on him anyway. I wonder if anyone else has experienced this. I'm sure a lot of people who can't have roosters due to the noise factor would love to have a roo that doesn't crow. Maybe I shouldn't look a mute gift roo in the mouth.
I've heard that roosters often stop crowing or crow less when there is a more dominant roo higher up on the the totem pole.
I have a Polish crested who had been crowing since I got him in the beginning of June (rehomed rescue). I was told at the time he was about 2 months old. He didn't crow much at first, only once every few days, and steadily increased to around 5 or 6 times a day for a duration of about 4-5 crows in a row. But now for the past few weeks or so he has not crowed at all.
Neither he nor any of my other fowl (chickens, ducks, guineas and a goose) exhibit any sign of gapeworm, and all my other birds make the same amount of noise as ever. He is the only rooster. We have a male goose but he is kept separate, and some young'uns that might be cockerels, but they haven't been introduced to the big chickens yet.
He doesn't seem sick or depressed, either. All his behavior is the same as always, gentle, curious, tolerant of being held and petted, eating, drinking, strutting, and sleeping necks entwined with the same silkie he always goes night-night with. (So cute.) Crop's not impacted either.
It's really strange, as if one day he just changed his mind about crowing and decided, "Okay, I've had enough of that." He still makes his normal happy noises when eating or startled noises (being a Polish, his crest limits his vision and so lots of things startle him), that sort of thing, but no crowing.
I did have one possible theory. I have two EE girls who are dominant over the whole flock: might this be why he isn't crowing? I didn't think that a dominant female would have the kind of effect a dominant male would on a lower-ranking male, because she herself wouldn't be crowing (well, 99.9% of the time; I know there are exceptions - the DH used to have one).
But the thing is, my rooster had been living in the same coop with the alpha females for about 7 weeks (after his 6-week quarantine) before he stopped crowing. If that is what's going on, would it have taken this long for the change to occur? He was crowing more and more, not less, before he suddenly stopped.
I'm keeping an eye on him anyway. I wonder if anyone else has experienced this. I'm sure a lot of people who can't have roosters due to the noise factor would love to have a roo that doesn't crow. Maybe I shouldn't look a mute gift roo in the mouth.
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