my crowing hen - how to keep her in the city

[mossyotter]

It seems that my three year old Easter Egger hen has turned herself into a rooster. She won't stop crowing! This happened in the past month or so. Here's her video. We live in an urban environment where roosters are not allowed. With only three hens and she being my daughter's favorite, I'd like to do what I can to keep her, even tho she's no longer laying. Right now, we're locking her in a bathroom at night until we're into the sane awake hours for our neighbors (tho I can still hear her outside. ) We're trying the no-crow collar, tho I haven't been brave enough to make it as tight as it needs to be. Other ideas?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I recently moved to a place where you’re not technically supposed to have roosters, and you’d think that was fine since I only have two hens right now, but both those hens started to crow! However, I’ve received no complaints, mainly because their crowing is super quiet, like a cockerel just learning how, and it can’t really be heard from that far away. Is your hen the same (while she’s outside)?

I did notice that the crowing started after my head hen died. Is your hen the most dominant one in the flock? If so, maybe adding another hen, if that’s feasible, to shake up the pecking order could help?

 

[aart]

Here's her video.

WOW, that's quite the crow!

Although she's a she, and you may be able to prove it if the enforcement officer knows the difference, you may well still be in violation of noise ordinances.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

@RoostersAreAwesome , here is the post @mossyotter made on another thread before starting this one for their incredible crowing hen. I linked that post here because the info answers most of the questions you asked.

mossyotter​

Chirping​

5 Years
I’m dealing with a similar situation and at wits end. Three hens, in a very urban environment. The lowest ranking hen (3yo easter egger) used to fly out of the fenced in area to escape the pecking of the other hens. We covered the run to prevent her escapes last year and it seems like she’s taken it as an opportunity to fight back. She stopped laying and started crowing a few weeks ago, much to the dismay of our neighbors. I went out of town for a few days and isolated her, to give the neighbors a break. While I was gone, the middle hen (5 yo Wyandotte) dominated the lead hen (3 yo buff Orpington) so when I reintroduced the rooster-hen, the pecking order completely flipped, and now our highest ranking hen is bleeding and isolated and at the bottom. (Don’t worry, we patched her up.) plus the rooster-hen is now crowing around the clock. I am going to try the no-crow collar. She’s a mean bird so I’m not excited about that. Any other ideas? I hate to get rid of her and the crowing has to stop

@mossyotter , have you watched videos on how/where to correctly apply the no-crow collar? If you type "how to correctly apply no-crow collar", many videos will pop up. The key is to place the collar very low on the neck, as far down at the base and over the trachea as possible, because this is where a chicken's syrinx (vocal cords) is located. When the collar is first tightened, you will want to confine her in a small space. (A dog crate, for example.) The reason for doing this is she will try to run backwards with her head down in an attempt to escape the collar. After 12-24 hours or so, she will have grown used to the collar and you can release her. There have been cases where a no-crow collar resulted in a rooster's death, but i suspect this is because the collar was placed too high upon the neck. Some people are opposed to using these type collars, but if it is the only way to save a roosters life (or a crowing hen's!) I see nothing wrong with using the device. Also, you said she is basically crowing-non-stop. I suspect she is doing so because she is very impressed with the sound of her new voice. After she wears the collar for a time, this may break her crowing habit, and you may be able to remove the collar at a later date.

Also, to answer your question from that other thread, if she begins to change from hen-feathered to rooster-feathered, the first/most obvious place you will probably see this is her saddle feathers, on top of her back and just in front of her tail. The saddle feathers will change from short and round to long and pointed, and will appear to cascade down toward the ground. Her tail, which is currently clearly that of a hen, will grow long, curved sickle feathers at the end of the tail. Her hackle feathers will also change from round to pointed at the ends. She will also probably begin to grow spurs. Her comb wont change as much since EE pea combs are fairly small, so I would watch the feathers for signs of changes. Since she only recently stopped laying and started crowing, the above could possibly be the next surprise she has in store for you. If you are not able to keep her, you may be able to find her a home where "roosters" are allowed, near enough that your daughter can still visit her. She is very unique, that's for sure!

 

[mossyotter]

@mossyotter , have you watched videos on how/where to correctly apply the no-crow collar? If you type "how to correctly apply no-crow collar", many videos will pop up. The key is to place the collar very low on the neck, as far down at the base and over the trachea as possible, because this is where a chicken's syrinx (vocal cords) is located. When the collar is first tightened, you will want to confine her in a small space. (A dog crate, for example.) The reason for doing this is she will try to run backwards with her head down in an attempt to escape the collar. After 12-24 hours or so, she will have grown used to the collar and you can release her. There have been cases where a no-crow collar resulted in a rooster's death, but i suspect this is because the collar was placed too high upon the neck. Some people are opposed to using these type collars, but if it is the only way to save a roosters life (or a crowing hen's!) I see nothing wrong with using the device. Also, you said she is basically crowing-non-stop. I suspect she is doing so because she is very impressed with the sound of her new voice. After she wears the collar for a time, this may break her crowing habit, and you may be able to remove the collar at a later date.

Thank you so much. I'll keep trying. I put it on her yesterday and she... just stood there. Creepy. She would eat but not move at all. After a while, I took it off so she could go back to being a normal hen. I'll try again today.
She's quit crowing, except in the morning. I've separated her from the other hens which is also seeming to stop her dominance, both towards me and of the other hen. This bird has attacked me for years - maybe she just needed some loving.
No feather changes that we see yet.
Crossing fingers that she'll just stop this crowing business all together....

 

[mossyotter]

I did notice that the crowing started after my head hen died. Is your hen the most dominant one in the flock? If so, maybe adding another hen, if that’s feasible, to shake up the pecking order could help?

I wish I could add more birds! We just have three. She's the lieutenant to the head hen (or was until I removed her from the flock.) Now that she's separate, she seems to be getting the message that she's going to be a solo chicken with this behavior. Hoping she can be taught new tricks.

 

[mossyotter]

Circling back here…
We had Suprelorin injected into our crowing hen and… she stopped! Nothing else changed about her - tho she did molt slightly. She started crowing again about 5 months later. We decided to rehome her as, living in the city, it wasn’t going to be sustainable for us to continue the injections throughout her hopefully long life.