New breed ‘No crow roosters’

[SarahGfa]

I've been searching on our Marketplace for Aseels and haven't had much luck so far. It's suppose to be rare but it's even rarer to find in Australia!

I read Aseel roos are very aggressive towards other chickens? How did you manage him and his son?

The oldest one keeps the younger ones from fighting for the first year. Then I sell or separate them.

 

[ChookieG]

The oldest one keeps the younger ones from fighting for the first year. Then I sell or separate them.

Are they ok with other chickens? I read that they are extremely aggressive towards other chickens, even hens.

 

[SarahGfa]

Are they ok with other chickens? I read that they are extremely aggressive towards other chickens, even hens.

Aseel Roosters are only aggressive to other roosters. Aseel hens can be aggressive to other chickens when they are broody, but they are OK the rest of the time.

 

[Ladybird CA]

I wonder if anyone here has bought a squeaky serama from Bluegrass Seramas. She hasn't posted in a decade but wondering if she or he still has any. Not that I'd be able to get some without health papers since I moved to Canada.

 

[ANightPerson]

Someone started a thread here a few years ago with the same idea, the consensus was that crowing is a sign of testosterone and fertility in roosters, and roos who crow less also tend to be less sexually active and have more muted secondary sex features. Theoretically it could be possible if you find the right roosters and select for it since behavior is partially genetic, but an unintended consequence would likely be reduced fertility and sex drive, and reduced roo features.

Of course, if you can find a few roosters that are quiet but otherwise healthy it could be possible, but starting from scratch and selecting towards this may just cause issues. It's too deep-rooted a part of their behavior and the way they interact with each other that unless you come across some very lucky mutations or breed birds with congenitally broken vocal cords, it may be in vain.

 

[raingarden]

The volume of the crow seems to be proportional to the size of the bird. OEGB are squeeky little things and less likely to disturb anyone.

 

[BDutch]

Someone started a thread here a few years ago with the same idea, the consensus was that crowing is a sign of testosterone and fertility in roosters, and roos who crow less also tend to be less sexually active and have more muted secondary sex features. Theoretically it could be possible if you find the right roosters and select for it since behavior is partially genetic, but an unintended consequence would likely be reduced fertility and sex drive, and reduced roo features.

Of course, if you can find a few roosters that are quiet but otherwise healthy it could be possible, but starting from scratch and selecting towards this may just cause issues. It's too deep-rooted a part of their behavior and the way they interact with each other that unless you come across some very lucky mutations or breed birds with congenitally broken vocal cords, it may be in vain.

Thanks. This makes sense.

Still hope that someday, someone has a mutant rooster who wants t breed with him for the happiness of many BYC keepers in the city/urban environments.

 

[Gobekli Pepe]

Interesting thread. I got to thinking it might be more doable through genetic manipulation than by way of breeding. Surely there's a gene tied to a roosters propensity to crow, but I couldn't find anything on it. If such a gene exists it might not be identified, and would take some measure, if not a lot, of time and effort to identify it. Which would of course cost money. So that might nip my whole idea in the bud.

I'm no geneticist though, I'm not even particularly in favor of genetically modified animals.

I did find a study wherein Japanese scientist were able to link crowing to the birds circadian rhythm, not too shocking really. But the roos also responded to external stimuli, like light and sound. So altering that behavior genetically might cause the bird other problems.

Slightly unrelated, but I also found another paper that shows how a rooster passed on mitochondrial dna to his chicks. Mitochondrial dna typically being provided by the mother. Interesting, but like I said, unrelated. I only bring it up because it got me thinking. Even if you created such a breed of crowless rooster without issue, either by breeding or genetic manipulation, you're going to encounter some restrictions as a chickenkeeper.

You would either have to only keep this crowless breed, or you wouldn't be able to breed him to the other breeds in your flock. Or at least, there's no guarantee that you would be able to keep that "crowlessness" in the line. So even if you got rid of all the cockerels you hatched, you would still need to buy a new crowless rooster eventually. If you breed him to, say, a barred rock hen, the resulting cockerels might gain their mother's breeds need/ability to crow. Even if you got one or two or more who didn't crow, and you probably would at first, every generation after that it would be less and less likely. Because you would be further diluting the crowless roosters genetics in the line.

So best case scenario, you would have to keep buying crowless roosters anyway, just like you do with your hens already. Which, in the end, I think defeats the purpose. Of course, that all depends on what your reasons for wanting one are. You could, as I said, only keep that crowless breed and retain that level of self-sufficiency, but I know very few people who only keep a single breed. Most of us enjoy some variety, I know I do.

Anyway, I'll stop rambling now. I'm just some nerd on the internet.
Might be I'm just over thinking this, and it could work out just fine, I foresee some problems, if not inconveniences, though.

 

[ColtHandorf]

Someone started a thread here a few years ago with the same idea, the consensus was that crowing is a sign of testosterone and fertility in roosters, and roos who crow less also tend to be less sexually active and have more muted secondary sex features. Theoretically it could be possible if you find the right roosters and select for it since behavior is partially genetic, but an unintended consequence would likely be reduced fertility and sex drive, and reduced roo features.

Of course, if you can find a few roosters that are quiet but otherwise healthy it could be possible, but starting from scratch and selecting towards this may just cause issues. It's too deep-rooted a part of their behavior and the way they interact with each other that unless you come across some very lucky mutations or breed birds with congenitally broken vocal cords, it may be in vain.

The key isn't to get a rooster that doesn't crow at all. Just get a hen. The only way this would be viable and the trait be based on is if the male is still "male." Being mute, he'd still go through the motions of crowing and still have the testosterone level needed to breed.

 

[WallyG74]

The key isn't to get a rooster that doesn't crow at all. Just get a hen. The only way this would be viable and the trait be based on is if the male is still "male." Being mute, he'd still go through the motions of crowing and still have the testosterone level needed to breed.

Yep. That contractor still hasn’t shown up to build my free pole barn, and yes my tractor still gets wet every time it rains.