No Crow Rooster collar

[SageB]

Well I think I had the collar on to tight or something. My baby had been wearing it for about 2 weeks but kept loosening it so I would readjust it each night. It never really stopped the crowing but did quiet it. But Monday afternoon I found him dead in his coop. I've been crying ever since and I'm so heartbroken. I feel so terrible thinking I may have inadvertently choked him. Please be careful if you use a no crow rooster collar!

 

[TBarry]

I've wanted to update on my collar. I still have it on our rooster. it's our first rooster-so honestly I don't know how loud the crowing may get as he grows BUT I think this may help.
I just read Newly hatched eggs reply about that yellow tag (thanks for responding). we removed it as well as he was really getting pecked at and stressed by our hens-they were just curious-that color stood out.
still only crowing when I let them out between 6:30 - 7:00am (about a dozen times)- and that's it all day.
did a test and took it off one day last week and sure enough when I walked outside after 9am -he looked at me and crowed-so I did put it back on as I felt that was my sign that this is helping. No, it's not stopping it -still a bit loud in our yard, but I think we can get away with it (saying prayers!). Like others say-no louder than when they lay their eggs or .....just a really loud parrot! and he is quiet all day.
I attached a photo where he is fluffing a bit-you can sort of see the collar. hoping this works for all of us!
will update as he grows as he is still young.

 

[TBarry]

I'm so sorry - I read this after I posted.

 

[kittydoc]

There is a link on how to fit the collar: http://www.mypetchicken.com/downloads/no-crow-rooster-collar-instructions.pdf

You may well need a collar that is less long for your Silkie (sorry about its sex change!). Here is a link to the Velcro. It's 2" wide, but you cut it to 1" width. The person's whose post I read was using 8" length for a standard LF. You might want to try less length. Here's the link for the product on Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Velcro-Brand-...UTF8&qid=1408551247&sr=8-3&keywords=2"+velcro

Hope this helps!

 

[kittydoc]

@SageB I am so sorry for your loss. As long as you could get the end of your pinky finger (or more if you have slender fingers) between the collar and his neck, he should have been fine. I don't know how long you have had chickens, but it is sadly common to find a chicken that is fine one day dead in the coop or run the next. I am a veterinarian, so sometimes I perform a necropsy (like an autopsy, just a different word in vet med) to see what happened. Other times, I can tell by examining the outside of the bird (one was eggbound, for example, and I had not noticed any signs the previous day). I'm sure you'll never use a rooster collar again, and your story is a cautionary tale. Please try not to beat yourself up too hard.

 

[lazy gardener]

I've heard enough stories, just like Sage's regarding these collars. Even though they sound like the answer to the dilemma of a noisy rooster, I implore you folks to look for an other alternative.

 

[kittybethaustin]

The only other alternative I know of is the freezer and I don't think a silkie would be very good as a meat chicken. Besides he's my pet, not dinner. Others might end up being dinner, but not this one. If collars like this work at all, it could save thousands of rooster lives. I'm sorry some have been lost, but really what is another workable alternative for city chickens? I've heard of surgical de-crowing but it's expensive and can also be dangerous we well as hard to find a vet who can do it. I'm open to suggestions. Re-homing is not a solution. Most re-homed roosters around here get eaten or used as bait to train fighting cocks.

 

[SageB]

Thank you so much kittydoc. I am a new chicken owner, getting help and tips from my mother in law, she's owned chickens before. Yes I was able to just get the tip of my pinky finger under the collar, and he had done alright with it for days. But the day before he passed, he vomited up some white frothy stuff. Maybe he was sick? I'm haunted by the idea he may have aspirated on vomit. That's him on my shoulder in my profile pic. His name was Danny and he was just 4 months old. :'(

 

[SageB]

Thank you so much kittydoc. I am a new chicken owner, getting help and tips from my mother in law, she's owned chickens before. Yes I was able to just get the tip of my pinky finger under the collar, and he had done alright with it for days. But the day before he passed, he vomited up some white frothy stuff. Maybe he was sick? I'm haunted by the idea he may have aspirated on vomit. That's him on my shoulder in my profile pic. His name was Danny and he was just 4 months old. :'(

@kittydoc

 

[NewlyHatchedEgg]

I'm so sorry to hear about Danny.

I had the no-crow collar on my 10 week old Easter Egger cockerel, Uncle Sam, for seven days. Each morning he managed to crow. He turned 11 weeks old on Sunday morning, he crowed, my neighbor complained and he was killed that day. Roosters are illegal where I live, and the collar was my last resort. Re-homing wasn't a solution for me as well. Roosters are illegal not just in my city, but in my county and neighboring counties as well. And cock fighting is prominent where I live. I used to volunteer at my local animal shelter, and we received a lot of roosters from cock fights and the vet killed them and we gave them to the zoo. Realistically, I knew this would most likely be his fate. Having one rooster to six hens probably would not have turned out well, but I had to try. I feel bad, I consider my chickens as pets not livestock, but I come from a family of farmers who think I'm nuts because I pet them. Both my grandma and dad offered to kill him, and my dad ended up helping me do the deed. I have the feeling it did not work because I had an eight-inch collar, which is the correct size for an adult rooster, but probably to big for an 11 week old cockerel. I tried to make it tight, by Saturday I could NOT get my pinky between the collar and his neck. It just seems like a waste of a life, he was so small, but my dog and cats seemed to enjoy him.

Best luck to everyone else who tries to use the collar.