We have a flock of 20 (minus 4 cockerels who were harvested yesterday). We have tried homemade collar and purchased no crow collars.
As long as you are a steward of your flock these are invaluable devices to lessen the volume of your roosters. I actually just ordered a 2nd no crow collar for one of the handsome cockerels who is just coming into his crow. We are 100% allowed to have roosters in our area but we want to ensure that our neighbors feel the lease amount of disturbance to their lives from our flock.
Crowing is a normal part of having chickens/roosters, IF you keep a breeding program. If you do not intend to breed roosters are not necessary. Roosters should be allowed to crow freely IF the following apply to you:
- You live in an area that allows you to have a rooster (city ordinance, HOA, etc.) - You MUST know this before hand.
- You have spoken to your neighbors about your intentions to have a rooster and the daily noise disturbances that WILL occur for the rest of that roosters life AND they agree to let you have one (i.e., they are OK with hearing crowing)
- You don't mind the sound of a rooster crowing. it will happen many times a day, everyday. it is not just at dawn like many cartoon or movies may depict.
If these apply to you, then by all means keep your rooster o-natural. If any of the above are not YES answers for where you live you MUST re think having a rooster. There are lots of legal ramifications which could put you or your flock in harms way.
- Disgruntled neighbors can be a huge hassle and could theoretically cause you to loose your flock all together.
- Re-homing a rooster is a good option.
I am a big fan of the No Crow Collar and other crow lessening devices, however they MUST never harm your rooster. As mentioned previously,
You are the steward of your flock. If the collar does not work for you then you need to re-consider keeping a rooster, even if you are allowed to have one. They can be a disturbance to the neighborhood (i.e., in a city) and people will resent you. These collars are intended to do no harm to the rooster provided they are "installed" correctly.
I find it best to put the collar on your roo first fairly loosely. Leave it loose for at least a day so he can acclimatize to having it around his neck. Once he realizes that its on him he will act very funny: lay down, how backwards or even stumble about like he is drunk. That is normal and will subside rather quickly. You should absolutely watch him for the first 15-20 minute to ensure his normal faculties return. He will eat, drink and do his rooster duties normally after that.
After a day with the collar loose, re-adjust the collar and make it tighter. You should always be able to fit a finger into the collar from the top AND the bottom edge. Once re-fit, let him down and observe him again. Make sure he resume normal rooster-ing activities. Ensure to check on him daily and listen for the crow (or lack there of). As he grows, you WILL need to adjust the collar. Come people remove the collar every night and re-install it the following morning and repeat that daily. That is another acceptable method. But going weeks/months without checking on him is NOT OK, or acceptable. His health trumps your auditory pleasure.
Checking on your flock daily is a must for any chicken steward. If you cannot devote that small amount of time, you should not keep chickens. They are wonderful creatures to watch and be around. And a healthy flock will give your years of enjoyment, eggs, pest management and wondrous fertilizer for your compost bin and garden.
Cheers to all your no crow collar folks. I wish you all success in your chickening!
