I just got the collar a couple of weeks ago after trying velcro cable ties. The velco cable ties did reduce the volume but not by the amount the No Crow Collar does. My rooster still crows, but it sounds like he's got laryngitis.
You have to continually adjust the collar. As he shakes his head, some feathers may come loose and then the collar is not not tight enough and the crow volume goes up. The most important thing I found, was that there is a very very fine line between "no crow" and choking. I kept him in a crate and observed him and tightened the collar until the volume was tolerable; but there was a point when he began foaming at the mouth and vomitting.
My collar is on a little tighter than would fit the tip of a pinkie (and whose pinkie?). I can still here him in the morning; but the crow is a low frequency sound and I don't it think carries outside my the walls of my yard as much as the neighbor's shrill little dog barking all the time/night or the people with an aviary of parrots a few houses away. These higher frequency sounds carry further. My roosters crow is softer than that of the two roosters I can hear in the distance. If there were ever complaints, all I'd have to do is go outside with a decibel meter and record all the other animals in the neighborhood which are far louder.
He's able to eat whole grains without any problems (though I haven't tried whole corn, only cracked corn).
I live in Los Angeles and while the ordinances do allow for one pet rooster, noise complaints would overrule. I can finally breed a project chicken that will be better suited for the hot summers in the Valley. Incidentally, the summer temps have been record highs in LA for the last few years. I'm preparing for more days over 110 this year and a chicken that will not drop dead from heat stroke as so many of my large fowl have in the past years.
