No Crow Rooster Collars?

[chickengeorgeto]

.....
The anthropomorphic equivalent to this would be wrapping a guys chest so he can't play the trumpet in forte......

No, the true anthropomorphic equivalent is mashing up a violinist hands and fingers with a hatchet because he missed a vigorish payment.

 

[K.Riggs]

Woa that got serious Being pretty new to chicken ownership i'm guessing this is one of "those" subjects.. There are similar dividing topics in sheep ownership i found out a few years ago. It's always a steep learning curve on forums when it comes to triggers. Looks like i found my first one, i'm guessing there is a divide between those who eat their chickens and those who don't? Or is that less of a sore point? Any other topics i should be wary of? I get scared when i'm new and don't know.

 

[Tammy N]

I have a 8 week old roo Crowing I am not supposed to have roos so thank you all for this page as well , Lots of good info i like the darkened coop idea but if i have too I will use the collar or my Hopper popper

 

[The Moonshiner]

The no-crow collar is not designed to choke or throttle the rooster. It simply prevents the rooster from filling up its lungs with one breath enough to power a loud crow.

Restricting air flow to the lungs IS chocking.

These collars are like having asthma, OCPD or a fat girl setting on your chest.
Just like asthma or the others it could be really mild and look as if it isn't effecting quality of life to any degree or it could be serious and cause death.
That will be determined by how you fit the collar.
Too loose and it won't stop the crowing but won't have any negative effect on the rooster. Too tight and he won't crow but will die.
There is no doubt that to be effective on lessening his ability to crow will also be causing discomfort to him.
There's no way around that fact. You will need to weigh the options for yourself. Its his quality of life vs your quality of life.
Personally I would never use one but everyone has to make their own decision.
Of course some who are against them will over dramatize to make their point and some who are for them will sugar coat it to support their position.
It is what it is. "You can polish a dog turd all you want but at the end of the day all you have is a shiney dog turd."

 

[K.Riggs]

I wouldn't use one because i would just get rid of the rooster if it was a big problem. I don't know enough to even begin to judge others though either. I really think blacking out a separate coop for roosters is good, well at least for mine. But i expect some people think i'm mean for doing that too. I have a daughter with severe health issues who needs to not be woken by 5am crowing. I just came inside from putting my boys to bed. I let them perch on the big perch with the girls till 11 then pick them up (give my nice boy pats and cuddles and my other boy get straight to business cause he doesn't like cuddles so much lol) and put them in their coop (which is inside the girls coop which is a big shed) and shut the door, there is a partition between so they don't bother each other and it is raised up on pallets with ventilation holes right where their heads are that leads to a hole in the slab with fresh air from outside coming in. They pop right out in the morning when I open the door at 7am and are always relaxed, they jump onto the edge and usually sit there for a second, again my nice boy lets me pat him. Then they let all the girls fly out the door before they strutt off and start their morning crow off

 

[LittleRedFace]

I run a BnB on my property, but I also have a large chicken flock and my noisy rooster is waking the guests (and me) up at 4:00 in the morning.
What is everyone's opinions on No Crow Collars.

YOu can try it, but be careful. Using it properly, otherwise, it would choke a roo to death.

 

[azurbanclucker]

Let's set some anatomy straight here and clear up a misconception. Roosters have a small air sac at the base of their throat that expands off of the trachea like a small balloon. This sac, (along with the lungs), has all the air expelled out through it when a roo crows. Putting a collar on is not constricting the air flow to the lungs, it's just restricting the volume of air that can inflate this air sac, and thus the volume of the crow emitted by the roo. It's like you having a small balloon in your throat you could inflate on demand to make funky noises but otherwise wasn't very useful to you at all. Applying a no crow collar to this area does not choke the roo unless you don't follow the instructions (which are to place it snugly but leave a pinkie's width of room between collar and neck).

Having said that, I have 3 roos right now for breeding (Langshans and Bresse). I live in the middle of a subdivision. My neighbors would not appreciate loud roos at all hours of the morning, so all 3 of my boys have collars. None of them are in any discomfort, or really even all that concerned about the collars. they STILL crow, mechanically everything is the same for them, just the volume is reduced because they can not fully inflate their air sac. My neighbors are content (and I bribe them with eggs too), I can continue to work on breeding these 2 lines of bird, and the boys are happy and thriving.

The one thing I will strongly urge is that if you decide to go with a collar, feed your roos crumble. You ARE putting an external device around their neck which could potentially cause a choking hazard with pelletized feed or larger coarse feeds.The key to success with a collar is to understand how it's supposed to be applied, know your own birds, and be prepared to monitor and adjust a collar or even remove it for the well being of your bird if necessary.

Collars are not a solution for all birds or all people. Were my circumstances different I might not use them, but they are serving their purpose and do not seem to be harming my flock. Mileage varies per bird and per owner, and I won't try and sway anyone on whether or not to get a collar or not. My experience with them has been positive, and I'll leave it at that.

 

[The Moonshiner]

The above post is incorrect.
Let's set some anatomy straight here and clear up that posters misconception

The main job of the respiratory system of birds is to absorb oxygen and rid the body of carbon dioxide. In addition, the respiratory system also gets rid of excess heat, detoxifies some of the waste products of the body, and makes noise — most noticeably, crowing noise, much to the annoyance of our neighbors.

Like humans, birds have a windpipe and two lungs, but from there, birds are distinctly unlike mammals. Air flows into a bird’s lungs during the intake of breath, it continues through the lungs into nine air sacs, and then it goes back out through the lungs again.

Birds get two doses of oxygen for the price of one breath! The air sacs are arranged around the inside of the chest and abdominal cavity, and they connect with some of the bones of the skeleton.

Humans breathe with the help of the diaphragm muscle, which divides the chest and abdominal cavities. Birds don’t have a working diaphragm; instead, a bird moves its rib cage and keel (breastbone) to draw air into the lungs and force it back out.

The voice box in chickens is called the syrinx, located down in the chest cavity where the windpipe splits to enter each lung. Both male and female chickens have a syrinx, so hens can crow, too, if they feel like it. The syrinx isn’t an optional piece of anatomy though. A rooster can’t live with his syrinx removed

 

[azurbanclucker]

Not how I understood the anatomy, but makes sense

 

[The Moonshiner]

The no crow collar makers have taken the truth and twisted it enough to make their product look safer then it is. That's the magic of marketing just as it is to call it a "no" crow collar when as you know it doesn't stop crowing at all.
I know they make it sound as if the air sac is just kind of an extra little sac that is just used for crowing but those sacs are just as much of a part of a birds breathing as the lungs. If you restrict them from filling completely or restrict them from expelling air then youre restricting their breathing. Just not to the degree that would kill them.
If they were as safe as they want you to believe then they wouldn't have about dozen places on their websites about correctly fitting the collars. They know what the collars are doing and how easy they can kill if not put on exactly right.
The other issues are that these collars can get hung on something and choke a rooster to death or cause them to break their necks. And also as you mentioned they need to eat crumbles instead of pellets because the collars are a choke hazzard in that way too. They can very easily decide to pick up a bug to eat or a small pebble and choke to death.
Funny the website mentions it does not effect eating then they say you can't feed them pellets. Sure sounds like it effects their eating to me but again its marketing magic.
I'll end my rant now.