Noisy rooster

[zivaC]

@centrarchid yes it is indeed a tough road for the roosters :/ you are right, and I am willing to make the difference to Pedro by keeping him and letting him have a happy and healthy life! As for de-crowing - I don't think I could ever have the heart to do it :/ I mean it's so against nature ! Roosters were born to do this :/ I would feel terrible doing it. I guess it might be my absolute final option if necessary. Do you know much about that No-Crow Velcro band? I don't want to put something on him that'll hurt to poor fella

 

[centrarchid]

I am not an advocate of the surgical procedure because I have a different set of considerations. In you case the procedure is likely to be less stressful than physical constraints like the No-Crow devices you are considering. I am against hormonal manipulation as through castration.

Look into a thread by Bluecoondog. He is a vet that peddles a service that may prove to be a lesser of evils for you to consider.

 

[sunflour]

Better pic. Why not just wait and see if anyone complains? And then let them meet the great guy?

If I had room for him, I would beg to get him.

 

[zivaC]

@centrarchid you are right actually, it probably would less stressful for Peddy than the No Crow. I made a quick judgment without careful thinking, I beg your pardon! I will look at the thread you recommended, thanks I appreciate it!

@sunflour I guess I'm trying to be prepared for any complaints and OMG I would love to give Peddy to you if I had no choice but to give him away!!!! A fellow chook lover whom I'm sure will give him plenty of love! Plus, he's so **** cute haha! I will take a better pic of the fella today in better lighting!

 

[zivaC]

@sunflour PS don't know why those stars are there lol perhaps because of the 'darn' word my bad!

 

[Monguire]

The No-Crow Rooster Collars have been my go-to since discovering the hatchery borked a third of my pullet-only order. I ended up with a Buff Orp and a Black Australorp pair of oopsies. They are now 4 months old and a joy to our family. Mine both started crowing at 2 months old...we even have their very first crows saved for posterity (Dropcam for the win!). However, we're in this for the experience and eggs not to annoy the neighbors. Though we're allowed one rooster on our suburban acre, the thought of having to choose one over the other is impossible to make without more time for them to reach maturity and for us to observe their interaction with the rest of the flock and to a lesser extent, with us. We needed something that would allow us to delay. The No-Crow Rooster Collar is just such a thing. For us, it appears to be working so well that it might enable us to keep both cockerels without causing undue stress to neighborly relations.

That's not to say they are a perfect solution. I am of centrarchid's school of thought on flock management (interact less, observe more) and I have found the Collars to be a fantastic tool for those who can spot the warning signs of improper use/fitment. No, they will not completely stifle volume or frequency of crow...they will temper both but if total silence is the wish, surgical decrowing is the only option. Lastly, the cockerels do exhibit stress when collared. Some of it is amusing to me, most of it is confusing to the rest of the flock and all of it is unnatural to the cockerels. So far, they seem to be tolerating it well enough and I've not yet accumulated enough keeping-experience to determine if their occasional tantrums are solely the result of teenage hormones or whether the physical/emotional toll of enduring the restrictions of the Collars are amplifying said hormonal surges. More time and more observation needed.

At any rate, for now the Collars allow me to keep both boys without ticking off the neighbors.

 

[zivaC]

@Monguire thank you for your detailed response! I must say I enjoyed reading all of it and found some of your comments amusing too thank you for the feedback on the No-Crow collar! And also, have you any pictures of your roosters you can share? I love seeing other roosters!
I live in Australia and I am not sure if I can get the No-Crow collar, I will have to see if they ship overseas.
At the moment I'm trying to put up some foam padding around Pedro's coop so at least it can act as a bit of a sound barrier to his 4:30am sing-songs lol!

 

[Monguire]

I went right the source for my Collars versus paying a few extra dollars through MyPetChicken. Here is the FAQ page where I bought mine and one of the questions/answers is that they do indeed ship overseas. How cost-prohibitive it will be is another story!