Rooster crowing all the time (competition?)

[as110]

I have a top rooster that crows constantly. He starts at 5:30 and he goes non stop until we let them out of the coop. Sometimes I wonder if he will lose his voice but so far he has not. When they are outside, he crows every 5 minutes or so.

There is another adult rooster that started to crow recently. The boss keeps chasing him around a lot. When they are free ranging, they seem to take up positions and both crow and do a pretty good job at watching the hens.

I read that usually only the top rooster crows. The rest is kept in check and need to stay quiet.
There are more roosters maturing soon and until now they were just hanging out, but 2 of the younger once started to ride the hens and one more is crowing once in a while. I will have to pick which one goes next, and we are adding more hens when we can to keep the ratio more healthy.

But I was wondering if having more roosters creates a situation where the top rooster crows constantly, or if it is just a personality thing.

 

[Sara Ranch]

Lol - it could be a breed thing!

I have two Plymouth Rocks that crow CONSTANTLY!!! And I do mean CONSTANTLY!!! It may start as early as 2 am. No clue why. But it has. One is with a flock. The other is with the Roo Gang. It doesn't matter how much distance is between them, they crow and they crow and they crow. All. Day. Long. I asked someone else who had a Plymouth Rock and she said her guy talks ALL day long too. He's a chatterbox!

I also have a Carolina Sex Link. He doesn't start talking until he's outside, SOME days. And that boy has the LOUDEST voice I have ever heard! He's also with the Roo Gang. (I have several rooster flocks. Collectively they are called the Roo Gang.)

I have several Buff Orpingtons that USE to bitch when they were bullies. They are no longer bullies and they longer feel the need to be so dang vocal. They too are part of the Roo Gang.

I have several Rhode Island Reds. They are quiet. My other Buffs are quiet.

I have several other breeds of roosters. None feel the need to be super loud and super vocal all the time. They do talk. It's called the Rooster Relay to spread the word of danger.

Is it a boss thing? In my case, nope. It's a breed thing. (The loud mouths are not the boss.)

And I have never heard of a rooster loosing his voice unless he gets gape worm.

I do tell my loudmouth roo's to be quiet. So do some of the other roo's. Especially if it's before 6 am. (Now that is funny to hear!!) And I do own a BAG of earplugs.

 

[as110]

D

Lol - it could be a breed thing!

I have two Plymouth Rocks that crow CONSTANTLY!!! And I do mean CONSTANTLY!!! It may start as early as 2 am. No clue why. But it has. One is with a flock. The other is with the Roo Gang. It doesn't matter how much distance is between them, they crow and they crow and they crow. All. Day. Long. I asked someone else who had a Plymouth Rock and she said her guy talks ALL day long too. He's a chatterbox!

I also have a Carolina Sex Link. He doesn't start talking until he's outside, SOME days. And that boy has the LOUDEST voice I have ever heard! He's also with the Roo Gang. (I have several rooster flocks. Collectively they are called the Roo Gang.)

I have several Buff Orpingtons that USE to bitch when they were bullies. They are no longer bullies and they longer feel the need to be so dang vocal. They too are part of the Roo Gang.

I have several Rhode Island Reds. They are quiet. My other Buffs are quiet.

I have several other breeds of roosters. None feel the need to be super loud and super vocal all the time. They do talk. It's called the Rooster Relay to spread the word of danger.

Is it a boss thing? In my case, nope. It's a breed thing. (The loud mouths are not the boss.)

And I have never heard of a rooster loosing his voice unless he gets gape worm.

I do tell my loudmouth roo's to be quiet. So do some of the other roo's. Especially if it's before 6 am. (Now that is funny to hear!!) And I do own a BAG of earplugs.

Do you have a separate coop for the rooster gang? Do they fight?
I read in another post that someone keeps the roosters away from the hens so the hens are happier.
If there is a way to keep our roosters, it would be nice. Kids would cry less when we have to cull to keep the hens healthy.

 

[Sara Ranch]

The Roo Gang has rooms in the Roo Barn. Yep - converted a barn to a be bachelor pad. Inside the barn, I have rooms build.

I determine the original room assignments. They mix it up sometimes, if they want.

When I adopt a group of boys, I try to keep them all in one room for sleeping. No food. No water.

I have two flocks of laying hens. They have roosters with them. Those guys sleep with their girls. The flocks are in an uncovered run, with a few exceptions of girls free ranging. But those girls know where their outside nesting box is and use it.

The Roo Gang free ranges all day. They can easily see the girls, talk to the girls, and make kissy face with the girls. I have one aggressive senior citizen girl who thinks she is the BOMB! She flirts with ALL the roo's - even the underaged ones! (They are still cockerels, but she doesn't care.) Her beak was cut way to short in her previous life. She looks like she's alway puckered up to kiss! ) I have another senior gal who reaches through the fence and picks at any roo's waddle, comb, feathers if they are close. Most guys tolerate it for a bit. She even does it to the girls.

The boys (different ages) don't fight usually. If a newcomer comes in with a big bad attitude, they knock him down a feather or two until he realizes that he isn't the boss of everyone.

I have had a few underaged girls fly the coop (so to speak) and meet up with a rooster/cockerel on the outside. The male will try to mate immediately. It just takes one attempt of fleeing and mating for the girl to decide never to leave the flock again.

All of my gals, even the senior citizens are healthy and appear to be happy. I keep an eye on the mating everywhere to make sure no one is being over mated. I do wish I had more hens though.

In a nutshell, I have had success with adopting boys (and girls) and creating and integrating rooster & hen flocks.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

The Roo Gang has rooms in the Roo Barn. Yep - converted a barn to a be bachelor pad. Inside the barn, I have rooms build.

I determine the original room assignments. They mix it up sometimes, if they want.

When I adopt a group of boys, I try to keep them all in one room for sleeping. No food. No water.

I have two flocks of laying hens. They have roosters with them. Those guys sleep with their girls. The flocks are in an uncovered run, with a few exceptions of girls free ranging. But those girls know where their outside nesting box is and use it.

The Roo Gang free ranges all day. They can easily see the girls, talk to the girls, and make kissy face with the girls. I have one aggressive senior citizen girl who thinks she is the BOMB! She flirts with ALL the roo's - even the underaged ones! (They are still cockerels, but she doesn't care.) Her beak was cut way to short in her previous life. She looks like she's alway puckered up to kiss! ) I have another senior gal who reaches through the fence and picks at any roo's waddle, comb, feathers if they are close. Most guys tolerate it for a bit. She even does it to the girls.

The boys (different ages) don't fight usually. If a newcomer comes in with a big bad attitude, they knock him down a feather or two until he realizes that he isn't the boss of everyone.

I have had a few underaged girls fly the coop (so to speak) and meet up with a rooster/cockerel on the outside. The male will try to mate immediately. It just takes one attempt of fleeing and mating for the girl to decide never to leave the flock again.

All of my gals, even the senior citizens are healthy and appear to be happy. I keep an eye on the mating everywhere to make sure no one is being over mated. I do wish I had more hens though.

In a nutshell, I have had success with adopting boys (and girls) and creating and integrating rooster & hen flocks.

I suspect that your senior citizen hens have an imbalance of protein in their diet..

 

[Sara Ranch]

What you recommend?

Is it the flirty behavior or the one that always gently grooms everyone?