Rooster Crowing Questions - Brainstorming ideas!

[rural mouse]

The crow is the "alll is well" call. They do different calls for "birds in the air", "dangerous birds about", "critter on the ground", "dangerous critter on the ground", and "come help run this thing off". Some are very quiet (ground danger) and some are really loud (help run of the neighbor's cat). They'll crow after a warning call letting the ladies know it's safe to come out of hiding. They'll crow periodically while someone is laying, letting her know that he's keeping watch for her.

Being as he's young and doesn't have a mature wise one to instruct him on the big world around him, there are lots of "cry wolf" calls while he learns. The older ladies should also be keeping watch and ignoring or reinforcing his calls. It WILL get better.

He likely tidbits (or soon will) over every bug (including ants), blowing leaf, blade of grass, pebble, dirt clod in creation. The ladies will quickly ignore him. The pullets will take longer to figure out he's full of hot air. Once that happens, he's going to smarten up quickly. When he does, he won't feel the need to sound off "all is well" as often. You will also learn to recognizethe differences in the calls, and go barreling out the door to help when they request it (usually hear something similar to the "you're in my nest spot and I can't toss you out" squawk, but getting echoed by the door to the "Big Coop" aka the people coop).

The article "Understanding your Rooster" is also helpful.

 

[canne50]

Hi folks!

My accidental rooster started crowing last week and it was super cute at first as he was learning. Now it’s developed into a full/blown very LOUD and FREQUENT crow. Like sometimes of day he’ll crow every few minutes!!!

We work from home and the coop is right below our bedroom & our office… so to put it as gently as possible, the crowing is distracting and frankly untenable.

Sometimes he’ll walk up to the back door or office window and just crow while looking in at us. Like he just wants our attention. He almost never crows when we’re outside with him & the girls.

We do live in an agricultural area on many acres, so having a rooster is not a legal issue, however two of our neighbors closest in proximity to the coop are not farms (the other two neighbors are) and I am concerned the noise will start to be bothersome to the non-farmers.

After doing some reading & observing his behaviors today, we think he’s crowing when he hears sounds — outside in the yard, cars on the road, or even sounds from inside the house. I closed he & the girls in the run, and put a fan on (for white noise) and that stopped the crowing the whole afternoon!

Problem is, we can’t run a fan in the winter and in the summer I love for them to have access to the yard while the weather is nice. Hate to keep them cooped up just to keep him quiet, when they already must be cooped 5-6 months out of the year due to snow.

Anyhow I guess I’m just hoping to brainstorm some ideas. Has anyone had any creative solutions for keeping your boys quiet or learning to live more in harmony with the noise? Anyone sound proof their run? Does using an automatic door on the coop work — like maybe letting him out later in the morning where he’s less likely to bother neighbors? Is this just a puberty/new skill thing (he’s 15 weeks) that will settle out? We can all deal with a couple/few crows a day.

Thank you everyone in advance for your ideas!

Please note: I won’t cull him, I don’t think I’d use a no-crow collar (seems inhumane at best, potentially deadly at worst… but if you have experience that runs contrary to these concerns re: a collar, please share!), and I really don’t want to rehome him. He’s a sweet boy and we’re already bonded.

He’s just a Randy boy! The crowing triggers testosterone. When his hormones stabilize he may crow less. What is your roo to hen ratio? A large flock might need another roo if he doesn’t settle down.
I like how a bantam rooster pairs with a full-sized rooster.