Rooster Crowing Questions - Brainstorming ideas!

[Saveria]

Yeah, rooster keeping isn't for everybody, and you shouldn't feel bad if you decide to find him a new home. If he is a good rooster and you all care about him, you probably want to give it a couple months, cause you may start tuning it out, too.

I think I remember saying that you were worried about your neighbors. I worried about that, too, but when I asked them all they said they didn't mind. I gave them all some free eggs just in case they were being nice. I imagine they all just get used to the sound, too, and after a while it isn't jarring anymore.

 

[Kay-T-Hammer]

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.

My roosters crowed at every slight little noise and new sight when they first discovered they were boys. As they realized what each sight and sound was and became accustomed to them, they slowly stopped crowing. They still crow first thing in the morning, and if something spooks them, but mine have otherwise stopped screaming. I would give him time. He may just be warning off things that need not be warned off right now.

 

[NewYorkMama]

My roosters crowed at every slight little noise and new sight when they first discovered they were boys. As they realized what each sight and sound was and became accustomed to them, they slowly stopped crowing. They still crow first thing in the morning, and if something spooks them, but mine have otherwise stopped screaming. I would give him time. He may just be warning off things that need not be warned off right now.

Oh thank you for this!! I was in the back of my mind thinking/hoping it was because this is a brand new behavior. Yesterday was the first day of full crowing. Everything in the previous week had been half crows, not very loud. I was thinking this behavior could be like a toddler who has just learned a new word/phrase how they say it over and over and over… until they don’t because it’s not new anymore.

 

[NewYorkMama]

Yeah, rooster keeping isn't for everybody, and you shouldn't feel bad if you decide to find him a new home. If he is a good rooster and you all care about him, you probably want to give it a couple months, cause you may start tuning it out, too.

I think I remember saying that you were worried about your neighbors. I worried about that, too, but when I asked them all they said they didn't mind. I gave them all some free eggs just in case they were being nice. I imagine they all just get used to the sound, too, and after a while it isn't jarring anymore.

Yes! Not on the farm sides of us (their roosters crow often too!) but on the other side we have several neighbors and the coop happens to be essentially facing their yards and I imagine on a calm day the sound just carries and bugs everyone! but I’m imagining that. No one’s said anything yet and there are already roosters in the “neighborhood”.

He’s been relatively calm today. Crowing first thing in the am but just a couple times since then. I can deal with that.

 

[Kay-T-Hammer]

Oh thank you for this!! I was in the back of my mind thinking/hoping it was because this is a brand new behavior. Yesterday was the first day of full crowing. Everything in the previous week had been half crows, not very loud. I was thinking this behavior could be like a toddler who has just learned a new word/phrase how they say it over and over and over… until they don’t because it’s not new anymore.

That. That is exactly how my roosters acted. Every. Single. Minute. I started crowing back at them just to see what they would do. Bad idea, by the way. But it prepared them for the school kids that pass by and crow at them. Now my boys just fluff their feathers at them and search for any bugs that may be scuttling about. Though I do find that mine crow more if our front door is open; I believe it is to warn me that my "coop" is not secure, and that there are big furry animals going inside (I have cats and a dog that come and go as they please).

 

[Kay-T-Hammer]

Yes! Not on the farm sides of us (their roosters crow often too!) but on the other side we have several neighbors and the coop happens to be essentially facing their yards and I imagine on a calm day the sound just carries and bugs everyone! but I’m imagining that. No one’s said anything yet and there are already roosters in the “neighborhood”.

He’s been relatively calm today. Crowing first thing in the am but just a couple times since then. I can deal with that.

I always worried about my neighbors with the crowing, until one day a few of my neighbors were out together and they all came over while my boys were in the middle of a crow war. I thought that I was about to be in a fight with all of them. But no. They came up and said that they emigrated to America and missed the sounds of chickens in their old village. They asked if they could stand at the property line and talk to the roosters.

They were talking baby talk to two very big boys with sharp spurs that only wanted them to go away. But I loved watching it.

 

[CoopBoots]

I have seven up and coming cockerels just now, in addition to one old retiree rooster I adopted last year. This one is a super over achiever at crowing and goes off constantly!

You really can adapt to the sound. In my case, I actively enjoy it, but I'm also not having to concentrate on anything but household work.

My old guy crows incidentally throughout the day, to the neighbor or to us when someone shows up at the house. He has very little to prove to anyone so I guess it just isn't necessary.

The cockerels on the other hand seem to crow based on high energy levels and ranking with one another, but I expect they all will mellow with age, especially if kept with less competition around.

 

[Kay-T-Hammer]

I have seven up and coming cockerels just now, in addition to one old retiree rooster I adopted last year. This one is a super over achiever at crowing and goes off constantly!
View attachment 3582087
You really can adapt to the sound. In my case, I actively enjoy it, but I'm also not having to concentrate on anything but household work.

My old guy crows incidentally throughout the day, to the neighbor or to us when someone shows up at the house. He has very little to prove to anyone so I guess it just isn't necessary.
View attachment 3582107
The cockerels on the other hand seem to crow based on high energy levels and ranking with one another, but I expect they all will mellow with age, especially if kept with less competition around.

My smaller rooster is the screamer of the two I have. He has calmed down a lot in the past two months, but before that, he would scream at the wind, the leaves, and god help you if you sneeze anywhere in the county. My alpha is the exact opposite. He crows when the other roosters in town start crowing, and if he feels he needs to warn away the Amazon delivery guy. Otherwise, he just struts his scarred self around the run and buhks at everything.

 

[Kay-T-Hammer]

I have seven up and coming cockerels just now, in addition to one old retiree rooster I adopted last year. This one is a super over achiever at crowing and goes off constantly!
View attachment 3582087
You really can adapt to the sound. In my case, I actively enjoy it, but I'm also not having to concentrate on anything but household work.

My old guy crows incidentally throughout the day, to the neighbor or to us when someone shows up at the house. He has very little to prove to anyone so I guess it just isn't necessary.
View attachment 3582107
The cockerels on the other hand seem to crow based on high energy levels and ranking with one another, but I expect they all will mellow with age, especially if kept with less competition around.

Your roosters are beautiful, by the way!

 

[dsalling]

Just wanted to clarify, one of the only times he *doesn’t* crow is when he sees us. When we’re around/in the chicken yard he’s calm and collected and not crowing… just going about his business foraging, napping. It’s when we go back inside he starts up his crowing and/or comes looking for us. When we come out to be part of the flock (I guess?) he stops.

So I don’t think aggression is the case. But I could be wrong; thank you for sharing your experience.

We have a very similar situation to yours. Beauregard is 1 year and 3 months old. Crowing has not leveled off and it is LOUD. He is most active during egg laying. There is no aggression and similar to you, he is less “crowy” when we are in the yard with him. I tried the collar which was minimally successful. When I heard gurgling sounds in his throat, I figured he was having a hard time getting food and water past the constriction. So we removed it. It doeoappear to be a humane approach. The only success we have had is to use a super soak water gun. But honestly, it only really works when he sees us coming with it. I’ve been hoping it would work over time to decrease his frequency of crowing and it may work for you but I’ve finally come to understand it’s nature and how he is wired. I will not cull him either. There are Facebook groups dedicated to helping people rehome roosters and you may want to try that avenue. As much as our girls love him, we may go that route even though we live in an agricultural community. Best wishes!