Rooster No Crow - revisited

[Aschuchert]

HI, I've been reading threads on using and opinions on no crow collars.
It made me give up on asking via a poll what works.

We tried 2 varieties, didn't have much luck after several weeks of adjustments and some sewing projects.... 1 roo was pretty successful when he wouldn't pull it off. yes he was smart enough to pull the velcro.....

Think some of it had to do with the smaller breeds (and mixes) we had as well. Our yonger Roos were the worst about crowing and admittedly we had too many.

Guess what i'm posting about is i'm sure that our hatches this spring will have more roos - what do you do about young roos when they crow and they are too young to get a collar - are there other options, sizes, home made remedies??

 

[CluckerFamily]

Most people sell, give away, or eat the cockerels.

 

[Coping in the Coop]

HI, I've been reading threads on using and opinions on no crow collars.
It made me give up on asking via a poll what works.

We tried 2 varieties, didn't have much luck after several weeks of adjustments and some sewing projects.... 1 roo was pretty successful when he wouldn't pull it off. yes he was smart enough to pull the velcro.....

Think some of it had to do with the smaller breeds (and mixes) we had as well. Our yonger Roos were the worst about crowing and admittedly we had too many.

Guess what i'm posting about is i'm sure that our hatches this spring will have more roos - what do you do about young roos when they crow and they are too young to get a collar - are there other options, sizes, home made remedies??

I had a very unfortunate end to my rooster with a No Crow collar. I wouldn't say to not use one, but I think that it has to be understood that the crowing is reduced somewhat in frequency and sound, but if you live near neighbors, it probably won't work long term. You have to keep adjusting it and ultimately, my opinion is that they are cruel and dangerous. We had a collar on our beautiful boy for about 10 months and it seemed to work to keep the sound muffled and less frequent, but as he matured, I think he learned to crow a little louder and the collar loosened. Well, a neighbor inquired and of course we tightened it up to try to keep things under control. Long story short, it chocked him to death overnight and to find your beautiful rooster dead in his coop is an image not easily forgotten. The hens were beside themselves and I could hear them clear down the street when coming home from a a walk in the morning. One hen continued to call and search for him the next day and paced the coop for several days. It was sad beyond belief! I raised them all from 2 day old chicks and it was absolutely devastating. I tried re-homing, but nobody wants a rooster and all of the sanctuaries are full with them. The local 4H club did not want him and Facebook has words that aren't allowed in poultry clubs like re-homing. I needed a little more time, my neighbor was sympathetic, but it just took the one time and he died a horrible death. Do your roo a favor and humanely euthanize him or hire someone to do it...local vet or other experienced person. He was a wonderful addition to my experience and did a terrific job keeping the flock calm. They would talk to each other all day. So sad...collars are not the answer. His neck was raw under it as well.

 

[MickWithChicks]

Guess what i'm posting about is i'm sure that our hatches this spring will have more roos - what do you do about young roos when they crow and they are too young to get a collar - are there other options, sizes, home made remedies??

If you're just tired of the early morning cockerel chorus, you could just build a bachelor pad out of EPS panels and keep them in the coop until a reasonable time of day. They'll give you good sound proofing. Of course they're not perfect and I'd recommend a roof ventilator which will let out some sound. Still better than 10 bantam cockerels singing at the top of their lungs in chorus from 4:30 to 6am though

Edit: I should note that your chickens will absolutely eat the polystyrene, so you'd need to line the EPS panels with ply or fibre cement panels.