Rooster varies wildly in how many times in a row he crows in the morning, why?

[Bird fanatic]

Just because he's in the box. Chickens don't sleep all night like most believe. They do sleep off and on but not all night. They preen and just hang out. I have a camera in the coop and no matter when I've looked in on them, many are still awake as I can see their eyes glowing.

All my boys start crowing before first light. I've been up well before dawn many mornings and with the windows open can just start to hear them at least 1.5 hours before dawn. They can see in the UV spectrum and will start crowing with they see the UV light. Or when there is a disturbance around the coop.

Yes I agree if he goes to sleep with the hens then all of a sudden wakes up with no hens. That can freak him out.

 

[Shugercube]

Honestly that sounds quite stressful for him. Imagine going to sleep in once place, next to your favorite person (“people” in his case), and then waking up in pitch black all alone, and unable to escape. How disconcerting and scary that must be!

Not to mention, sudden changes in light can stress them out also- so going from pitch black to full light the moment you open the box is going to stress him out.

Do you guys keep your windows open all the time or something? I have 2 crowing Roos, one of which lives only several feet from my front door, and still I can only hear them crow when I’m inside if I’m really listening hard for it. Certainly not loud enough to wake me. Maybe I’m hard of hearing

 

[aart]

One concern about 'boxing' birds is if it stays dark enough there must not be any ventilation in said box.

 

[3KillerBs]

Are you unusually light sleepers?

I've got 7 cull cockerels about 15 feet from my bedroom window. Granted I grew up in an industrial area and am used to sleeping through trains, airplanes, and truck traffic, but though I *hear* them through the closed window they don't wake me or my DH.

If you show us photos of your setup and how the coop relates to the houses we might be able to help you figure out some noise-softening measures that are less work for you and less stress for your cockerel.

 

[CurvyCoop]

One concern about 'boxing' birds is if it stays dark enough there must not be any ventilation in said box.

I understand the concern, but I made very sure that there would be enough ventilation. The box itself is an old wooden crate. I made a door for it and added a removable perch. There is already plenty of ventilation because the slats of the crate don't completely meet (I'm sorry if this doesn't make sense, english is not my first language) so there are like cracks in the crate. I also drilled some extra air holes.
The box is under my poop board which blocks the light coming from above. It's in the corner of my coop, about 25cm from the left wall and about 25cm from the back wall.
At night, after I put him in the box I clip an old dark towel to the front of the poop board, this creates a sort of towel screen in front of the box which blocks out the light coming in from the front.
It's not completely light proof, but I think if it was it wouldn't have enough airflow. This way works well enough.

 

[CurvyCoop]

Are you unusually light sleepers?

I've got 7 cull cockerels about 15 feet from my bedroom window. Granted I grew up in an industrial area and am used to sleeping through trains, airplanes, and truck traffic, but though I *hear* them through the closed window they don't wake me or my DH.

If you show us photos of your setup and how the coop relates to the houses we might be able to help you figure out some noise-softening measures that are less work for you and less stress for your cockerel.

My partner is a terribly light sleeper, yes

I think it's also important to point out that this post wasn't originally made to complain about Crumble's crowing. I wasn't necessarily upset about him crowing, I was just genuinely curious if there was a reason for him crowing a lot one morning and barely at all another morning. I wanted to know if there's a reason for the difference in frequency because I was under the impression that roosters crowed somewhat consistently the same amount each morning. I guess I was more hoping to learn a cool new fun fact about roosters.

That said! I am glad the discussion turned to rooster boxes. I try to do my best for all my animals and was under the impression that the way I did Crumble's boxing at night was the most comfortable for him. I now understand that his varied crowing in the morning might have to do with stress from the boxing, the opposite of what I wanted to achieve!
It means I have to re-examine my way of doing things. At least while he is still here. My partner has since told me that Crumble's crowing is really triggering him. He has autism and apparently the sound of his crowing is almost physically painful. He had been trying to "get over himself" ( silly man ) and didn't tell me sooner because he loves Crumble and didn't want him to go, but he's reached his breaking point. It's very sad, but it means he needs to find a new home. (Crumble, not my partner )
I've got a very good possible home lined up for him at a local organic farm nearby which also works with disability care. I'm familiar with them, I know they take really good care of their animals and I'll be able to visit him anytime, so I hope it works out. If not, there are other rehoming options still available to me. This one is just the closest.


I'd still like to hear your opinions on my setup so here are some pictures

This is the front of my coop

This is an old picture of the inside, but the best one I have. The roosterbox is on the left and on the right I now have three nest boxes

In this picture you can see the roo box in the background

This is the best picture I have of the run seen from my patio. Yes, that is my criminal cat child trying (and failing) to escape the backyard

The next two pictures are taken from inside the coop and give a sense of the distance from the house.

 

[Hip Hillbilly Acres]

In the morning, when the hens are already up and about, I come and get my rooster Crumble (british araucana, approx. 16wks) from his rooster box. We have a short little cuddle on my lap and then he gets to join his girls. He usually waits till he's back on the ground to start his crowing, though sometimes I get a lap serenade. His crowing varies wildly though! Sometimes he crows 3-4 times in a row and then that's it for the morning. Usually it's closer to 10. This morning he went on for almost 20 minutes, I honestly lost count of how many times in a row he crowed!
Why is it so variable, what makes a rooster decide it's a low crow morning versus an all out scream your brains out morning?

Here's a picture of the loudmouth on my lap this morning.

View attachment 3224748

Gorgeous!! Or should I wrote handsome!?

 

[Hip Hillbilly Acres]

My partner is a terribly light sleeper, yes

I think it's also important to point out that this post wasn't originally made to complain about Crumble's crowing. I wasn't necessarily upset about him crowing, I was just genuinely curious if there was a reason for him crowing a lot one morning and barely at all another morning. I wanted to know if there's a reason for the difference in frequency because I was under the impression that roosters crowed somewhat consistently the same amount each morning. I guess I was more hoping to learn a cool new fun fact about roosters.

That said! I am glad the discussion turned to rooster boxes. I try to do my best for all my animals and was under the impression that the way I did Crumble's boxing at night was the most comfortable for him. I now understand that his varied crowing in the morning might have to do with stress from the boxing, the opposite of what I wanted to achieve!
It means I have to re-examine my way of doing things. At least while he is still here. My partner has since told me that Crumble's crowing is really triggering him. He has autism and apparently the sound of his crowing is almost physically painful. He had been trying to "get over himself" ( silly man ) and didn't tell me sooner because he loves Crumble and didn't want him to go, but he's reached his breaking point. It's very sad, but it means he needs to find a new home. (Crumble, not my partner )
I've got a very good possible home lined up for him at a local organic farm nearby which also works with disability care. I'm familiar with them, I know they take really good care of their animals and I'll be able to visit him anytime, so I hope it works out. If not, there are other rehoming options still available to me. This one is just the closest.


I'd still like to hear your opinions on my setup so here are some pictures

This is the front of my coop
View attachment 3228191

This is an old picture of the inside, but the best one I have. The roosterbox is on the left and on the right I now have three nest boxes
View attachment 3228194

In this picture you can see the roo box in the background
View attachment 3228195

This is the best picture I have of the run seen from my patio. Yes, that is my criminal cat child trying (and failing) to escape the backyard
View attachment 3228196

The next two pictures are taken from inside the coop and give a sense of the distance from the house.
View attachment 3228197
View attachment 3228198

Simply beautiful, the whole story. Glad it all is working out. Such a cute coop and run.

 

[3KillerBs]

I've got a very good possible home lined up for him at a local organic farm nearby which also works with disability care. I'm familiar with them, I know they take really good care of their animals and I'll be able to visit him anytime, so I hope it works out. If not, there are other rehoming options still available to me. This one is just the closest.

That's an excellent solution if it works out.

You have a lovely setup and some very beautiful birds. Love those big roof overhangs!

Is the coop vented at the top of the roof slope?

 

[CurvyCoop]

That's an excellent solution if it works out.

You have a lovely setup and some very beautiful birds. Love those big roof overhangs!

Is the coop vented at the top of the roof slope?

Thank you very much, I'm quite proud of it. It's the first thing I ever built (apart from some shelves) and I did it all by myself.

You can see the coop is vented at the top triangle above the doors in the front, it's also vented at the top of the left wall.

This is the view of the left wall from the inside. I think this is sometime during the build before I put the roost and poop board in. I can't find a picture of the outside, but if you'd like to see I can take some one of these days.

There are no vent holes on the right wall, because that wall is right up against my backyard fence which also makes up one of the run walls. It would technically be possible to make some, but so far it hasn't been necessary at all. I've got really good airflow in this coop and it's always a little cooler in there than outside. I actually bought some thermometers to put up inside the coop, outside in the run and under the coop in their dustbath because I'm curious to see the temperature differences and compare them to the rest of my garden. Or at least my patio area as that's where I already have a thermometer. I honestly think it's cooler in the run most of the day.