- Sep 2, 2013
- 2
- 9
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I will try to keep this short - and no our roo is not on a freezer vacation.
This is my first year raising chickens. We live in the mountains outside of Denver on 4 acres. We have neighbors within walking distance but far enough away that I added a roo to the flock of 8 hens. We got him at six months without a crow - of course about 2 weeks ago he started crowing. Not as bad as I have read in the forums - but a couple crows at 5:00 am then non stop for an hour at 6:00 am. Throughout the day would crow every hour or so. So typical rooster.
His crows are very loud - enough that it grates on me when I work from home. I am sure the neighbors also hear him when he is outside the barn. So a couple days ago - I showed him the 'Red Ryder' and a few shots on the side of the barn usually broke him outside of his crowing hysteria. But it didn't stop him.
So yesterday I tried something different. I had a loose fitting rubber band that I put over his lower neck feathers. It did the trick of distracting him enough that he didn't crow for over an hour... then I decided to check on him. Unfortunately he got the rubber band lodged in his beak to the back of his head. With the rubber band removed I knew I was close to solving the crowing - or at least slowing it down.
What came next did the trick. My wife suggested a children's sock. I found a sock with good elasticity that would normally fit a five year old. I cut off the foot piece leaving just the elastic tube. It was snug but not tight over my hand - I have XL hands. I am not sure if the placement of the sock on the roo is important but it worked. I slid the sock tube over his head and down to where the long neck feathers meet the body. I then took all his neck feathers and draped them over the sock - the only visible part of the sock was just above his breast.
He messed with the sock for about 30 minutes and then gave up... but the hens didn't like it and tried to remove it for an hour or so. Then the rest of the afternoon it was ignored. Needless to say the rooster didn't crow the whole time. He made all of is other normal sounds and the interest in the hens didn't drop off. He ate and drank normally. It wasn't until dinner that I decided to check on him again... this time he decided to show me that he could still crow. He let out two or three - but they were so muffled and strange he gave up.
The big test was this morning - no crowing at all. So much silence my wife thought a fox or raccoon could have gotten into the hen house over night. At 6:30 am I found them all doing well on their roosts.
The only side effect - and I will have to monitor this - is that the hens weren't coming off their roosts to go out into the run like the normally do. I think they thought something was wrong since the rooster wasn't making his normal racket. But there you go - I will update this thread as things progress. I will eventually take the sock off and see if the new behavior remains or not. Will also update with pictures.
At least I don't have to say goodbye to our rooster as previously planned.
This is my first year raising chickens. We live in the mountains outside of Denver on 4 acres. We have neighbors within walking distance but far enough away that I added a roo to the flock of 8 hens. We got him at six months without a crow - of course about 2 weeks ago he started crowing. Not as bad as I have read in the forums - but a couple crows at 5:00 am then non stop for an hour at 6:00 am. Throughout the day would crow every hour or so. So typical rooster.
His crows are very loud - enough that it grates on me when I work from home. I am sure the neighbors also hear him when he is outside the barn. So a couple days ago - I showed him the 'Red Ryder' and a few shots on the side of the barn usually broke him outside of his crowing hysteria. But it didn't stop him.
So yesterday I tried something different. I had a loose fitting rubber band that I put over his lower neck feathers. It did the trick of distracting him enough that he didn't crow for over an hour... then I decided to check on him. Unfortunately he got the rubber band lodged in his beak to the back of his head. With the rubber band removed I knew I was close to solving the crowing - or at least slowing it down.
What came next did the trick. My wife suggested a children's sock. I found a sock with good elasticity that would normally fit a five year old. I cut off the foot piece leaving just the elastic tube. It was snug but not tight over my hand - I have XL hands. I am not sure if the placement of the sock on the roo is important but it worked. I slid the sock tube over his head and down to where the long neck feathers meet the body. I then took all his neck feathers and draped them over the sock - the only visible part of the sock was just above his breast.
He messed with the sock for about 30 minutes and then gave up... but the hens didn't like it and tried to remove it for an hour or so. Then the rest of the afternoon it was ignored. Needless to say the rooster didn't crow the whole time. He made all of is other normal sounds and the interest in the hens didn't drop off. He ate and drank normally. It wasn't until dinner that I decided to check on him again... this time he decided to show me that he could still crow. He let out two or three - but they were so muffled and strange he gave up.
The big test was this morning - no crowing at all. So much silence my wife thought a fox or raccoon could have gotten into the hen house over night. At 6:30 am I found them all doing well on their roosts.
The only side effect - and I will have to monitor this - is that the hens weren't coming off their roosts to go out into the run like the normally do. I think they thought something was wrong since the rooster wasn't making his normal racket. But there you go - I will update this thread as things progress. I will eventually take the sock off and see if the new behavior remains or not. Will also update with pictures.
At least I don't have to say goodbye to our rooster as previously planned.
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