Training my cockerel to not crow with squirts

[jackieisfree]

This is brilliant...I've got six roosters who try to do outdo each other....some are going to a new home but the two that will stay need some encouragement to be less um cocky!! I might even have to name them squirts and puddles! Hahaha

 

[SarahLadd]

I didn't write this up to attract people who enjoy the sound of their roosters crowing. I wrote this post to attract people who are struggling with ideas on how to keep neighbors happy and abide by local laws for backyard chicken keeping. I'm here for the person looking at no crow collars and despairing. I personally have no beef with them crowing, why would I? I know that roosters crow, that it's what they do, and I love chickens. This isn't about that. It's about doing whatever I can to not see him turned into a single chicken nugget.

 

[Chicken Heel]

I didn't write this up to attract people who enjoy the sound of their roosters crowing. I wrote this post to attract people who are struggling with ideas on how to keep neighbors happy and abide by local laws for backyard chicken keeping. I'm here for the person looking at no crow collars and despairing. I personally have no beef with them crowing, why would I? I know that roosters crow, that it's what they do, and I love chickens. This isn't about that. It's about doing whatever I can to not see him turned into a single chicken nugget.

I do understand. I have 11 roosters and 10 are bantams. It is noisy as hell when they are crowing back and forth but I love it. Brings back youthful memories of my Grandpa Shook's bantams. Good luck.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I do understand. I have 11 roosters and 10 are bantams. It is noisy as hell when they are crowing back and forth but I love it. Brings back youthful memories of my Grandpa Shook's bantams. Good luck.

We have Bantams roosters too. Really not that bad. In the afternoon, & morning all the roosters start a crowing war.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

Unless you have no job and can sit by him 24/7 hes still gonna crow and might even start crowing dead of the night when your sleeping

 

[Skyle]

I don't really agree with this. I know how you are attached to your roo and I'd be also very sad if I had to rehome mine. But the crowing it's istinctual. He maybe will learn to not crow when you are there, but unless you are at home 24/7 he will crow as much as he can when there's nobody home. The crowing it's part of the communication in chickens. Whith that the roos tell the others like "these are my hens, this is my yard and I'm the leader here". It's like traying to teach any other animal to not communicate with its fellow.
By hatching eggs you get ideally 50:50 males and females, so #1 rule of egg hatching is that you absolutely need a plan for the extra roosters if you can't keep them. Because if you don't know what to do with them you should buy sexed chicks or started pullets instead.
Then it also depends if your neighbours are ok if tou have a crowing rooster or not. If they don't mind about it so much they won't likely call the cops or whoever. If they are already annoyed about this, if I were you, I'd find another solution.
There are other options that not involve in the rooster being eaten and live a happy, long life. If he's not mean with people you can find a new family that needs a roo or maybe there are some animal sanctuaries near you. You can also ask if you can go and visit him sometimes, so you can be sure he is happy and healthy.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

IMHO this isn't a very nice thing to do to your roo.
There are plenty of nice farms where he could crow to his hearts content if you'd search them out.

 

[Floof]

lol all these nay sayers for teaching a chicken to crow less. It's like a barking dog; no one has a problem with training a dog not to bark all the time! They still have lots of ways of communicating without needing to crow. They cluck, tidbit, dance, etc. and crowing is just part of what they do but there's nothing inhumane about teaching them not to do that.

There also aren't many places to rehome a rooster. I've had chickens in the suburbs and in the sticks and only ever successfully rehomed 2 roosters. I agree with OPs choice to exhaust all options since the reality of it is that this rooster will more than likely be eaten if he continues to crow.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I moved my family and my flock (illegal rooster included) to a farm where ceiwing is allowed. Well, he's not the *only* reason I moved, but he was a consideration, so I get it.

For a while there, he was a house rooster. It worked fine and was totally legal. He crowed, but it only annoyed us. Just thought I'd throw out those 2 additional solutions I found: move (and extreme solution) and have a house rooster (easy solution).

 

[MadamContrary]

I'll never understand why cities don't allow roosters, my neighbor's dog is ten times louder than any cockerel I've ever had. My solution is just to bring in my boy in at night, he sleeps in a crate with a blackout parrot cover. I put him out after all the neighbors go to work. He crows once or twice around 5 p.m (right before the neighbors get home from work) and that's it, of he crows any other time I certainly can't hear it from inside. Don't know if it's luck or he just doesn't feel like there's competition or danger about, or whatever it is boys crow about.

I have tried the water pistol method unsuccessfully when I had a pen full of noisy male quail trying to out do each other, but I just bred quiet males and solved that problem through genetics, they literally don't call at all after two years of breeding specifically for calm and quiet temperaments.