URGENT: Is this a crow?

[yakitori]

I once had a tiny apartment in Queens ... I’m now in Orange County, NY. Not too far from nyc and everyone out here has chickens. Life is so much more fulfilling now that I’m surrouded by greenery, two cats and a small flock of chickens

 

[Weeg]

Here is an update so far, but you may not like the some of the content.

There is one prominent farm animal sanctuary on the island. I offered them a donation of $5000 (yes, three zeroes) if they were willing to take him, and I also offered to cover all his future vet costs. They replied that unfortunately they are at capacity and cannot take roosters. Apparently they get messages about unwanted roos every day. The reality is that no one wants roosters, let alone a special needs rooster.

I checked craigslist and there are pages and pages of roos waiting to be rehomed. They say beggers can’t be choosers but I don’t want him to be one of those chickens given away to strangers for free knowing very well that he may be culled for meat. I’m not saying that culling is wrong, I just don’t want it to happen to him specifically because I am attached.

I brought my worries up with my vet and she actually didn’t seem to be too concerned (she is the one of the only avian vets on the island and has seen a lot of chicken cases given the abundance of feral chickens in Hawaii). She said one of her colleagues also has a rooster in her apartment and he rarely crows. It seems that roos tend to crow less when they are the only chicken living indoors amongst humans. Maybe it has something to do with being the lowest in the hierarchy. But this is not a definitive, so I’m not sure. The vet also mentioned the no-crow collar and it seems that lots of people on the island use it with success. So there is that.

My chicken had not crowed since Tuesday. Today I accidentally played some rooster sounds while my headsets were disconnected, and he began to crow in response. As soon as he started to crow, I tapped his head hard, and said, NO. Don’t do that. He looked at me, blinked a couple times, and… stopped? I gave him praises and treats and he happily chirped and went back to grooming. I don’t know if roos can be trained not to crow. It seems like the general consensus is no but I found a few posts online claiming they were successful. So there is that too.

I’m still unsure of our future. I have looked into a lot of options, including no-crow collars, de-crowing, caponizing, hormonal implants, keeping him in a dark box overnight, keeping him in a short box so he can’t stretch his neck out to crow, soundproofing the apartment/coop, and moving to another jurisdiction where roos are permitted. And of course, euthanasia. Each is not without its drawbacks. I understand that some of the options I mentioned are controversial and I am well versed with the risks and complications.

Anyway, I am in the process of terminating my current lease so I can live in a place that at least allows hens. I’m not excessively wealthy or anything but we have enough in emergency funds to cover a lot of the costs.

I think some of you may be wondering why I am sacrificing so much for a chicken. The answer is that I don’t know. I always said I didn’t want kids because I want to focus my career and I don’t think I would make a good enough mother. And here I am, pouring my heart out for a chicken God help us. Thanks for reading.

This is a really great post. Surly you have thoroughly researched all of those possibilities and know all the complications.
I have to say, I’m actually impressed. This is far far more then so many people would ever go for a rooster, and your doing it. Oliver is going to love you everyday for what you did for him. Whatever choice you make will be the right choice.
This is such a heartwarming story.

 

[anaviv09]

I once had a tiny apartment in Queens ... I’m now in Orange County, NY. Not too far from nyc and everyone out here has chickens. Life is so much more fulfilling now that I’m surrouded by greenery, two cats and a small flock of chickens

Hi Yakitori,

I am live in the Bronx and am looking to move to orange county myself. I would love to get chickens but when I look up information all I find is old information that states you need at least 3 acres. I still need to commute into the city for work. Are there any new ordinances? what towns/villages are chicken friendly?

 

[yakitori]

Hi Yakitori,

I am live in the Bronx and am looking to move to orange county myself. I would love to get chickens but when I look up information all I find is old information that states you need at least 3 acres. I still need to commute into the city for work. Are there any new ordinances? what towns/villages are chicken friendly?

I’m in rural agricultural zone in town of Wallkill and it’s 6 chickens for approx 1.8acres. the coop will need to be 100ft away from any property lines... I don’t remember the rest.

I’m a rebel... I’m on a .5acre lot and have 7... It really depends on your neighbors I guess

That said, If I knew I needed 2 acres to have chickens, I would have factored that in before we moved in. It shouldn’t be too hard to find a property with a little extra acreage out here. Properties are generally mostly taxed on the size of the house anyway.

I presume you’re looking to move to somewhere a bit further down south in the county?