Rooster Crowing Questions - Brainstorming ideas!

[NewYorkMama]

Hi folks!

My accidental rooster started crowing last week and it was super cute at first as he was learning. Now it’s developed into a full/blown very LOUD and FREQUENT crow. Like sometimes of day he’ll crow every few minutes!!!

We work from home and the coop is right below our bedroom & our office… so to put it as gently as possible, the crowing is distracting and frankly untenable.

Sometimes he’ll walk up to the back door or office window and just crow while looking in at us. Like he just wants our attention. He almost never crows when we’re outside with him & the girls.

We do live in an agricultural area on many acres, so having a rooster is not a legal issue, however two of our neighbors closest in proximity to the coop are not farms (the other two neighbors are) and I am concerned the noise will start to be bothersome to the non-farmers.

After doing some reading & observing his behaviors today, we think he’s crowing when he hears sounds — outside in the yard, cars on the road, or even sounds from inside the house. I closed he & the girls in the run, and put a fan on (for white noise) and that stopped the crowing the whole afternoon!

Problem is, we can’t run a fan in the winter and in the summer I love for them to have access to the yard while the weather is nice. Hate to keep them cooped up just to keep him quiet, when they already must be cooped 5-6 months out of the year due to snow.

Anyhow I guess I’m just hoping to brainstorm some ideas. Has anyone had any creative solutions for keeping your boys quiet or learning to live more in harmony with the noise? Anyone sound proof their run? Does using an automatic door on the coop work — like maybe letting him out later in the morning where he’s less likely to bother neighbors? Is this just a puberty/new skill thing (he’s 15 weeks) that will settle out? We can all deal with a couple/few crows a day.

Thank you everyone in advance for your ideas!

Please note: I won’t cull him, I don’t think I’d use a no-crow collar (seems inhumane at best, potentially deadly at worst… but if you have experience that runs contrary to these concerns re: a collar, please share!), and I really don’t want to rehome him. He’s a sweet boy and we’re already bonded.

 

[-Chanticleer-]

I used a collar on my cockerel he didn’t mind it, however his favorite pullet was concerned and ripped it off the first time. I replaced it with a black one that blended in. He was fine for weeks and then I just felt guilty he couldn’t crow like he wanted to. Found an old farmer who takes in unwanted farm animals and now he’s happily crowing over there. He crowed frequently as well, seeing squirrels, cats or hearing loud noise set him off. Maybe he will simmer down with age?

 

[Mrs. K]

I love the crow of a rooster... a long ways off. But up close it is very irritating. However, that is what roosters do. I understand you wanting to keep him, but while he has been a darling, and you have bonded, that chick is about to change. Cockerels before and after hormones are not the same bird.

Excessive crowing, when he sees you can be one of the first signs of aggression. You need to be very aware when you have a cockerel, as often times inexperienced people do not pick up on the cues he is becoming aggressive. If you have small children, and especially if they share the play area with the chickens I strongly recommend removing the cockerel. They tend to attack children first.

I know you are thinking, jeesh lady - I just asked for ideas about the crowing and he really is a darling...but they can really change in then next few months, just be aware.

Maybe he will stay sweet, some do. However, some don't - so it might not hurt to at just look at options near you to be prepared.

Mrs K

 

[LizzzyJo]

Unfortunately, I don’t think there will be a good solution for you. I hear that you’re searching for a behavioral solution, but this just isn’t that type of situation. The fan will not stop him for long. You can lock him in the dark while you’re working. You can use a collar. You can become accustomed to it. Or you can do the things you’ve mentioned not wanting to do.

 

[CoopBoots]

Hm. Just a couple of things I might try in your position, in no particular order:

Good noise cancelling headphones or headsets for workers/schoolers at home. The full ear covering kind. Would people on the other side of conference calls still hear the rooster? Could you all still be productive this way?

Bigger chicken run / a separate work hours run for the rooster and a few girls. Make it a super attractive and safe spot way off, if you have the space. My chickens adore my distant trees and bushes way more than the tree free zone around my home when given their choice.

Any way to soundproof the office/workspaces? Curtains will stop your curious guy spying through the windows. I'd also remove anything akin to a perch near doors or windows as they like to get up high to do it and you will hear him more through those as well.

The fan works for the time being. I don't know if competing noise will always work, but if it does help, maybe music from a portable speaker would work in cooler weather? Or just playing the fan sound from a YouTube video? (My kid used to fall asleep to vacuum cleaner white noise. Did you know they make 10 hour videos for that?! I'm mentally scarred now lol, maybe don't overdo it for the poor chickens and yourself haha)

Longshot, but if you can, relocate your setup entirely. The bedroom being close to the coop is super unfortunate if you don't rise pre-dawn or with the sun willingly. Your girls, if they aren't laying already, will get noisy on their own when they do. No rooster required, their noise comes gratis!

Sorry if none of these make sense for your situation; I hope you land on something that works for you guys.

 

[NewYorkMama]

Longshot, but if you can, relocate your setup entirely. The bedroom being close to the coop is super unfortunate if you don't rise pre-dawn or with the sun willingly. Your girls, if they aren't laying already, will get noisy on their own when they do. No rooster required, their noise comes gratis!

thank you thank you for all these suggestions! They’ve been in the same spot for 6 years and the girls chattering can be loud but not enough to wake us or be overly bothersome. It’s just summertime too, so the sun rises super early. Fall & winter sunrise corresponds more closely to our wake up time.

The rooster noise… wow that’s another level! Both our distant neighbors have roosters and they sound lovely from across the fields.… but not so much up close.

Yes! We’ve breifly considered moving the whole set up to the other side of our house and barn… it would be a huge pain but might be the ticket. The barn would block the sound from us and our neighbors, and he can crow all he wants out across the fields to his farm friends. But getting up to the barn in the winter is tough. We don’t keep animals in there, just summer yard equipment so… it’s not really winter accessible right now. Moving the chickens would also entail figuring out a winter access solution in addition to the whole coop/run move. It’s huge but maybe worth it as it doesn’t sound like my white noise solution will last long.

This is so frustrating. Thank you so much for your ideas.

 

[NewYorkMama]

However, that is what roosters do. I understand you wanting to keep him, but while he has been a darling, and you have bonded, that chick is about to change. Cockerels before and after hormones are not the same

My kids aren’t small so that’s not a worry but I sincerely appreciate you sharing your experience here! If he’s crowing excessively at 15 weeks does this not bode well for the future? Wondering if he’ll level out when he’s closer to full grown? Or do these kinds of things always get worse?

 

[NewYorkMama]

Maybe he will simmer down with age?

I can only hope??? Is this a possibility?

 

[Saveria]

I can only hope??? Is this a possibility?

From what I have heard, that usually isn't the case, but no one can say for sure. I have always liked the sound for the most part, but I also just got used to it and started tuning it out. My two-year-old won't even wake up when he crows out the window, we've all just become so accustomed to the sound.

 

[NewYorkMama]

Excessive crowing, when he sees you can be one of the first signs of aggression. You need to be very aware when you have a cockerel, as often times inexperienced people do not pick up on the cues he is becoming aggressive.

Just wanted to clarify, one of the only times he *doesn’t* crow is when he sees us. When we’re around/in the chicken yard he’s calm and collected and not crowing… just going about his business foraging, napping. It’s when we go back inside he starts up his crowing and/or comes looking for us. When we come out to be part of the flock (I guess?) he stops.

So I don’t think aggression is the case. But I could be wrong; thank you for sharing your experience.