To broody or not to broody (should I let my hen hatch eggs next year?)

[BDutch]

To keep a rooster secretly, I think I would need a small rooster that does not have a mighty crow.

I had several bantam cockerels. Including Dutch bantam cockerels (only 600-700grams). These cockerels pitch high. Their voices are disturbing and go far.

 

[SkyAJK]

I had several bantam cockerels. Including Dutch bantam cockerels (only 600-700grams). These cockerels pitch high. Their voices are disturbing and go far.

......I am sad that I might never be able to have a rooster ever again. I live in the city and so there is no moving anywhere now as I am older.

The thing also that if I get a rooster, it would have to be from my broody hen so that the baby rooster and I have a bond. An adult rooster might be harder to manage.

 

[Cheekychook12]

I missed this thread becoming active again.. I let another hen go broody and sit on eggs, currently at day 12, and my roosters all remained friendly and are good protectors, I currently have 3 that I kept
I tried no crow collars and they worked wonderfully with a bit of an adjustment period

 

[BDutch]

I tried no crow collars and they worked wonderfully with a bit of an adjustment period

Did you start to use them when the cockerels started to crow?

I wonder If I should try this next time if I have a good bantam cockerel from a batch/hatch from fertilised eggs. Im reluctant to use a no crow collar bc many people say it’s a torture for the cockerel to wear one.

I always gave my cockerels away to people who wanted a rooster for their flock. Mostly by advertising on the Dutch Craig's list. But sometimes it takes months to rehome and some of my neighbours get annoyed with the sound of crows very early in the morning .

What brand so you use? Can you explain what you mean with the adjustment period?
If this no crow collar is a great help to keep a cockerels voice down, without the feeling of torturing him, Id like to try this next time and maybe even keep him as my first rooster..

 

[Cheekychook12]

Did you start to use them when the cockerels started to crow?

I wonder If I should try this next time if I have a good bantam cockerel from a batch/hatch from fertilised eggs. Im reluctant to use a no crow collar bc many people say it’s a torture for the cockerel to wear one.

I always gave my cockerels away to people who wanted a rooster for their flock. Mostly by advertising on the Dutch Craig's list. But sometimes it takes months to rehome and some of my neighbours get annoyed with the sound of crows very early in the morning .

What brand so you use? Can you explain what you mean with the adjustment period?
If this no crow collar is a great help to keep a cockerels voice down, without the feeling of torturing him, Id like to try this next time and maybe even keep him as my first rooster..

Yes, about three weeks after they started
I did hear bad things about them but decided it was worth a try, they don’t seem to even notice them after the first week, it’s tricky to get them on the first few times but after that it doesn’t bother them
They still produce some noise but I find it much quieter and shorter, as well as less frequent, it worked for all three of my boys
So I take about a week to adjust them to the collars, at first I put them on as loose as possible, watch them for 30mins, then the next day tighten slightly, wait another thirty minutes, and I keep tightening until the crow changes, then leave it as is
One of mine used to crow constantly from 6am to 11am, really loud, and now he only crows a couple times at sunrise
If you want a rooster I’d say give it a try, but be cautious
I haven’t had any problems so far
Here is the brand I used

 

[Cheekychook12]

Yes, about three weeks after they started
I did hear bad things about them but decided it was worth a try, they don’t seem to even notice them after the first week, it’s tricky to get them on the first few times but after that it doesn’t bother them
They still produce some noise but I find it much quieter and shorter, as well as less frequent, it worked for all three of my boys
So I take about a week to adjust them to the collars, at first I put them on as loose as possible, watch them for 30mins, then the next day tighten slightly, wait another thirty minutes, and I keep tightening until the crow changes, then leave it as is
One of mine used to crow constantly from 6am to 11am, really loud, and now he only crows a couple times at sunrise
If you want a rooster I’d say give it a try, but be cautious
I haven’t had any problems so far
Here is the brand I used

Oh and sometimes when you first tighten it they will try to crow louder to compensate but they gave up quickly

 

[SkyAJK]

My old rooster wore a no crow collar. It worked quite well.

I did make some myself with various materials doing my best to make it soft and comfortable for his neck....non work so well as the professionally made one.

My rooster almost died from the no crow collar a handful of times, he survived only because.....I can only say he meant to live.

He did his mighty best to crow as loud as he can and as often as he wanted.

He turned and moved his head/neck in such a way trying to adjust the collar himself. I can see my chickens from my back door and one day I looked out and right at that very moment he dropped off from the chair he was standing on. I ran down as fast as my legs can take me. When I got to him his comb was purple, he was motionless, I took the collar off and massage his neck as fast as I can and then he opened his mouth and eyes.

Other times, his mouth was foaming.

The collar needs constant adjustment to make sure that it is fitted correctly, and also adjustment needed as it stretched & folded down over time.

The rooster will do a lot of adjustment himself so bad things can happen to the rooster.

If the collar is not worn correctly, it will most likely kill the rooster.

From my personal experience I do not think it is safe to left the rooster alone at home wearing the collar.

My old rooster wore the collar for many years, and when I am not at home I took him with me to work, or leave him at my mom's place. During these babysitting times, he did not wear a collar.
It went on like that for many years, until covid came and then we were working from home

My old rooster wore the collar from the time he made his first crow after he got out of the closet to 4pm each day, effectively more or less 8 or 9 hours a day. Less if he did not crow all morning and that also happened a lots of time that way. We tried to provide him with all that he needed so he is happy and not crow.

He slept in a big closet that sound proof. He stopped crowing around 4pm so the collar removed.

His neck was very big, I am not sure because of the collar or he was just a big rooster. The feather where the collar was on were broken & in bad shape. He did try to to adjust the collar and he hated it. We knew he hated it because whenever he saw the collar he pecked at it.

It bothered us a great deal, but when we saw him living his life, dirt bathing, hanging out with his flock, finding food for his hens.e.tc... he lived a normal life and was not seem to be bothered by the collar, we were happy.

If I have a rooster, will he be wearing a collar? Yes, because I live in the city, rooster is not allowed. How long he wears the collar in a day is the main thing. My old rooster some days did not wear it at all because for some reasons, he did not bother to crow. Might be he was just too busy with his hens....? Who knows!

 

[ChookaPete]

I could never put a no-crow collar on a rooster, or a no-bark collar on a dog.

 

[SkyAJK]

I could never put a no-crow collar on a rooster, or a no-bark collar on a dog.

No crow collar function is to reduce the volume of the sound, the rooster still crow and mine did crow his mighty crow.

We as a family did not want the no crow collar for our baby rooster when he started crowing, the option is to rehome him to a farm, or animals rescue people. The breeder happy to take him back and ...as you can imagine..food he will be.

We were facing with the decision of what to do with him, he was so cute and he followed me everywhere.....eventually we came to the decision that to live..he has to wear the collar, and so our lives and his changed since.

My old rooster had a life, it was with the collar but not all day wearing it. IF he can talk what would he say? He stretched out his wings in the sun, did many mating dance, he was a good rooster and was loved.

If you have a rooster and not allow to keep it, you will be facing with what to do, how to find him a good home to go to. If you can find him a good home then that is wonderful. A good home means he is loved, cared for and get to live out his rooster life. I wonder what happened to those roosters that were rehome, will many find a good home?

I did rehome my 2nd rooster to an animals rescue farm that was so well liked by all, a month later we took him back and he was near death. If we did not take him back he would had suffer and died after a long suffering illness. No one cared for him. They told us he was beaten by other roosters so they locked him in a cage.

When we got him home, he was very sick, barely much energy to move and covered in lice/mites, sour crop, runny nose..etc, he looked and walked around the garden, he remembered his old home.

We all make decision that we can live with, each situation is its own.

 

[BDutch]

I had at least 1 cockerel ever time I let my broodies hatch. And I can’t keep a single rooster bc my neighbours start to complain if he gets too noisy.

I managed to give them all away. Some to a great new home. Where a previous rooster died (predator catch) or someone has bought hens and they like to have a rooster too. A few times I was not very sure what would happen after a few months. Like the one time a father and his two sons picked up 2 male chicks as pets.
Once someone was very happy to breed with a cockerel I had, being such a beautiful standard cockerel. He was bought to fertilise his hens.

Sometimes it takes months to find a new home. So next time the boy starts to annoy the neighbors it might be a good temporary solution to buy him a no crow collar until I find him a new home.

The difficulty is that all the chicks that grow up with a broody are not easy to handle. I can pick the boy up at night to put a collar on. And probably a few times to adjust it.

Last time I had a boy who was sleeping/roosting in a coop with curtains a bit further away with his sisters and their mama. The sound was a bit muffled. But one night he started to roost with the other hens and this was too noisy. I could pick the boy up at night to put him in the coop with his sisters. After a few evenings he was aware and wouldn’t cooperate anymore. l was lucky he got so annoyed , he chose to sleep with his sisters again.

Another month later he got louder and the sun came up earlier every day. I was lucky finally someone reacted on the add. Bc it got to a point that I really needed to do something about the noise or my neighbours would warn me to immediately take action. A no crow collar could be just that.