Rooster Ring for reducing crowing

Hey !

We have an (illegal) rooster who is getting too loud.  I have seen some rooster rings (I would use the other term but it does not pass the porno filter lol)  that are like a necklace that don't allow them to get the full volume to their crows.

Has anyone any experience is using them? Or have any suggestions in how to get roosters to crow less or quieter?  A friend of mine who grew up in El Salvador said they used to slip a thin knife in to pop the air bladder -  not sure I am up for that.  But a rooster necklace?  Yep.

Sandy

Wouldn't it be easier to just get rid of the rooster if you know you aren't supposed to have one?  Trying to get around rules like the "no roosters" rule is likely to make some uptight board member somewhere use that as a reason to make it so that people can't have any chickens at all.  Lots of areas still won't allow people to have even hens in their backyards.  It would be a shame to lose the right to do that as well.

I won't even consider mutilating a rooster to get around the rule.

I recall some info on this somewhere here on permies and the gist of it was that the rooster rings or rooster collars are injurious to the roosters and will shorten their life-spans.

Some questions: 1. Why is it illegal? Noise bylaws, or general intolerance of "farm animals". Is that something you could work with your Municipal Council on?

2. Is any rooster noise an issue, or only at night?

Friends I had years ago who had roosters and who lived right opposite a dairy farm, themselves were considered "urban" and not allowed roosters. A neighbour complained to them and so I ended up with them as I'm a legal farm. The neighbour then whined that he missed them... go figure!

However, in the interim, they used to take the roosters into their garage in a dog crate at night - this effectively quieted them both because of the solid walls, and because of the darkness. So if night noise is what you're worried about, I'd be looking at building an area of your coop that is as sound-proof and dark as you can make it, and putting the perches in there.

Roosters do have a role to fill in a flock, but they aren't *necessary* for a flock, so I wouldn't want to risk a rooster's health over it myself.

S Smithsson wrote:Hey !

We have an (illegal) rooster who is getting too loud.  I have seen some rooster rings (I would use the other term but it does not pass the porno filter lol)  that are like a necklace that don't allow them to get the full volume to their crows.

Has anyone any experience is using them? Or have any suggestions in how to get roosters to crow less or quieter?  A friend of mine who grew up in El Salvador said they used to slip a thin knife in to pop the air bladder -  not sure I am up for that.  But a rooster necklace?  Yep.

Sandy

Great questions!  We keep the rooster mainly for flock protection (we have had bears, mountain lions, fox, racoon in the yard, to name a few - and that is just this year so far!)

He crows at all times...  I make sure to keep my neighbors happy and ask many many times if he bothers them, and we are good on that front. But he is loud! I have read conflicting opinions of the rooster collars, so thought I would ask permies folks for info!

Yes, roosters crow at *all* times - 2 am for example if there's a full moon! My friend's bantum roosters are worse than my full size ones. Some of it is personality.

I would also consider whether there are things about the coop and yard area that are amplifying the sound? Too much hard-scape and not enough materials that will absorb and diffuse the noise? A friend of mine lived by a busy road and the trees that were between her house and the road died. She was amazed how much noisier the traffic was when the dead trees were removed.

Noise bounces and reflects. Angled surfaces that will direct the noise up into the air and "rubbery" surfaces that absorb noise might both help.

But no, I haven't used a ring, and what I read about them years ago, didn't seem worth the risk to me. We will have to wait and see if anyone else on permies has used them and responds.

I'm another person who has not used rooster collars and would be leery to do so.

If you need flock protection, perhaps a goose? Some of them can be noisy too, but some cities specifically outlaw roosters, and say nothing about geese. Just a thought, because not all geese are noisy.

looks like a few permies tried the collar https://permies.com/t/57802/Rooster-collar-brilliant-brutal and stopped using it due to issues.

 

Yeah that was me.  I retired the collar in the end because every rooster who wore it died unexpectedly and young.  I can't say 100% it was the collar, but it was enough circumstantial evidence to convince me.