Why does a rooster crow???????????

Question

This is my first year raising chickens. I have 1 rooster, I call him Red, and he wasn't crowing. My husband said it was a hen because he wouldn't crow, but he has a beautiful cone. Last night I got 4 new roosters and a hen from my grandmother. I heard the new roosters crowing this morning, so I let out all the other chickens, and let the new ones stay in the chicken house (I don't want them to fight) Red was acting very upset and trying to crow, he sounded pitiful. Is it a domination/territory thing, and what is the best way to prevent them from fighting? I have 5 cleared acres that all the chickens can roam on, that should be enough room for 25 total chickens. (3 roosters and 22 hens right) I want to keep Red, because he is a pet, and the new ones are beautiful.

Answer 1

Poor Red, trying to crow! Reminded me of my cat who tries to "meow" and this very sad creaky noise comes out of his mouth!

How fun that you raise chickens! I am not an expert, but hope one day to have a place in the country where chickens  can roam free. I love to hear roosters crowing in the morning! Much better than the BEEP BEEP BEEP of an alarm clock, lol!

Now, your rooster, Red, tries to crow, so I think he's going to be fine. Is he a young rooster? Perhaps he just needs more time to finesse his crowing; the other roosters you have could be good role models for him. Maybe his instinct to crow will be encouraged by having the other roosters around.

The fighting problem might resolve itself, if you haven't had them together long; they may just need time to adjust to each other. If not, you might need to separate the instigator for a time. I'm sure different breeds of chickens tend to fight more than others, so you might research chicken trouble shooting ideas on a poultry website. You could also call a vet and ask questions; Red might have a physical problem with his "voice box" or larynx, or he might just have something stuck in there!  

I don't know if crowing is a territorial thing or not; don't roosters crow even if there aren't other roosters around? Hmmm...well, I hope Red gets his "Crow on", lol and impresses the hen house!

Good luck!

Answer 2

if there are 2 or more roosters the larger roosters know that they are the leaders so the weaker rooster probably won't crow.

Answer 3

Sorry SeaLeigh. But i dont think your rooster has a voice problem. What is happening is that the rooster is still getting use to his voice.

I had a about 5  roosters and when i got a new young one, he tried to imitate the other's crow, but it was horrible at first. After  or 7 months of practice, he managed to improve by himself!

The BEST way to to prevent them from fighting is easy as you have much land. What you do is put a woodun bar in the soil and then tie a rope to it. Tie the other end of the rope in your rooster's leg. The rope has to be long enough to give your rooster space to eat and roam around(like a dog on a chain)(like 3-5 metres).

Then do this for the other but make sure that when they roam around they do not come in contact with the other roosters! thus they wont fight and still be able to enjoy! They chicken can be free! Make sure to change their place so that they dont get bored!

Hope it helped. Dont worry for the rooster!

Good luck

cheers