Chicken coops plans

Get him some girlfriends. Some roosters vocalize because they aren’t satisfied with the size of their flock. If you give him a few more hens to boss around, a rooster may calm down, and spend more time directing the ladies, and less time trolling for more. It’s also important to let your rooster mingle freely with the hens; if separated, he may start to crow even more.

Look out for rivals. If you have multiple roosters, keep them well apart, and if your neighbors have a rooster, consider setting up designated areas for each rooster and his flock to reduce conflict.

Confuse your rooster. Roosters have a very finely tuned internal clock, and they crow as they sense daylight approaching. If you’re so inclined, you can actually track your rooster’s crowing through the year, and you will notice that the time of crowing shifts in response to seasonal changes.

However, you can trick your rooster’s internal clock with the use of an artificial light source and an enclosed chicken house. When you bring your chickens into your enclosed chicken house for the evening, use a light to extend the “daylight,” tricking the chickens into thinking it’s light when it is actually dark outside. Turn the light off before you go to bed.

In the morning, the chickens will think it is earlier than it is because the chicken house is still dark. Therefore, your rooster may be confused enough to wait to crow until you let the chickens out.

Feed him. If you distract your rooster with foods that require some effort to eat, you may be able to get him to start crowing later in the day. Corncobs and puzzle cubes of food like those used to train dogs can be useful for this. Toss the food in at the end of the night, and consider hiding it under some straw so that it won’t be found until the rooster starts stirring. If you’re lucky, your rooster will be diverted by the food.

Enrich his environment. Contrary to popular belief, chickens are actually quite intelligent animals, and they can get bored, just like everyone else. Your rooster may be crowing out of restlessness or boredom. Try mixing things up in the chicken coop with toys, new perches, and cubbyholes to explore, and move things around periodically so that the environment doesn’t remain static.

Your rooster may become so busy exploring the environment and checking for hazards to the flock that he will take a break from crowing.