How to Stop a Rooster Crow

No matter the time of day, you can bet somewhere a rooster is crowing. "Roosters crow whenever they feel like it: morning, noon and night, not to mention afternoon, evening and the parts of the day that don't have names," Jennifer Nemec quotes Pete Alcorn as saying in "Secret of the Rooster's Crow." Short of serving up a noisy rooster for dinner, other methods can be used to silence his incessant "Cock-a-doodle-do."

Things You'll Need

  • Darkened chicken coop
  • Small, low cage
  • Hens
  • Hay bales
  • Food scraps
  • Corn cobs
  • Basket
  • Lettuce
  • CDs
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Instructions

    • 1

      Trick the rooster into thinking it's night. Roosters crow less when it's dark, so keep the rooster in a darkened chicken coop when you want it to be quiet. In the winter and fall when you're using artificial light, keep the flock up later at night and set your light timer to go off later in the morning so the roosters will be quieter longer.

    • 2

      Confine the rooster to a small, low cage at night. Roosters like to stretch out when crowing. They can't crow effectively if they don't have the space to stretch their necks and flap their wings.

    • 3

      Figure out what the fuss is about. Chase off any predators in the area if the rooster is issuing a warning crow.

    • 4

      Entertain the rooster so it won't crow out of boredom. Add more hens to the coop if he's lonely. Make tunnels out of hay bales for the rooster to explore. Hide scraps of food in the hay for it to dig for. Toss him a corn cob to play with. Fill a basket with lettuce leaves just out of reach and let him figure out how to get to it. Or hang old CDs out of pecking range and watch as the rooster plays with the reflections from the sun.