Cock-a-doodle… Please Shush Up!!!

Bob is a lovely gentle cockerel. Everything you could want as he is also very protective of his ladies and I don’t have to worry about Gabriel being in the garden with him. We also have no near neighbours so his early morning cock-a-doodling isn’t going to get us any complaints. Well, bar from Gabriel!

The last few mornings Bob has been crowing as soon as dawn has broken, normally he is a bit of a lazy boy and even when the mornings were lighter he didn’t start until 6.30-7ish. However, these last two days he has awoken us at 5.30 crowing his heart out and not stopping even if let out. Gabriel is less than impressed with this and was lying in bed this morning saying shushhhhhh bobob sleep! I have to admit I am with him on that one.

Sadly we can’t reposition to coop to the side of the house as I want to be able to see and hear them in case of a predator attack. We did have them round the side of the house when we first moved in, but sadly the whole flock was taken apart from one girl, and I don’t want to risk that again.

Keeping a Cockerel Quiet

There are ways to help keep a noisy cockerel quiet (apart from the obvious one of making him Sunday dinner!). Firstly check the coop out for light coming in and cover any gaps. Make sure you have left ventilation holes though. This also works for noisy hens as I know when Back in Yorkshire my girls used to make enough noise with having a cockerel to contend with. Our coop could do with some repairs before Autumn so this weekend we will be checking it over and fixing it up.

If a cockerel’s crowing is persistent and you are getting complaints you can try a cock box. I used to use a cat basket for my large fowl. I’d put a lovely layer of bedding in and at night my cockerel would sleep in there instead of the main coop (I placed the box in the larger coop we had so sheltered and safe). It worked wonders for the bigger birds as they couldn’t stretch the neck out to get a good cock-a-doodle-do, however it was too big for the bantam boy I had and he ended up going to live on a friend’s farm.

Rehoming Poultry

Rehoming cockerels is hard to do and it is always something you should consider if you hatch your own. If you do have a bird you need to rehome, whether cock or hen, you can always pop into our Poultry Swap Shop and see if there is a loving home that can take them.