Friday, June 22, 2018

A Bark Collar For Your Rooster?


Unending barking has probably resulted in the death of more dogs than any other canine behavior.

As true as that statement is for dogs, it's worse for male chickens. Where backyard chickens are allowed, roosters are generally prohibited due to their crowing.  That means any male chick that slips through the imperfect sexing job done at the hatchery is likely to lose its head at a very young age. 

In the world of dogs, electronic bark collars have saved a lot of canine lives by sending a small static shock to dogs when they bark for more than a second or two. Bark collars work like new money, and cost very little to boot.

But what about chickens?  Is there a "bark collar" for Chanticleer?

Not until now.  But something new and quite simple has come along, and apparently it works. 

NO CROW Rooster Collars work by diminishing the force behind roosters' crows. Reserves of air from air sacs (in addition to their lungs) are expelled all at once when they crow. When the NO CROW Rooster Collar is worn snugly around the neck (like a belt is worn around the waist) it tends to limit the force of the air and makes the crow quieter.

Collar fit matters, and the company instructs purchasers how to measure their pet roosters. Five different sizes of Rooster Collars are sold. The contraption itself is a small cloth cuff, 6-10" around, that closes with velcro.  The NO CROW collar can even be fitted with a bow tie for the ultimate in pet rooster fashion!

The web site says the "NO CROW Rooster Collar does not inhibit normal eating, breathing, or physical activities including preening, dust bathing and mating when used as directed."

I have not used the thing myself  (no chickens here) but would love to hear reports of success or failure in the comments.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

my experience with my small yard flock is that they do work if fitted correctly and placed correctly; they need to be further down the neck/closer to the body than seems initially intuitive. the caveats--i have two-- are that 1. that they don't seem to work or stay in position on my naked neck or 'showgirl' roosters (it's a real silly breed that is worth googling- i promise). there aren't enough feathers to hold the collar low enough to stay in place or function properly. and 2. you know those velcro ties they make to hold computer cables and whatnot together? like, just strips of velcro that you can get for about 2$ for 3? those work just as well. in fact, it's a pretty easy thing to improvise, once you understand the general concept. you just have to be careful not to use someting too narrow or too tight, or you might accidentally choke your chicken. ;)

tuffy said...

thanks for this info--both the post and the comment! something i can use tomorrow...