As more and more people take to keeping backyard chickens, we have noticed a drastic increase in the number of people reaching out with various questions about keeping their roosters and hens in good health.
On top of that, we have noticed a drastic increase in the number of questions specific to keeping roosters too as more and more people decide to add one to their coop.
One of the more frequently asked questions that we have noticed people asking time and time again is based around why their rooster stopped crowing.
As there are a number of different reasons that your rooster may stop crowing, we have decided to publish this dedicated article going over the seven main reasons that your rooster may not be crowing any more.
We have organized the article in descending order of the most likely so the causes that commonly stop roosters are at the top with the less common causes at the bottom.
We feel that this should be the best way to set the article out to try and save our readers as much time as possible.
On top of that, we have also added a table of contents to our article below so you are able to quickly skip to specific sections of the article if needed too.
Why Did My Rooster Stop Crowing?
The majority of roosters stop crowing due to sickness, injury or old age with most sicknesses and injuries that cause roosters to stop crowing usually being easy to treat.
If your rooster has stopped crowing due to being old then there is usually little you are able to do but some roosters will also stop crowing just to bullying from other birds, stress, or competition from other roosters.
As the majority of our readers will probably only keep a single rooster with multiple hens rather than a number of roosters, it is rare that bullying, stress or competition with other roosters will be factored in.
Depending on your location though, roosters owned by other people in your neighborhood crowing may cause your rooster to stop crowing due to it being able to hear the other rooster.
With the number of people keeping backyard chickens growing exponentially with each year that passes we are not surprised that so many people are running into this problem now, especially in small urban towns where backyard chickens are very popular.
This is a common mistake that we see people make time and time again and the instantly dismiss their rooster not crowing due to other roosters as they only keep a single rooster but fail to factor in other roosters in their area.
How Do You Treat A Sick Rooster?
There are a few sicknesses that are able to stop your rooster from crowing and although most of them are very easy to treat, identifying the specific sickness that is stopping your rooster from crowing can be a total pain.
This is why most people will seek assistance from a vet to diagnose the sickness that rooster has as well as offer advice on the best course of action to move forward with.
Thankfully, due to modern technology, you are able to book a video call with a professional veterinarian rather than have to go to your local veterinarian’s surgery to have them check your rooster over.
These videos calls are usually much cheaper than a trip to your local vets while also allowing you to book the call in to fit your own schedule rather than having to go to the vet at a time they can fit you in.
Most vets will be able to quickly and easily diagnose exactly what’s wrong with your rooster and offer the correct treatment for moving forward to get it back to full health.
Keep in mind that there are a number of other causes of roosters randomly stopping their crowing though so there is no guarantee that your rooster has any health issues at all.
Do Roosters Stop Crowing When Injoured?
There are a number of injuries that can prevent your rooster from crowing with some being easy to treat while others can be permanent.
Diagnosing the correct treatment for the specific injury that your rooster may have can be difficult so most people will end up seeking advice from a vet.
As we touched on above, there is usually no need to go to your local vets as a quick video call with a professional vet tends to be cheaper and quicker for most people.
That said though, unless your rooster is in obvious pain, seeking help from a vet for an injured rooster is less common as a number of injuries can prevent your pt rooster from ever crowing again.
Depending on your situation, this may not be such a bad thing as some people in urban areas can have problems with the people in their local area due to their rooster crowing so early.
Due to the inquisitive nature of roosters, it is almost impossible to fully rooster proof your yard or garden to prevent your rooster from becoming injured at some point while your rooster and hens are foraging about.
Do Roosters Stop Crowing With Age?
Roosters can stop crowing as they get older with some roosters not starting to crow until they are around nine months old and some roosters stopping crowing as young as five years old.
This will vary from rooster to rooster with other factors coming into play too but it is not uncommon for roosters to simply stop crowing due to their age.
Due to their being such a wide range of ages when your rooster may stop crowing, it can be a pain to actually work out that this is the reason that your rooster is no longer crowing even if your rooster is only a few years old.
When it comes to age, it is usually more of a last resort to just put the lack of crowing down to once you have ruled out all of the other possibilities.
As we touched on above, some roosters will also start to crow late too so even if your rooster is only a few months old and has not started crowing yet, this could be totally normal.
Some roosters can take as long as nine months to start to crow and in some very rare situations, it may take as long as a year.
What Noise Stops A Rooster From Crowing?
Roosters can stop crowing due to hearing other roosters or potential preditors in the area. This tends to be a defensive response that some roosters have to try and prevent aggression from other roosters in the area or to prevent giving their position away to potential predators.
We mentioned that this is a commonly overlooked issue for roosters that stop crowing back at the start of the article.
This is due to roosters in your area crowing being enough to get some roosters to stop crowing when they hear them without the other rooster even being in your yard.
Dogs barking in your area can be another reason that some roosters will stop crowing as they are able to hear the dogs and presume that they will be in danger if they crow and give their position away.
This can also be due to some dogs barking louder when they hear a rooster crowing and reinforcing that the crowing has a direct effect on the dog causing your rooster to stop crowing as much.
Do Roosters Ever Get Tired Of Crowing?
Some roosters simply stop crowing due to them getting tired of crowing without getting any response. Although this is rare, there are some occasions where it is believed that a rooster simply got tired and stopped crowing for an extended period of time.
This tends to occur when the rooster is kept alone without there being any hens kept in the coop too.
If you do suspect that this may be the reason that your pet rooster has stopped crowing then you may be able to get your rooster to crow again by simply adding some hens to your backyard coop too.
If you do already keep a number of hens then it is very rare that this will be the reason that your pet rooster has stopped crowing though.
Other than the rooster getting tired of crowing due to no hens responding to his crows, there really aren’t many reasons that a rooster would get tired of crowing, especially if he has hens with him to reinforce his crowing behaviour.
What Time Of Day Do Roosters Crow?
Most roosters start to crow just before dawn with a general time range being between two hours before the sun comes up and the sun actually coming up for a rooster in good health.
Although some people think that roosters will only crow in the morning, it is common for a rooster to continue to crow throughout the day.
Roosters will usually slow down the rate that they crow as the day goes on though with the rooster usually stopping its crowing just before dusk.
This can be the cause of your rooster not crowing anymore that day or if your rooster tends to stop crowing close to dawn but will crow normally early in the day.
There is usually nothing to worry about with your rooster’s health if this is the case and it is totally natural and normal for your rooster to behave in this way.
That said though, not all roosters will slow their crow rate as the day goes on but it is nothing to worry about if your old rooster was an active crower all day long and your new rooster slows its crow rate throughout the day.
Do Roosters Stop Crowing Due To Bullying?
It can be common for roosters to stop crowing due to bullying from other roosters when trying to establish their dominant hierarchy.
It is usually not recommended that you keep multiple roosters though as they can be very competitive and will often fight each other.
Older roosters and some young roosters under one year of age will sometimes just back down to a healthy rooster in its prime and stop crowing though.
If you do have a old or young rooster that has stopped crowing but also have a rooster in its prime then bullying from the dominant rooster can be the reason your other rooster no longer crows.
This will usually end once the dominant rooster gets old and a younger rooster reaches its prime though and the tables will usually turn.
This is due to the rooster that used to be in its prime being older and weaker now and often being the one to back down to challenges and stop its crowing.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over the most common reasons that your rooster stopped crowing to an end. We hope that you have found our article helpful and that we have been able to give you some ideas as to why your rooster may not be crowing any more. Most of the common reasons that a rooster will no longer crow are easy to fix as we covered above though so it is usually not a permanent problem in most cases.
