A rooster crow is perhaps the most familiar animal sound on earth. So, why do roosters crow? Maybe they do it on purpose.
Unlike us, animals do not speak and only communicate using various sounds they produce. Elephants will trumpet, monkeys gibber, dogs bark and roosters crow.
No one is really sure why his rooster is crowing but the rooster does. There are a number of reasons that make male chickens crow.
In this article, I am going to tackle crowing of roosters and why they do it. This will clear off the doubt in your mind anytime a rooster will crow.
Reasons why roosters crow
The rooster is crowing and he does not talk to tell why. Many questions echo in your mind but with no answers. Perhaps, this is why!
Announcing dawn
In most cases, rooster’s crows are common in the morning. Everyone thinks that they do it to announce the arrival of a new day while others say it is a short prayer thanking God for yet another sunrise.
A 2013 publication by Takashi Yoshimura and Tsuyshi Shimmura was able to reveal some shocking details on why the crowing sound is heard in the morning.
They discovered that roosters have an internal circadian rhythm clock of 23.8 hours. Roosters will only crow at the appointed time and that is why they do it before sunrise.
The rooster crow is noisy and irritating to those in a deep slumber and perhaps it is the reason why these male chickens are not allowed in most residential areas.
A lead rooster which is the alpha male and top ranking on the pecking order will crow first. Other subordinates will then crow in order according to their ranking on the pecking order.
Competition between roosters
At times, roosters will compete on who crows first and how often. This mainly happens all day and the first rooster crows triggering all the roosters in the entire neighborhood to crow.
Other roosters respond as a sign of competition. Perhaps, to inform the hens that they are more boys around her.
Finally the crowing stops and all the roosters are quiet until the rhythm starts over again. Male birds will crow to show might and dominance.
Each rooster feels superior to the others and wants his presence felt and recognized by the entire flock of chickens.
Night time crow
It is rare to hear roosters crowing at night unless there is something unusual going on. Sometimes, a rooster may mistake his crowing time and decide to do it at midnight.
This will trigger other roosters who hear that crowing sound to respond with a similar voice. Another reason may be due to predators like possums.
When chickens feel threatened, they will produce loud screams to inform the owner there is danger around.
Other reasons are the noise of a starting motor vehicle, bright headlights of a car, loud dog barks and the sound of a thunder on a rainy night.
Night time crows by roosters are not the best and they will wake you or your kids up. To counter this issue, roosters are fitted with no-crow collars to reduce their noise levels.
Marking territory
This is the most common reason why roosters will crow all day. They will open their mouths from time to time and crow.
The crowing sound of a rooster will travel around the neighborhood and tell other males who have an eye on his hens that the territory is already marked.
On hearing this sound, any rival male will either choose to go and fight trying to overthrow his rival or either look for an opportunity elsewhere.
In the wild, game fowls will crow to inform others where they are. Since these birds are flightless, crowing is the only way to communicate.
Crowing will also help tell when danger is around. In some instances, roosters will crow to express happiness or satisfaction.
Mating crow
Roosters will often be heard crowing after mating. This happens after the rooster has finished his job and perhaps feels proud for successfully mating with a hen.
Males will often crow in the morning and in the evening because the testerone levels are high at this time.
Cockerels will begin to mate with hens at the age of six months. At this time, these chickens are sexually mature and can fertilize hens.
Roosters mate with hens in a process called cloacal kiss. Here, the males will sit on top of hens and lower his cloaca to meet the hens where the sperms are deposited.
A male chicken can mate with several hens multiple times a day. He will dominate the hens and lay claim on the flock as his if there is no opponent to challenge him.
Sometimes a rooster will crow after a hen has laid an egg. Hens will open their beaks and sing the egg melody which the rooster responds with a crow.
I have seen my Barnevelder rooster crowing a rather soft luring sound calling hens to come for tasty mealworms.
When the hen comes and pick the treat, the male bird will then try to mate with her.
The crowing order
Crowing in roosters does not just happen. It is a sound produced with a significant meaning and so a particular order has to be followed.
Where there is a large flock with several roosters, a pecking order is there. In this flock, there exists a lead rooster who is the alpha and dominates the pecking order.
Here, the leader crows first and others follow depending on their rank on the pecking order. This is maintained until the leader is challenged and overthrown through a fight.
How loud is a rooster crow?
A rooster crow is not that loud and I would compare it with a dog bark. However, this sound is loud enough to wake you up or disturb your next door neighbor.
In decibels, a rooster crow is on a par with a dogs bark at around 90 decibels. Roosters will at times just crow for no reason.
Sometimes it makes me think there is an internal urge that compels the rooster to crow. In most cases these male chooks will do it with a reason.
Why do roosters crow summary
A rooster will hardly crow for no reason but at times he will. Crowing sound of a rooster is most common in the morning.
However, this sound will be heard here and there during the day. Crowing in roosters is a way of communicating or expressing a certain emotion.
Kindly share!