Why do roosters crow in the morning?

If chickens are found in the wild, not in chicken coops or locked up on cages, they roost in the trees at night. Roosting gives them protection from most predators. In the morning, it is time for all members to assemble and start browsing for food. The rooster crows, with his distinctive and unique call, to assemble HIS hens to come down from their roosts and get to the work of surviving.

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15 Comments

Ken Brzezinski

bad question

Belgasem Goma

in our believe as muslem it is befor salat el fajr and also crows at night at the time of salat alkiam or tahjod i.e prayer late at night when people sleeping and god knows

Belgasem Goma

no exact cause but my answer is near true i.e happy after long rest at night and her is link according to a study by japanes takashi youshimora http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2015/01/roosters-crow-really-morning-day/

Kristi Stevens

It is wrong. I did extensive research all over the internet on this. I reported the question.

Barri Weinberg

James is correct, and I don't think he claimed to be an "expert" Scott. I think being a retired chicken farmer gives the man the authority to express/ share his professional opinion. It's called experience.

Erick Bills

What is your source, richardnday? I could not validate your answer on any creditable website. The closest choice provided that matches with the research conducted is "to scare away preditors", for the rooster crows to warn of threat. He does not muster hens around him. Furthermore, your detail of the answer states that the hens are to "get to the work of surviving", which does not involve going out in the open, gathering closer together, and moving closer to the potential threat. Roosters crow for many reasons, but gathering a posse is not one of them.

scottthelen

I guess you missed the part about "in the wild". Domestic chickens will continue this behavior because it is "programmed" into them. Your chicken farming experience does not make you an expert on their species.

James Murphy

The answer to this question is a bit like astrology - some scientists argue that there is valid science behind how the position of planets influence people. Other scientists say there is no science behind astrology. I Googled "astrology scientific study" and looked at the top results and there was a mixture of articles confirming that "there is science behind astrology" , "astrology at best is a psuedoscience" and "astrology has no scientific basis". So hopefully we don't get a question on whether astrology is a science, because the answer depends on which article you read or who you talk to. I personally do not think there is much valid science to back-up astrology. I have non-identical twin girls who were born 2 minutes apart via C-section. Astrology would suggest they should have the same type of personalities, yet they are like chalk and cheese both physically and personality wise!

James Murphy

I guessed correctly, but it was a 50/50 between them calling the hens and just doing it out of habit! The problem is it is difficult to conduct valid scientific studies on animals just by looking at their behaviour. Unless you are Dr Doolittle and can talk the animals and ask a large random sample of them why they do something then any scientific results are open to the interpretation of the scientist involved in the study!

chancecolley

There IS a scientific reason for the crow of the rooster. But it is not always only in the morning. Roosters crow to frighten the rival males and drive them away from their region and to communicate to the other group members to come to their call and flock together to one location if they have gone further than the designated territory. It may be true that the sunlight may stimulate this response, as they seem to follow circadian rhythms. Even if all the hens are in the area, the rooster will still crow out of instinct. So to all you chicken farmers/experts below and those who agree with them, it seems like you are wrong. By the way, this CAN be found online and if you talk to a real chicken farmer, like I did, they can tell you this also.

Bruce Lawrence

James is correct there is no reason..why are these questions not filtered?

Sharon Benjamin

Actually, it does make sense- He calls his hens to assemble around his territory. Do we not protect our family from danger?

Rich Petersen

That is not the truth, and after checking Wikopedia, and the internet, nowhere does it say anything about calling his hens..... BS.... I had Chickens for many years, male and female, and they were all in the same area, and he would just crow every morning just before daylight, and all the hens were there already.....