Waking up on New Year’s Day with the world of long crowing roosters

Now I’m not suggesting these guys for urban situations, but New Year’s Day seems an appropriate moment to survey the world of long crowing roosters. According to poultry expert Gail Damerow, writing in the current issue of Backyard Poultry Magazine, long crowers probably have their origins in Japan and have spread throughout the world through deliberate selection. Here’s a play list for your listening pleasure, consisting of a Turkish long crowing breed, the Denizli, followed by a Koeyoshi (good crower in Japanese) and the Tomaru (black crower):

For those of you trying to awaken hungover members of your household, here’s two audio files of: A Totenko (red crower) and a Tomaru.

Somewhat perversely, the long crowing trait makes for lower fertility in eggs and greater susceptibility to disease in chicks. As Humans have bred long crowing roosters for thousands of years, it’s a reminder that people have been placing fun and entertainment before utility for a long time. An anthropology professor I once had speculated that the musical bow came before the hunting bow. Other anthropologists theorize that chickens were domesticated for fighting before people figured out the whole egg and meat thing. Far from a defect in human behavior, for me things like long crowing roosters prove that innovation comes out of play.

Thanks to longcrowers.de for sharing those videos!

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9 Comments

  1. At the moment I’m treading lightly with my urban chickens and not having any crowers at all, but those guys are pretty cool. If I didn’t have neighbors I would be tempted to get one of those pretty boys to wake me up, until he drove me crazy and I had to eat him.

  2. These would be cool, except I’m sure they are expensive and some time at 3 am when this bustard is going off I’d wind up out in the henhouse in my underwear with a 12 guage trying to kill the darn thing.

  3. I once had a neibhour who had a bird that woke up every morning at 2 am…. and then proceeded to wake me up…..

    I tried explaining to the neibhour that this was not done, but I could not understand why he did not wake up… so I decided to wake him up every time I was woken up…

    This did not help either… so finally an ultimatum was issued, either he cooks the bird I cook the bird………. that solved the story…. He cooked it and we had a party…

  4. I’m a city girl, from NYC. I’ve never heard a rooster crow except for cartoons or in a movie. Several years ago I spent my very first night on a farm. Around 4 AM I was abruptly awakened by what I thought was a woman screaming! I raced to my brothers bedroom screaming that a woman was being attacked in the fields and that he should call the police immediately! He laughed and told me that it was just “Henry”, his little red rooster announcing the dawn. My boyfriend who is from Los Angeles also spent a few nights on my brothers little farm. Around 4 AM my boyfriend came running into my bedroom saying that there was a baby crying somewhere out in the fields! It took a little convincing but he finally believed that a rooster could make these unGodly noises! He even got used to Henry and his morning serendaes.

  5. A former neighbor of mine raised chickens. The funniest thing was listening to the young roosters as they learn to crow. 2 never did get the hang of it. They sounded like someone had a firm grip around their necks as they crowed. They would wake me up in the pre-dawn hours, but at least I was waking up laughing.

  6. I love my roosters and I love waking up to the sound of crowing
    that deadens the traffic! It makes me feel like I live on a farm collecting
    those fresh eggs…they provide such joy, entertainment and a bonus is the fertilizer for my gardren!

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