We live inside the DC Beltway, and a neighbor’s rooster is starting to at 5:30 every morning. I’m talking every 10 seconds for close to an hour. I grew up on a farm, and I know that’s not normal. I’m developing a real craving for chicken and dumplings. I don’t even think my vegetarian wife would object to me wringing it’s neck.
Check your local laws. Where I live - which admittedly is nowhere in the US - you can keep hens but not cocks, and I think that’s a fairly common regulation in suburban/semi-suburban districts.
Yeah, same here in Aus in suburban or ‘built-up’ areas (that is, anywhere that has street lights) roosters are a big no-no. Check your local council/shire by-laws.
But chicken soup and dumplings sound pretty damned good as well. 
yup, no roosters here, either. I had to send the little boys who hatched to a farm.
Knock on your neighbor’s door and just tell them honestly. Either the rooster goes inside or you’ll have to call the authorities. You have a right to sleep.
There are alsothese collarswhich sometimes work. They are cheap enough to be worth a try. Taking one over there might ease the conversation.
I don’t like them myself, but needs must. My brother had a dog for whom it was either going to be cut vocal cords or lethal injection. The dog barked when she breathed, and neither my sister-in-law nor their new baby were able to tolerate it. Sometimes you do what is necessary to save your pet.
I would immediately contact local law enforcement or animal control and file a report so you are on record having complained about it. If nobody complains then law enforcement has no reason to do anything about it. Talk to your neighbors and get them to complain to whoever is responsible for enforcement of noise ordinances in your area. Then talk to the neighbor with the rooster and tell them something has to change and let them decide how to fix the problem. If they refuse to deal with it you call law enforcement every day until they send someone down to talk to the neighbor about it. I can’t believe nobody has officially complained about it yet.
Find out your local laws. Some communities prohibit having farm animals, which would end the problem completely. Otherwise, there will likely be noise ordinances that might apply. Talk to the code compliance department of your city to see if they have any ideas.
Do you have any relationship with your neighbors? What kind of people are they? Although talking to them can be an option, sometimes it can also cause more problems. If they’re the type who think a rooster crowing at 5:30 is no big deal, they may also be type to think you’re an a-hole for complaining about it. Reasonable people wouldn’t allow that kind of noise at 5:30 in the first place.
I’d first call the authorities not to levy a complaint but to ask questions about whether there are prohibitions or restrictions on keeping roosters outdoors in your neighborhood. Ask about what happens if a rooster crows in the morning. The statutes are often vague and subject to some interpretation. Find out what your municipality does about these complaints. I would not report my neighbor. Just gather information so you can know what your legal foundation to object is.
Then talk to your neighbor. Don’t threaten him. Don’t tell him he’s breaking the law. Be understanding. I’m guessing he loves his rooster. Ask him to fix the problem. If you’re willing, give him the collar suggested above, you can show that you want to be part of the solution. Ask him to commit to quieting the bird or, if he can’t, to rehoming him where he won’t disturb others. If your neighbor is uncooperative or dismissive, or if he fails to keep his promises after a couple of opportunities, start to work with the authorities and rally your neighbors. Fully document your conversations with the authorities and with him. Keep a log of with dates and times that the rooster disturbs you. Good luck.
Good luck w/ that. When I still lived at home a ‘wild’ rooster took up residence in a nearby tree. Between us & the neighbors, there were 7 college degrees that couldn’t get the (not so) stoopit thing. Of course, living in Greater Suburbia, shooting it was specifically frowned upon by the local PD…& they would have investigated a gunshot in a low-crime neighborhood).
I almost chased it down & caught it one day but then it went under the row of pine trees & I had to slow down to go thru them.
- we think it was a pet that escaped, but we don’t know from where. It can & did fly for short distances.
How did you get little boys without a rooster?
Check your local laws as to your right to peace and quiet. Basically, every community has laws about when you can disturb your neighbors with annoying noises.
Some folks buy fertilized eggs and incubation takes place “at home”. Until they hatch you don’t know what you’ll get.
You can also buy hatched chicks. Straight run as I recall is not sexed, so you again don’t know what you’ve got.
That must have been demoralizing. I mean, Batman has little trouble catching a Penquin…
This is why God made sling-shots, BB guns and pellet rifles.
5:30? Luxury!
My wife’s Flock of Satan start up about 4am, and she has them spread out all over the place, so you get a horrific “Call and Response” situation that goes on pretty much all GD day!
God, I hate chickens. :mad:
When I first moved into my apartment in Panama City, the people in the neighboring 2-story house had a rooster that they would allow to walk around on the roof of our parking garage, which was on the same level as their second floor. The thing would start crowing at 3 AM, and since I was only two floors above it it was a major annoyance.
I investigated the possibilities of strychnine-laced corn, but was concerned about poisoning the neighbors in case they decided to eat if when it died. Fortunately I moved to the 15th floor where it wasn’t so loud, but it was still a pest. Eventually it disappeared. I sincerely hope it ended up as soup.
Penguins waddle, & not very quickly either.
That would have required spending money to acquire one of those items. Much more challenging jury-rigging something up with what’s found in the garage/shed/basement.
Or sometimes when they get sexed, the person doing the sexing will accidentally toss a boy in with the girls. You can watch Mike Rowe’s Dirty Jobs videos on You Tube to see how it’s done. The pros are very fast and I can see how they can make a mistake every once in a while.
My sister got a male once, probably this way, when she bought what were supposed to be all hens. She found him a place in the country to live when he started crowing at all hours.
In her area of the suburbs, she was legally allowed to have up to five hens and no roosters. She had at least eleven at one point but her neighbors were cool with that. Her daughters would sell some of them the eggs.
I would be more worried that there was a paper trail for said items…
Just posting because it tickled me that Hopeful Crow is here in this thread.
I have a very funny pic in my head.