Cockerel in built up area

[Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain]

Can’t believe I’m writing this! Neighbours a few doors down at the back of me have kept chickens for years. No harm, rarely hear them. They may attract rodents but that’s it.

Anyway, at the weekend I heard a cockerel crowing at 4am! Twice so far and every morning since so must be new. We live in SE London/surrey borders, 1930s/victorian/georgian houses. Checked with neighbour on my side who backs onto them and yes, it is indeed a cockerel.

The cockerel woke me up before the storm in SE London last night/5am this morning! Luckily I have earplugs in my medicine cabinet, but my window was open before the storm broke.

Anyway, are there any rules or regulations about keeping cockerels in urban areas? What can I do? They’re nice neighbours at the back, keep bees and sometimes give me honey and eggs. We are not in the countryside. We do have urban foxes living locally…

You could also suggest rehoming through one of the ex-commercial hen rehoming organisations; they may be more open to rehoming if they have a viable option presented to them.

You/ they could either contact the main admin of Fresh Start for Hens or your local collection point (most of the CPs have their own Facebook pages https://freshstartforhens.co.uk/collection-points/) or the associated Rooster rehoming service
https://www.facebook.com/FreshStartLonelyHearts/. Other organisations doing similar things are around but Fresh Start are who I volunteer with so am most familiar with. Boys can be picked up/ dropped off by local CPs then either held there or networked to ‘hen bank’ until requested for rehome. A not insignificant number of boys we rehome come from mis-identified or irresponsibly hatched boys irritating urban neighbours - the other big sources are dumped boys (see previous comment about irresponsible hatching) or school hatching projects; please help support reducing this by encouraging you child’s school not to take part in hatching projects www.bhwt.org.uk/education/chick-hatching-in-schools/.

Oh get over it! There are far worse crimes than having a cockerel. Ask them to shut it in a cockerel box overnight if you must.
people are so intolerant these days. It’s ridiculous.

Yes, we live a stone’s throw from a city centre and different neighbours have chickens and bees, plus the city council is grazing a derelict site behind us with goats. I like it.

I don’t live in Bromley another poster posted that link. It’s in SE London but Croydon is our local council. Says nothing on website about not allowing cockerels but does state noise nuisance. I’ll ring/email noise nuisance dept soon.

As I said before we are not rural or even vaguely rural. No fields nearby at all.

I have no idea what they do with it. They’re being a bit cagey (pardon the pun) if it’s locked in a dark shed or not. I personally think it would taste lovely as coq au vin. Maybe needs to grow some more as it’s only young apparently.

It is actually quiet where I live. We’re in a vale at bottom of 2 hills so very quiet. Most we hear is fireworks in distance once a month or so. No speeding cars. We were ahem voted the nicest place to live in London 2 or so years ago which made me and DB laugh. I moved back to the area to buy a few years back and it wasn’t that nice when we were growing up.

Exactly 💯

I’m on the edge of the city, on a hill - the view at the front is the city rooftops, the view at the back is green. It’s very built up here, though not at the back.

Intolerant of being woken up at 4am every day? How unreasonable!
I hate cockerels. It’d drive me insane if one moved in near me. I’ve struggled when we’ve stayed in places on holiday where they’ve been close by. I’d be on to the council daily about getting rid!

They are beautiful, though. The DC’s and I always admire their beautiful “pantaloons” of we see one at a farm.

I’ve had a chat via WhatsApp. They want to keep it.

I feel your pain. Our neighbour had one - in a built up area - they tried various routes like a collar / box to keep it quiet (which I thought sounded cruel). It kept waking us and the baby up at all hours of the night no matter what they suggested or tried. They were aware we had a baby and we were knackered - but they wouldn’t do anything until we threatened going to council and also environmental health. All of a sudden after that conversation the cockerel was rehomed. Do your neighbours know you are going to the council?

Check you house deeds, mine specifically prohibits keeping poultry (and dyeing cloth 🤔).

If yours has the poultry bit chances are your neighbours will too which helps give weight when you complain to the council.

I’ve just googled this and sending it to affected neighbours. AI states it’s illegal to keep cockerels in built up areas and in borough of Croydon where we live. Chickens and bees which they have are fine. Tempted to send this to the cockerel’s owners via WhatsApp. Knew I was right. I’d love to pop round there but it’s way too hot to risk an argument.

https://www.croydon.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2021-09/Livestock_2019.pdf

Will do. They’re in a 1930s style house though, mine is a Victorian cottage so may be different. Different streets.

Yes families with babies and kids in close proximity are being woken up by Mr Cockadoodledo. He’s loud. It needs to be rehomed. Or coq au vin for dinner.

Forgive me for this, never having lived in a town, or anywhere near one, but why is a natural sound, like that of a cockerel crowing more of a disturbance than traffic noise, blaring sirens, noisy railways, light pollution, rowdy drunks, slamming car doors and wheelie bins being emptied etc.? Do you not just become 'blind'' to these noises which I would find more disturbing than the sound of a cockerel crowing? I keep chickens (and a cockerel) and their noises just don't register with me, but the above mentioned town/city noises would keep me awake all night, every night. And don't city farms keep cockerels?

There are worse things to hear than a Cockerel. You will soon be able to filter it out and not notice it. I have been in your situation and the noise woke me initially.

If you read my posts you’ll see I live in a vale at bottom of 2 hills with hardly any noise. The most I get is fireworks once a month from fairly nearby and helicopters looking for criminals or medical copters. I have zoned out other noises in past properties.

In which case will you not zone out the sound of the cockerel? I am not being obtuse and I did see that you live in a quiet location, but I think that I would still be very aware of extraneous background noise until I had learned to filter it and, hopefully, you will be able to do the same.

There may be worse things to hear but it’s not just me affected. Our street close to the noise has set up a petition and lots of WhatsApp’s about it on street WhatsApp. Plus 2 houses have babies and the rest some have young children who say they’re getting woken up too.

Finally, as we’re urban and residential, they’re in breach of local council noises see my link. Their chickens most likely attract rats but I’m not complaining about that. It is illegal. They could be fined for this. The chickens and their bees are permitted to be kept.

I’m not living on a farm or semi rural because if I was (have said this before) I’d accept this as normal countryside noise.

City farms are carefully balance needs of keeping cockerels with noise pollution levels apparently (AI) but one farm not far from me in Mitcham (Deen City Farm) keeps cockerels so they can’t be too bad or maybe are more rural. I don’t know Mitcham that well from it has a huge common. Went to the city farm years ago.

It’s really loud. I can’t zone it out. It is classed as a noise nuisance.

As I posted on this thread many people have posted about cockerels being a noise nuisance in urban built up areas so maybe it’s an off day here or I should’ve posted it in AIBU. As I mentioned before, my friend 2 doors down hears their chickens but has put up with it/zoned out their noise.

Also, this cockerel starts at 4am, goes on for 1-2 hours and has recently started crowing during the day. So it’s like a loud alarm clock going off. Not just one noise then stopping which I could probably zone out. Being jerked awake at stupid o’clock in this heat by that noise the other day is unpleasant. I thought I was having a nightmare and hearing things when I first heard it. Sadly no.

The 6 year old and her 8 month old sister, my NDNs are being woken by it for one. The 11 month old next door is also being woken by it. There’s lots of families with kids on their street affected by it too. The parents are understandably furious that their babies and kids are being woken by it.

I would let them know you’ll be reporting them. You might find the problem then solves itself. It’s so selfish and ignorant to think your neighbours have to adjust to being woken up at all hours by a flipping cockerel - just because they want to keep it ?! I can’t actually believe some of the responses on here saying you’ll get used to the noise!! Why on earth should you have to do that ?!?
I was so sleep deprived anyway with my baby and it really was quite traumatising being woken up by that noise, never knowing when it would start or end - it’s just not acceptable to do that to your neighbours in a built up area. Go and live somewhere remote in the countryside if you want to keep cockerels!!!

Thank you! I agree with all you’ve said!

This bird is upping his ante with his crows. Throughout the day now.

I’ll tell them I’m reporting them. But someone else has WhatsApped them this too.

I now have the baby next door crying first thing but I accept that that’s a baby and can’t help it! And she does stop.

Update for those of you who are interested. Yesterday afternoon, me and one of the dad’s (his DD is 11 and his DS is 13) in our street (he can’t really hear the cockerel) went round to their house for a word. We got invited in for tea and actually saw the cockerel (young) called Rudy. Quite sweet really. They’ve decided to rehome him and showed us a website for rehoming him. They felt bad the neighbours could hear him and didn’t want to rehome him but felt it was best for all involved. They honestly had no idea how loud he was and thought (they’re wrong) they could keep a cockerel.

So that’s a good outcome.