to think a cockerel doesn't belong in a built up area...

[GayByrne]

waking us up at 5am in the summer!

It's too hot to close the windows so it's either boil in the bed (and the little girl's room gets so hot) or wake at 5am...which is preferable?!

It sounds like it's in the room with us, it's that close.

We live in a village and if there were a farm nearby then I'd think so be it. But in a garden, two houses down...argh! It's SNOT FAIR!

[MidniteScribbler]

They're banned in residential areas here.

I had someone offer to give me their chooks as they were moving, and one was a rooster. I lived on a big property in a farming area, so not a big deal. He used to crow at 3pm in the afternoon, never in the morning, but then again, he never was the smartest egg in the hen house. I came home one day to find him hanging upside down from the wire over the top of the pen, squawking pitifully. Duh!

[ThatBloodyWoman]

I thought it was the case, as Midnite says, that some urban areas have byelaws stating that cockerels aren't allowed.

In all seriousness, I think that someone should check the regs in their area and then think very carefully about keeping a cockerel with neighbours, because a noise complaint could ultimately result in the loss of a loved family pet.

I think the best way forward in keeping urban cockerels is to check the regs, ensure the hen house excludes as much light as possible, and speak to the neighbours with perhaps the offer of a few fresh eggs every so often, and the opportunity for theur children to come and see any future chicks.Also, good rat management is vital.

But......not all neighbours are perfect and we all perhaps at times feel like our needs are being overlooked while others do as they please.It may be that a cockerel keeper finds their neighbour noisy in other ways, and thinks its a fair trade off.

Also, perhaps the people affected on this thread live next door to particularly loud cockerels -and you have no idea whether you have got one of these till they start to crow.My cockerel is a very big handsome boy, with a gloriously earth shatteringly loud crow.....

I do suspect, however, from previous experience, that big breeds =big crows, and small breeds/bantams= smaller crows.

I think hens are happiest with a man about the house.It saves a cockerel from being despatched as well, since for obvious reasons, cockerels are not as productive as hens (and for other reasons such as fighting/gender ratios).

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

Oh, I do feel for you OP, they can be very noisy.

When my sister was at university she used to have an alarm seagull

I once woke up to very loud cooing, opened the blinds and found two pigeons mating on my windowsill. I knocked and they just carried on, the exhibitionists!

[DiaDuit]

My alarm sound on my phone is a cockerel

But it doesnt go off at 4am. That i would not be happy about. Yanbu.