Noise from Crowing Cockerels

Complaints of noise nuisance from crowing cockerels are on the increase. This is mainly as a result of them being kept in residential built up areas rather than in the more rural locations and the trend towards keeping chickens in the garden to supply eggs.

Hens are normally quiet birds and do not often cause a nuisance, however the same can't be said of cockerels. Contrary to popular belief, cockerels will crow all day, starting when the sun rises.

It is worth noting that cockerels are not required for hens to lay eggs.

Keeping cockerels in the urban environment is highly likely to disturb those residents living close by. We would therefore strongly advise against keeping cockerels in these situations.

I want to keep cockerels. What can I do to reduce the chance of disturbing my neighbours?

• Location - It is important to ensure that the cockerel is located as fare as practicable from neighbouring residential property.
• Competition - Where more than one cockerel is kept there is likely to be competition between them which can considerably increase the amount of crowing.
• Housing - Keep cockerels in a dark coop at night which should minimise early morning crowing. Don't let cockerels out of the darkened coop until a reasonable hour.

If, after trying all the above suggestions, your neighbours are still being disturbed consider re-homing the cockerel. There are a number of animal sanctuaries that are willing to accept cockerels.

My neighbour has a cockerel and the crowing constantly disturbs me, what can I do?

Follow the advice on the |noise nuisance webpages for noisy animals as we can investigate noise from cockerels crowing in a similar manner to other animal noise nuisances (e.g. barking dogs). The information available will guide you through what you can do and how we would investigate your complaint.