Keeping a rooster vs. being a nice neighbor

[blefky]

Just a thought, you don't say what kind of rooster you have. I have two, one is a big (BIG) light sussex and the other is an OE (marans/ameraucana). The OE's crow sounds like a siren going off, really long and piercing. But the sussex's crow is very deep and doesn't carry that far. I guess a neighbor who likes to complain might still have an issue with it, but it's something to consider. There really is a big difference between my two - maybe you could find a roo with a deeper "voice" if you're intent on keeping the peace.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Consideration amongst neighbors does not have to be a specific act that benefits you personally. My neighbors all keep their dogs confined and drive slow on the dirt road so as not to dust everyone else out and damage the road. I do not demand a specific payback for keeping my birds quiet in the early morning and preventing my dogs from barking non-stop. Nobody has to trade me something in order for me to train my dogs not to bark.

Again, this is just my opinion, but people who work at night and sleep during the day are responsible for their own sleep. Their choice to work nights and the world is not going to tiptoe around for them. Therefore a "reasonable hour" for noise might be somewhere 8 AM and 9 AM. Pretty universally, noise is considered a nuisance after 11 PM, but I consider that to be pretty late.

This is what I do: My ducks make a commotion when I arrive to let them out and feed them in the morning. Therefore, I do not let them out until 9 AM. I don't want them to expect me at sunrise and to start hollering "where's my food" at sunrise. They don't expect me until 9 AM, so they are content to wait until then. If my neighbors want to sleep later than 9 AM, it is no longer my problem.

I do not keep chickens because I know that a rooster crowing irritates a lot of people. Lots here are 2-5 acres, which does not qualify as "out in the country". This size lot is a residential area as far as I am concerned.

I expect neighbors to put up with short bouts of noise. But nobody should have to put up with non-stop noise. My geese will squawk for a minute or two when I appear to fed them. The neighbors will have to put up with that, because it is legal for me to keep the geese. I would not keep the geese if they honked at the top of their lungs non-stop from sunrise to sunset.

 

[speckledhen]

I expect neighbors to put up with short bouts of noise. But nobody should have to put up with non-stop noise. My geese will squawk for a minute or two when I appear to fed them. The neighbors will have to put up with that, because it is legal for me to keep the geese. I would not keep the geese if they honked at the top of their lungs non-stop from sunrise to sunset.

This is a valid distinction you have made. Most rooster noise is not constant. They crow in bouts, not incessantly all day long, usually. A rooster crowing for 10 minutes in the morning and 5-10 minutes in the afternoon is not excessive, but folks have been reported for less. We see it all the time here. If I was one of those locals who have 50 roosters, each in his own barrel, I can see how that would be a problem for my closest neighbors, of course. That kind of noise would be a problem for me and if I wanted that, I'd move much further out than I am now.​