My neighbour has complained 😔

Yes that is it. Landlord who owns and manages the property is a public body, not a private individual or company. It means it is harder for them to evict tenants and they have statutory responsibilities. In practice it means that they do barely any maintenance except essential stuff and just leave the tenants to it.
 
Yes that is it. Landlord who owns and manages the property is a public body, not a private individual or company. It means it is harder for them to evict tenants and they have statutory responsibilities. In practice it means that they do barely any maintenance except essential stuff and just leave the tenants to it.

Even so, charging you for being victimized by vandalism sounds pretty nutty. :(
 
I've just got a letter from the local council saying a neighbour has complained about my early morning crowing cockerel.

I've kept chickens here for 15 years and no complaints until now. I'm really annoyed and disappointed that they didn't come to me first to talk about it rather than go straight to the local noise police.

I live in a rural community where the houses are fairly close together in a village, but there are fields all around and 2 working farms within 100 yards! I'm also not the only chicken keeper here.

Any tips for handling the situation?

I want to knock on all my neighbours' doors and ask if it was them and what I can do to resolve it. Not sure that is a good idea.

I've had this particular silkie rooster for 5 years and he isn't especially noisy. I've got chicks growing out and some of them are cockerels, so they will be crowing until I find new homes. And I wanted to keep one little bantam.

I've listed my rooster online for sale. Sad to break up the lovely flock I've got. He is great with the hens. Am I being too hasty?

Is it realistic to shut him in a dark box every night instead?
Tell them to deal with it
 
Yes! All of me wants you to quietly rebel!
I say more tiny roosters would do that nicely.
Congratulations on overcoming the ridiculous, well done.:)
So I have an update.

I have been night boxing the rooster and that is going well. He doesn't like it much but it seems like a fair solution for now, even if only temporary.

I spoke to the Council official today. I now believe I know who complained (not fence burning guy). The official couldn't tell me, but it was unsaid iykwim. Also yesterday I passed the neighbour's house and he was by his front door. I waved a cheery hello and he mumbled and scuttled indoors quite quickly. Ordinarily we would have a nice chat. So I knew it must be him, all embarrassed to talk to me.

Anyway. Council official was really nice. He explained that they look at the context. It is a rural community and they have no problem with me keeping hens or roosters. I do have to take reasonable steps not to cause a noise nuisance though. So location of the coop to adjacent properties etc is a factor, as is how close the houses are to each other and the location itself.

I explained I was trying to rehome him, and he said that was a bit drastic and they would never ask me to get rid of the rooster, but I should take steps to reduce the noise if I could. I explained about putting him in the night box further away in the garage and he said that was perfect!

I also explained that in 15 years I've never had any complaints from the neighbours, and that my chicken keeping predates the neighbours moving in, so I was utterly shocked to find out about this one. He said he was satisfied that I was a good neighbour, reasonable and willing to work with them to find a solution and he would write to the neighbour to tell him they have no problem with me keeping the rooster and that I have taken steps to resolve the issue, so the Council will take no action and he can stfu now. Ok, I added that last bit!

I also asked him to write that the neighbour should just come and talk to me directly if he has any issues, because I'm a decent person and want us all to get along in the village.

He was really nice, and I'm so glad I spoke to him rather than just pinging emails back and forth. He out my mind at rest and I feel like I've had a small victory in winning over the Council!

You catch more flies with honey than vinegar!

I'm going to go talk to the neighbour next and gloat, sorry, smooth the waters, haha, and explain about the box. I shall enjoy being super sweet and pleasant and making him squirm, because the coward obviously thought I'd never realise it was him.

Anonymous keyboard warrior, that is what he is.

What he doesn't know yet is that some of my chicks are boys and I'm planning on keeping one or two. I'll perhaps set up one or more extra night boxes if I think that is feasible long term (just for the summer months). They are teensy tiny banties, so hopefully not loud anyway. Am I asking for trouble? Part of me wants to quietly rebel!
 
I've just got a letter from the local council saying a neighbour has complained about my early morning crowing cockerel.

I've kept chickens here for 15 years and no complaints until now. I'm really annoyed and disappointed that they didn't come to me first to talk about it rather than go straight to the local noise police.

I live in a rural community where the houses are fairly close together in a village, but there are fields all around and 2 working farms within 100 yards! I'm also not the only chicken keeper here.

Any tips for handling the situation?

I want to knock on all my neighbours' doors and ask if it was them and what I can do to resolve it. Not sure that is a good idea.

I've had this particular silkie rooster for 5 years and he isn't especially noisy. I've got chicks growing out and some of them are cockerels, so they will be crowing until I find new homes. And I wanted to keep one little bantam.

I've listed my rooster online for sale. Sad to break up the lovely flock I've got. He is great with the hens. Am I being too hasty?

Is it realistic to shut him in a dark box every night instead?
That's difficult. Have you tried sharing fresh eggs with the neighbors from time to time? We do that, especially for special occasions, and our neighbors are more than happy to have our chickens living next door.
On the other hand, we do not have a rooster, so the noise in minimal, although my girls do raise a ruckus after laying their eggs.
 
That's difficult. Have you tried sharing fresh eggs with the neighbors from time to time? We do that, especially for special occasions, and our neighbors are more than happy to have our chickens living next door.
On the other hand, we do not have a rooster, so the noise in minimal, although my girls do raise a ruckus after laying their eggs.
I have done in the past with other neighbours, but I haven't had enough laying hens in recent years to do this. Hence me hatching babies to increase my flock.
 
I have spoken to neighbour and he denies making a complaint. He is either lying or it was fence burning guy and I've blamed the wrong neighbour.

I'm not looking forward to confronting fence burning guy. He looks like Phil Mitchell chewing a wasp. (US people, you'll have to Google that).
 

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