Neighbor complaining about roosters crowing

[cynesthesia]

One of our neighbors is complaining about loud roosters crowing. We live in a country area where plenty of other people have roosters. Our immediate neighbor has three roosters, while we have one silkie rooster.

The complaining neighbor says that the roosters wake them up at night and are loud throughout the day, yet I am confident that my rooster is not growing during the night since we sometimes sleep with our window open. Our other neighbor's roosters also do not crow during the night. The roosters do sometimes get into crowing competitions, but it is not constant.

Technically, I am a city person who moved into the country, but I really don't understand other city people who move here and complain about normal country animal noises. Arguably, the dogs here from the city people are just as loud.

 

[samanthaoverton]

A city person moving to the country complaining about roosters crowing..is like a person who wears cowboy boots/hat and never shoveled a day in there life and would probably freak out if they had no cell service. Posers. Highly unlikely a silkie is gonna crow at night or even as much as a normal roosters. Mine crows all the time. I just find it ODD that they claim roosters are crowing at night. Early morning yes..but at night? Anyone who has grabbed a chicken off it's roost at night KNOWS they're like someone whose taken sleeping pills. They're out of it..I'm just not seeing a rooster crowing at night unless it's in danger..

 

[cynesthesia]

A city person moving to the country complaining about roosters crowing..is like a person who wears cowboy boots/hat and never shoveled a day in there life and would probably freak out if they had no cell service. Posers. Highly unlikely a silkie is gonna crow at night or even as much as a normal roosters. Mine crows all the time. I just find it ODD that they claim roosters are crowing at night. Early morning yes..but at night? Anyone who has grabbed a chicken off it's roost at night KNOWS they're like someone whose taken sleeping pills. They're out of it..I'm just not seeing a rooster crowing at night unless it's in danger..

Mine doesn't even crow early in the morning. The earliest he does it is 30 minutes to 1 hour after it gets light (so right now 7-9am) because I tend to let them out later.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC!

If you put your general location into your profile then people will be better able to give targeted advice when climate, etc. matters.

As for this problem,

If your roosters are legal and you're obeying any rules about setback from property lines, distance from occupied structures, etc. well, to be blunt, your neighbor can go pound sand.

That said, if you've got a dozen boys 10 yards from her bedroom window, even legally, that's not very neighborly.

Technically, I am a city person who moved into a country, but I really don't understand other city people who move here and complain about normal country animal noises.

That reminds me of how, when I was growing up in the industrial areas downriver of Pittsburgh people would move near the train tracks or close to the airport then complain about the noise of the trains and the airplanes.

And to anyone who has ever lived close enough to the tracks for the house to vibrate from a heavy freight train or under a major airport's main approach route a rooster is NOTHING.

He hardly even compares to the hum of a nearby interstate.

I just find it ODD that they claim roosters are crowing at night. Early morning yes..but at night?

My in-town rooster often crowed at night. We lived on a corner lot and our theory was that the headlights from the cars turning the corner would hit the coop and wake him up.

My current rooster occasionally crows at night. I've never really noticed if it was connected to the full moon or not since, after all, it's nothing like a freight train or a jet.

 

[cynesthesia]

As for this problem,

If your roosters are legal and you're obeying any rules about setback from property lines, distance from occupied structures, etc. well, to be blunt, your neighbor can go pound sand.

That said, if you've got a dozen boys 10 yards from her bedroom window, even legally, that's not very neighborly.

I'm in the woodsy part of Santa Cruz, CA.

I'm pretty sure roosters are allowed since several others in these mountains own chickens. The complaining neighbor's house is the blue one across the road. Our chicken run is in front of that wooden fence. Our neighbor with roosters right next to us (not shown).

 

[Folly's place]

It's best to know what the local 'rules' are, in fact before moving into an area, it's best to look at zoning ordinances.
As @3KillerBs mentioned already, if you are legal, ignore it. If there's a sound ordinance, pay attention to that one. Your Silkie is the least of it anyway.
And our roosters will sound off any time of the day or night if something bothers them.
Mary

 

[samanthaoverton]

Mine crows at 6 am..hubby gets up at 5:45 on the weekday. Big rooster crows..then beta rooster crows..then my other rooster that's off to himself crows..lots of crowing..lol. however our room is in the finished basement so I don't hear...them

Mine doesn't even crow early in the morning. The earliest he does it is 30 minutes to 1 hour after it gets light (so right now 7-9am) because I tend to let them out later.

 

[3KillerBs]

The complaining neighbor's house is the blue one across the road. Our chicken run is in front of that wooden fence. Our neighbor with roosters right next to us (not shown).

That's certainly not right on top of them.

All that vegetation ought to soften the sound too.

 

[drdoct]

The only laws I see are no more than 5 roosters.
I did read somewhere else that they have to be 50' from dwelling and no more than 5 in total, but I think that was for Santa Cruz the city.

I'd probably make a call to the county zoning person to make sure. But it looks like you're ok. But you may want to put a camera on your coop because crazy people do crazy things.

 

[NatJ]

Anyone who has grabbed a chicken off it's roost at night KNOWS they're like someone whose taken sleeping pills. They're out of it..

Your experience does not match mine.

I've grabbed chickens off the roost at night, and they can seem pretty alert, flapping their wings, and struggling and making noise. I've taken broodies off the nest in the dark and put them on perches, but they got themselves back on the nests in the dark (I checked back later, while it was still dark.) I've taken chickens out of trees during the night, and those ones really tend to struggle and be hard to hold onto; if they get out of my hands, they manage to run and sometimes hide. If I get close enough to touch them, they jump away again. (I try to avoid this situation, but it's happened a few times.)

I grant that chickens don't see well in the dark, but I don't find them to sleep as soundly as many people say. They mostly stay put, because they don't want to run or fly when they can't see, but they certainly do move if they think they need to.