Rooster Problem

[RLBourgeois]

I haven't been on here in quite a while but need some advice on a problem I am dealing with and value advice from members of this group!

We live just outside of city limits in a small neighborhood where a number of residents, including us, raise chickens. However, we have one neighbor who has a rooster that loves to crow...early in the morning and continue throughout the day! Unfortunately, being in the county, he is allowed to have roosters if he wants them. While my wife and I love raising our girls, we would never have a rooster that might make our neighbors angry with us. Over the past couple of weeks, he's been allowing his bird to roam the yard, and thus the neighborhood. And, his rooster always seems to find its way to the back of our yard, where it perches itself on our fence and crows at our girls, thus waking up everyone around us. One of our neighbors has spoken with him about his bird before and he refuses to do anything about the rooster, saying if it's a problem, take him to court over it. I have tried speaking with him in the past about other issues and this neighbor is not a reasonable man (he once told my wife if his dog is running our fence bothering ours to shoot the thing!) One of our neighbors even came over this morning after seeing it on our fence because he was worried this cock would get into our coop and potentially kill one of our girls. I assured him they are in an enclosed area, so this is highly unlikely but that I am trying to find a way to deal with the rooster as it is clearly a problem.

Short of shooting this guy's rooster, setting our pit bull on it, or getting rid of our girls (never gonna happen), does anyone have any advice on how to deal with this annoyance. If our neighbor was reasonable, I might speak with him about it. But the last time I tried to hold a calm, neighborly conversation with the man, he threatened me. Thoughts? Thanks!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I don't think there are many options.
What you describe is a bad neighbor.
If your neighbor wanted to be helpful, he'd leave him locked up till at least 8 AM, like I do.
The rooster won't kill your hens, he wants to mate with them.
IMO, you have 3 choices without involving the law. That would be, get your own rooster that will knock his off the fence.
Bring the rooster into your yard and turn your dog loose.
Or, short and sweet, SSS. Shoot the dang thing if it gets on your property.

The county allows roosters but there are probably ordinances that preclude allowing one's animals to transgress other's properties.

I like the roosters' crowing but I can't hear my 10 roosters if I'm in the house.
When I'm in the house, I hear barking dogs, lawn mowers, weedeaters, roofers, traffic, boom boxes passing by and the train whistle 3 miles away, but I can't hear my roosters. Must be good insulation.

 

[Michael OShay]

I don't think there are many options.
What you describe is a bad neighbor.
If your neighbor wanted to be helpful, he'd leave him locked up till at least 8 AM, like I do.
The rooster won't kill your hens, he wants to mate with them.
IMO, you have 3 choices without involving the law. That would be, get your own rooster that will knock his off the fence.
Bring the rooster into your yard and turn your dog loose.
Or, short and sweet, SSS. Shoot the dang thing if it gets on your property.

The county allows roosters but there are probably ordinances that preclude allowing one's animals to transgress other's properties.

I like the roosters' crowing but I can't hear my 10 roosters if I'm in the house.
When I'm in the house, I hear barking dogs, lawn mowers, weedeaters, roofers, traffic, boom boxes passing by and the train whistle 3 miles away, but I can't hear my roosters. Must be good insulation.

X2 on ChickenCanoe's advice, although if crowing is a problem, then getting your own rooster will just multiply the crowing problem. I personally like option # 2. Then if your dog kills his rooster on your property and he says anything to you about it, you can always say, "If it's a problem, take me to court over it." )

 

[RLBourgeois]

Thanks for the advice all. I was speaking with another neighbor and I think I like his suggestion: document the annoyance every time the rooster comes onto our property and call the sheriff's office to report it to create a paper trail. Eventually, they will begin to fine him under the county's public nuisance laws ($35 for each trip out to speak with him about his bird) which will either encourage him to get rid of or cage his bird. Either way, the neighbor has already spoken with the DA about the guy's rooster and was told the more we document the nuisance, the more likely we could pursue legal actions against him if it continues. But...if the rooster comes inside my fence, you better believe the dogs get a first crack at him!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

A paper trail with law enforcement is a great idea.

I was thinking more about this and it seems like an angry belligerent person that just likes conflict so whatever happens, it may not end well.

If it wasn't roosters and dogs, he would find another way to bother his neighbors.

 

[RLBourgeois]

Yeah, that is what I am worried about. He has used blaring music in the past as well to get under our skin. And, the last time I tried to have a neighborly conversation about how his excessive noise and how it might not be appreciated by his neighbors, he cursed me out and threatened me. Add to the concern that I know he has weapons in his house and that he's so paranoid about people on his property that he has positioned cameras around the outside, I am very concerned about doing anything at all. But I'm just too sick of his disregard for the neighborhood to continue letting it slide. We may be (barely) outside of city limits but we are zoned as residential, so we do have a right to expect peace and quiet on our own property. So...thinking he is a crazy, angry individual, a paper trail is a very good thing to have as protection and proof.

 

[Hholly]

Any chance your nasty neighbor is renting that property? If so, contact the landlord. Sorry you have this to worry about. It's not fun.

 

[Michael OShay]

Thanks for the advice all. I was speaking with another neighbor and I think I like his suggestion: document the annoyance every time the rooster comes onto our property and call the sheriff's office to report it to create a paper trail. Eventually, they will begin to fine him under the county's public nuisance laws ($35 for each trip out to speak with him about his bird) which will either encourage him to get rid of or cage his bird. Either way, the neighbor has already spoken with the DA about the guy's rooster and was told the more we document the nuisance, the more likely we could pursue legal actions against him if it continues. But...if the rooster comes inside my fence, you better believe the dogs get a first crack at him!

You're welcome.

 

[enola]

Get a small animal trap, you can buy one at Tractor Supply, bait it with corn and trap him. What you do with pesky critters that you catch in a trap is up to you. Personally, if I could catch him in a trap, he would not go back home......

 

[BBQJOE]

Not sure how I'd deal with the neighbor, but this is how I'd deal with his chicken!