What is reasonable time to let the rooster outside?

[Crazycomb]

How far is your coop from your neighbor's house? My coop is less than 50 feet from my bedroom and I never hear my rooster. Sure a shame to have to live next to something like that. Good luck! I hope the situation works itself out.

 

[Crazycomb]

I would probably shoot it. OH WAIT! That was meant for the problem raccoon post!

 

[tofupup]

I know! My rooster is in the back barn, about 75 feet from my bedroom, and he totally does not wake me up at all! Granted, I'm awake by 5:30 a.m. anyway, but still, I do not think he is loud and neither does the renter downstairs.

My neighbor's house is sort of up an incline, about an acre's-length away from the rooster's barn. It looks very far away to me, so I do not know how she can possibly be THAT bothered by him, since I don't even notice him. But I wonder if being situated up at the top of an incline makes the noise from below amplified?

When I first moved in, this same neighbor called me over to her fence to discuss possible problems I might cause, such as playing loud music, fighting with a (hypothetical) boyfriend, and leaving the porch light on at night. So when the poor tattered rooster arrived, I knew a showdown was coming.

I guess I'm going to just put him in the bathroom every night until I have a chance to ask the other (nice) neighbor what time she wakes up. 7:30 still sounds reasonable to me, maybe 8:00 on the weekends.

 

[Northie]

You could check and see what kind of noise bylaws if any there are where you live and I'd plant a thick row of fast growing trees to keep her nosiness cranky pants minding her own business! Just tell her the trees are to keep the animals from bothering her...

 

[GimmeCake]

I agree that you should keep the rooster. If you get in trouble for something (which I doubt the coop location is going to be an issue, but I'm not guaranteeing either) then you'll fix it. Same for her. But if it's legal, then you should be able to do it.

Let the rooster out with the hens. I'm sure that'd make him a lot happier to sleep with his girls .

Anyway, hope all goes well!

 

[Crazycomb]

I hope you find an answer....

 

[tofupup]

Oh goodness, no. This person isn't my landlord. She's just a neighbor. I would not move onto a property with 70 chickens if the owner hated animals!

I can hear the mellifluous crowing right now, just barely, above the constant din of her gardeners' leaf blowers, tree saws, and lawn mowers. Really, she has such a perfectly groomed estate that all day long her gardeners are at it. Maybe I should lodge a noise complaint with the county....

 

[AustinRhea]

I can hear the mellifluous crowing right now, just barely, above the constant din of her gardeners' leaf blowers, tree saws, and lawn mowers. Really, she has such a perfectly groomed estate that all day long her gardeners are at it. Maybe I should lodge a noise complaint with the county....

In my area, if they start the noise before 7am they can be cited for loud noise

But I wouldn't go that route unless she starts it first. You would be opening a can of worms you don't want to deal with.

Personally I would keep the rooster outside with the hens. She would have to come on to your property to measure the distance from your house to the garage/hen house so I wouldn't worry too much about that. I do like the idea of planting a tree or shrub row. Find some fast growing plants. Elderberry bushes grow fast and chickens LOVE the berries. And if she says anything about it again I would tell her "And I hate the sound of lawn equipment running everyday and ruining my country peace and quite, but everyone has to adapt to their surroundings when they have neighbors. Especially when the annoying noise is perfectly legal."

 

[tofupup]

In case anyone is wondering, I talked to my nice neighbor this morning (not the cranky one). She told me she enjoys the rooster and that barely hears him, which is weird because her house is much closer to his corral than any other residence, including mine.

She also told me that when Crankypants moved in years ago, she complained about another rooster who was 3 houses over (and many, many acres away) and had lived there for years. Unfortunately, the rooster's person gave in to Cranky's demands and got rid of him rather than fight with her. I was super disappointed to hear that. Then the nice neighbor told me that Crankypants is "just going to have to get used to it," which made me happy, since it confirms my suspicion that no one else has a problem with the rooster and that Crankypants just needs to turn down her hearing aid or whatever supersonic hearing device she has installed in her head.

Also, I was kidding about lodging a noise complaint against Crankypants' gardener noises. It would be funny, though.

 

[Hayduke27]

I think you are proving yourself a good neighbor right now just by going to this length to research a solution, as opposed to just saying "Screw her!". I live downtown, my neighbors can all see my coop from their windows. I keep my rooster in until 7:30 or 8:00, not because anybody complained, but out of common courtesy. I think that if you have that rooster in a barn until 7:00 each morning, you are already making a great effort at being a good neighbor, and you shouldn't feel any guilt about ol' Crankypants. As others have said, there are certain things that come with living in the country. You are already making a change to be a good neighbor. You are doing just fine.

If need be, keep that rooster in the barn until 7:00 or 7:30. After that, I say let him go all of the way up to the fence closest to Crankypants, and let him assist her in greeting another beautiful day!


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