Cockerel on East Dulwich Grove

[sleeplessindulwich]

Friends,

Is anyone else being woken up by a cockerel on East Dulwich Grove? The bugger starts at 4.30am and carries on throughout the morning. I'm resorting to sleeping in a stifling hot bedroom because I can't open my window - heck, even with the window closed it wakes me up.

This is antisocial right? How on earth can I get this to stop?

[Spartacus]

Eat it

[h3+]

Which end are you on?

[sleeplessindulwich]

I'm actually on Glengarry Road

[tiddles]

Thought you could not have cockerels in cities - chickens are fine but not cockerels as they are too noisy?

[Spartacus]

This, whilst from Surrey, may help

https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/law-cockerel-noise-complaints-what-14067921

[TheCropolite]

Yes!!!! This is also driving me absolutely bloody mental, I am going to write them a letter today as I?m fairly sure I know which house it is. I also considered calling the council but I think I?ll give them a warning first to say cease and desist that chicken/cockerel/whatever the hell it is or it?s going to the RSPCA.

[Spartacus]

Pot Roasted Cockerel

https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/recipe/pot-roasted-cockerel

[macutd]

the corner house Glengarry and East Dulwich used to have chickens so?..

[TheCropolite]

Did the chickens on the corner of Glengarry/EDG wake everyone up at 5am everyday?

[DulwichFox]

sleeplessindulwich Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Friends,

>

> Is anyone else being woken up by a cockerel on

> East Dulwich Grove? The bugger starts at 4.30am

> and carries on throughout the morning. I'm

> resorting to sleeping in a stifling hot bedroom

> because I can't open my window - heck, even with

> the window closed it wakes me up.

>

> This is antisocial right? How on earth can I get

> this to stop?

Handy if you need to get to the Airport by 6.00am

Foxy

[Blah Blah]

Why anyone is keeping a cockeral in a dense urban residential area is baffling. It is going to cause no end of disturbance for a lot of people and especially in Summer. Even on farms, the cockeral is far enough away from the house to not be a nuisance.

The question is why they are keeping a cockeral? You don't need one for hens to lay eggs. So the owner may be breeding chickens (for food or otherwise) and that has a lot of other considerations attached that may or may not be being kept. Do the deeds of the property allow for the keeping of livestock for example. Hens and chickens are not pets. Some residential deeds do not.

Worth contacting the council too to see what their bylaws say.

[Blah Blah]

TheCropolite Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Did the chickens on the corner of Glengarry/EDG

> wake everyone up at 5am everyday?

Hens do not crow. Roosters are only needed if you are breeding chicks from the eggs the hens lay.

[TheCropolite]

Blah Blah Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> TheCropolite Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Did the chickens on the corner of Glengarry/EDG

> > wake everyone up at 5am everyday?

>

> Hens do not crow. Roosters are only needed if you

> are breeding chicks from the eggs the hens lay.

Yes thanks for that Attenborough but you know what I mean. Regardless I?ve put a letter through their door, I?ve told them to email me. I?ll post the reply on here if/when I get it.

[Abe_froeman]

https://www.roysfarm.com/how-to-stop-a-rooster-from-crowing/

[DulwichFox]

Foxy

[Earl Aelfheah]

That is quite incredible. Who the hell keeps a cockerel in a residential area of London? Surely it must be driving the owners batty themselves?!

[Blah Blah]

Believe it or not, some people can actually sleep through that! My parents have three cockerels on their farm, kept overnight in pens about 100 meters from the house. I told them last night about this and they said exactly the same thing rah - who on earth keeps a cockeral in the middle of a city? There really is no effective way to silence them either. So not sure how this one is going to pan out.

[TheCropolite]

So the owners have replied very quickly to my letter.

Here is the reply:

? Firstly, thank you for stating your name and voicing this between us before reporting to the council and for not posting anonymously - we respect the community and being able to talk things over is essential in keeping harmony. Out of the proposed 4 hens we've taken on at the start of lockdown, one of which and potentially a second have turned out to be cockerels to our dismay. We are very aware of the noise and have been waking up at 5.30 at the first crow to take Huarache (the small cockerel) inside and under a box to keep her/him in darkness so as to a) reduce the noise by taking her inside and b) the lack of light reduces the amount of crowing. We have ordered an anti-crowing neckbrace from the States to mute the noise of the crowing which is yet to arrive but will be with us very soon I hope. In the meantime we have fastened a similar device using velcro but hasn't quite done the job. I would sincerely like to apologise for this nuisance - it was unexpected for us and has been detrimental to our sleep so I can only imagine it's ten times worse to be awoken by someone else's rooster. Please extend our apologies to our other neighbours you're in contact with.

On the arrival of the neckbrace, hopefully the issue will be solved but going forward if this is not sufficient we will have to consider taking the males back which will be sad as we have grown somewhat emotionally attached to them as pets - however we appreciate that it's an undeniable unfair alarm call for everyone and if this collar is not a fix then this will probably be our only option.

Thank you again for your letter and please bare with us - we are trying our best. Please feel free to contact again if needed and we are sincerely sorry for the early morning madness. When our hens do start laying we've got some eggs with your name on it.?

I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt before going to the council. I had noticed the noise had subsided in the mornings as they appear to be putting it inside.

[Sue]

That's an excellent response, I think.

I just wonder what will happen if the "potentially second" also turns out to be a cockerel - have they just ordered one neckbrace?!

Awaiting developments with bated breath :))

But I realise it's far from funny for the OP and other neighbours!

[Blah Blah]

Agree with Sue. That is an excellent response.

Crow collars tend not to stop the crowing, just the volume of it. So it will be a case of wait and see. I wonder how old the birds were when they got them? By the times chicks are 8-10 weeks old, it is pretty easy to tell male from female.

[sleeplessindulwich]

Thank you very much for sending the letter in the first place. It's a good response and fingers crossed the problem resolves itself soon.

[first mate]

Is it possible to keep two cockerels in close proximity. Won?t they fight?

[Blah Blah]

When cockerals get to sexual maturity, they can and do fight each other yes. But a lot depends on how many hens there are and size of the roaming areas/ pens. Cockerals will be very territorial around 'their' hens. My parents have around 40 hens and three cockerals (the going rule is 10+ hens per cockeral). And they have a lot of space to roam. So if there are enough hens, the cockerals will work it our for themselves. Every now and then, you get a cockeral that is just too aggressive and won't tolerate another one though.

So in terms of the person keeping four chickens of which two are hens and potentially two are cockerals, they are more than likely going to have problems once they get to sexual maturity. You can't keep two cockerals with just two hens.

If there are no hens however, cockerals can live together just fine most of the time.

[mega_eagle]

We're in the middle of EDG but could still hear it quite clearly at full pelt. It's definitely been quieter in the mornings the last few weeks though, so hopefully the box and neckbrace are doing the trick.

On the subject of noise pollution on East Dulwich Grove, is anyone else at their wits end with the drummer on, I think, Trossachs Road? They play 2-3 times 7 days a week with their windows open. As a musician I'm all up for people playing and learning music, but a full size acoustic drum kit in a densely packed residential area when people are doing their best to work from home is taking the absolute biscuit.