Types of noise nuisance

To be a judged statutory nuisance, crowing would have to be excessive and unreasonable, significantly interfering with the use and enjoyment of someone's home. Examples are:

• crowing for long periods
• frequent and excessive crowing
• crowing at unreasonable hours (early morning or late at night)

To report a noise issue from cockerels or poultry, contact us using the details at the start of this guide. 

Preventing noise from cockerels or poultry

Only have a cockerel if you're breeding chickens and we recommend that chickens are not bred in residential areas.

Locate your poultry as far as possible from neighbouring residential properties. Shut birds away at dusk. Do not let them out until a reasonable hour in the morning.

Cockerels tend to crow from first light. Provide birds with a house where light is eliminated from entering as far as possible. Remember that ventilation will still be required. Keeping more than one cockerel in an area can lead to competitive crowing, particularly in the breeding season. Try putting a shelf in the hen house to allow the cockerel to walk around at normal height – it will prevent it stretching its neck to make the crowing sound.