Rooster rage: Clucking, crowing nuisance
‘‘There is no reason any rooster should be in the city. Only if it couldn’t speak should it be allowed.’’ City councillor Susan Baty
Moves to ban noisy roosters in urban Palmerston North have ruffled the feathers of Manawatu¯ Poultry and Pigeon Club members.
The restriction was proposed by city councillor Susan Baty, who said roosters crowing at dawn was one noise too many to expect city dwellers to put up with.
Eight other councillors have supported her proposal to include a rooster ban in the review of the Animals and Bees Bylaw.
It would apply to the city, not to the rural villages, including Ashhurst.
Baty said she had endured a couple of experiences with roosters disturbing her earlymorning slumber.
She had attempted to log noise complaints, but was expected to be able to report the address where the rooster was crowing.
‘‘When you are woken at 5am and you’re in your dressing gown, you’re supposed to work out where the property is.
‘‘There is no reason any rooster should be in the city. Only if it couldn’t speak should it be allowed.’’
Poultry and pigeon club show secretary Ron Pratt said he had been keeping show birds and rare breeds for 40 years without upsetting anyone.
A national show in Palmerston North, the next scheduled for 2018, was the largest in the country, attracting up to 1700 birds.
Pratt said poultry keeping was a hobby, ensuring that rare breeds did not die out.
‘‘It would be an absolute disaster for me and several others if this was to happen.
‘‘The roosters crow in the morning, but it’s a natural sound and people get used to it.’’
Council head of animal services Graham Gillespie said just under half of the complaints received about animals were about poultry, but complaints about roosters crowing were not separately recorded.
He said when there was a complaint, it was often difficult to pinpoint exactly where the noise was coming from, and if a rooster was found, sometimes nobody would claim ownership.
Gillespie said there were ways to ensure roosters kept in town did not make a nuisance of themselves, such as leaving them in the dark until well after sunrise to delay the onset of crowing.
Ashhurst-based councillor Aleisha Rutherford said she would not support a rooster ban for the villages.
‘‘That’s the nature of being a village, that it’s often acceptable. People choose to live in villages for the lifestyle and that often comes with having a range of pets.’’
She was one of five councillors who did not support a proposed ban for the Palmerston North urban area either.
The Animals and Bees draft bylaw still has to be approved by the full council before it is put out for public consultation.