[woodburner]

This guy doesn't know when to give up.
The whole saga can be found here, but to cut a long story short, I have had a guy complain about my cockerel, in the summer, involving the EHO to the point of coming out and monitoring the noise level.
They determined that it was not a noise nuisance and wrote me a letter saying that the complainant was happy with the situation. (Begs the question why did he complain in the first place, if he's happy with the situation? IYSWIM )
Anyway he obviously isn't happy as he has just posted me a note, asking me to do something about the early morning noise. It's anonymous actually but this guy likes anonymouse notes, so it doesn' take a genius . . . If I could wring a bird's neck and it was legal to do it on someone else's land I'd take the early morning crower, and do the deed in front of him. (Nasty feeling the guy might actually like it though. :x )

I actually asked the EHO before the sound test, what if he continues to complain, but I didn't get a straight answer. :?

So does anyone here know how often does he get to upset me and my family, and genereally waste everyones' time, before it is called harassment, (which is what it is really) and he gets told he can't behave like that any more?

Or is it more likely that his persistance will pay off and the authorities will get so fed up with him that THEY give in and put an ASBO on my rooster(s) just to shut him up?  :shock:

[Aunt Sally]

Why do you have roosters Woodburner ?  Do you breed from them ?

[poultrygeist]

It would depend on your location too. ie. rural cottage or housing estate in village.

Has he made any threats at all ?

I would suggest ignoring him if he's not likely to do anything and you're sure you have the right to keep your cockerel.

I know once these things get to you it's hard to let them go but if he's only posting anonymous notes through your leterbox, he's having to put himself out while you sit and watch TV in the warm  

Rob

[woodburner]

Why do you have roosters Woodburner ?  Do you breed from them ?

That's the idea, the hens are too young and not laying yet, though. Hopefully next spring I will have some little ones running around.
Two of them were supposed to be LS and we thought, (before we realised they weren't), that they'd be around as breeding stock for quite a while, and we hand reared them . . . hopefully I will have summoned up sufficient will power to do the deed by the new year. I have already done three (out of four) of the meat birds.
That will leave me with just the two pure bred cockerels that I got (1 as ftgh 1 as a chick with three others that turned out to be hens) after I realised none of the first batch were LS. Any that hatch next year will go in the pot. (I expect they will be yummy though )

[woodburner]

It would depend on your location too. ie. rural cottage or housing estate in village.

Has he made any threats at all ?

I would suggest ignoring him if he's not likely to do anything and you're sure you have the right to keep your cockerel.

I know once these things get to you it's hard to let them go but if he's only posting anonymous notes through your leterbox, he's having to put himself out while you sit and watch TV in the warm  

Rob

No threats, just agressive behaviour on my doorstep.
I live very much on the edge of the village backing onto fields, the owner would love to build on it though, but that's another story, that seems to apply to all farm land everywhere in the south east.
Another chicken owner in a much more central position has a cockerel but noone complains or is even upset there. :?
My biggest worry is that he will pull strings or perhaps just be so annoying to the authorities that they will say I can't keep cockerels or even a cockerel. I need at least one, and to reduce the risk of being left without a cockerel, two would be safer. I would occasionally need to raise a replacement(s) too.

[poultrygeist]

I would pester the EHO before he does. Get it in writing that they don't consider it a problem, or at least, to lay down some rules within which you can operate.

Then you can wave that at him and/or them.

Easy said I know. Once they know he's a bully, they may side with you.

[Hawkins]

If you feel he is harrasing you and dread the idea of seeing him on your door step you can also complain to the police about his behaviour and these suspicious anonymous letters. He cannot behave in a manner considered to be threatening or violent.

Best thing would be to try and have a meeting with your local community officer make them aware that there may be a problem before anything gets out of hand.

It sounds as if you are in a ruralish area, so the police would probably side with you and they may know this resident as a bit of a misery guts.

[bc]

Jurisprudence! Have your coq take him to court!
File a harassment complaint against your neighbor in the name of your coq.

It was actually done here in France (Riom, Auvergne) and the coq, now named "Victoire", won on the premise of abuse. The defendant was forced to pay the legal fees.

heh. worth a try and a mention in the papers.  

Power to the...peepers!

[pushrod]

don't let yourself be bullied - you are not in a city , cockerels are the sound of the country. i would not think twice about involving the police or at least registering your concerns with them.


edit : just read the link... your neighbour should think themself lucky  sometimes mine go off at 1.30 / 2.00 AM    (mind when i identify which ones they often find themselves in hot water if you know what i mean   ) nothing wrong with 4.00 and 5.00

[too many girls]

i'm starting to think other peoples cockerals must be a heck of a lot louder than mine, i have 3 (2 live in hen houses practically ouside my bedroom window) i never hear them early morning, and i can't hear them from inside the house anyway, what is it with neighbours?  what happened to community spirit and the saying live and let live?

[woodburner]

i'm starting to think other peoples cockerals must be a heck of a lot louder than mine, i have 3 (2 live in hen houses practically ouside my bedroom window) i never hear them early morning, and i can't hear them from inside the house anyway, what is it with neighbours?  what happened to community spirit and the saying live and let live?

Actually we have a very good community here but this guy isn't part of it. :shock:

This guy lives in the last-but-one house and no-one in between is bothered by the cockerels. I've asked around a bit and while he isn't complaining, one chap a few doors away, does hear them and actually it shows up just how little the nasty guy (and me :oops: ) actually hears them, but it's like if he knows they are still there he has to make a fuss.  :roll:

Rob, I have already had it in writing, that the EHO doesn't consider it to be a nuisance, and that the guy 'is happy with the situation'. :? I have contacted the EHO again, on account of this note, and am waiting to hear back from them.
I feel I should wait for their advice before doing anything, including despatching the unwanted cockerels. (If I get rid of them now I will never know if he would have had the right of it. :? )
I could possibly get into legal hot water if I contact the press, though it is very tempting. :twisted: And they would know whether or not there is any point in contacting the police at this time.
Thanks, to all of you for your suggestions and support.

[nnbreeder]

Have you tried to talk to this neighbor? Just attempt to tell him what you have said here, that without a rooster there will be no babies and you want to enlarge your flock from the stock you already have. Might be worth a shot.

People any more are so disconnected from where their food comes from that this may be a good chance to educate him. It could even be one of the other neighbors that know about the rift taking advantage of the situation.

[woodburner]

Have you tried to talk to this neighbor? Just attempt to tell him what you have said here, that without a rooster there will be no babies and you want to enlarge your flock from the stock you already have. Might be worth a shot.

People any more are so disconnected from where their food comes from that this may be a good chance to educate him. It could even be one of the other neighbors that know about the rift taking advantage of the situation.

Not this time around, and only the once last time. I want to talk to the EHO him- (or her-) self before approaching him. (Not that I want to approach him actually. He's not the kind of person you can reason with anyway. If the EHO can't get him to see reason for more than a few months, what chance have I got? )
We used to have some friends in common but since they told him how unpopular he has made himself in the village, he's dropped contact with them. They are chicken keepers, too, and even if he wasn't listening when I told him that I wanted to breed them, I'm pretty sure that they have told him, too.

There is one other neighbour who is likley to be moaning but only to this guy, not to anyone else as he is also already unpopular, and knows it. There are a few more households that I have not talked to, but I have talked to all those that are close to me and none of them are bothered.

It could even be one of the other neighbors that know about the rift taking advantage of the situation.

Very unlikely.

[Kate and her Ducks]

Sorry you are having this stress especially in the season of good will and all that. It sounds like at the moment the best thing is to wait to hear back again from the EHO. It might be worth seeing if the dust will settle a little if you do nothing for the time being as you certainly have no obligation to cull any of you birds as the last ruling was in your favour.

What I would recommend is keeping a diary of all contact you have with this man, documenting his aggressive or intimidating behaviour. A contemporaneous record is a very powerful tool if you need to take things further in the future rather than just saying "Well he kept turning up on my doorstep."

[compostqueen]

don't get too excited. Just keep a sense of proportion. His anonymous note doesn't count, not with the EHO anyway.  The onus is on the complainant at this stage, not you.  Just let the EHO do his work and if he/she wants you to do anything will let you know in writing or in person

I have a neighbour just like this so I speak from first hand experience. The person ends up complaining about everything under the sun so the EHO is quite capable of sorting the wheat from the chaff    

It falls far short of harassment. The person actually has to be ringing you or knocking on your door in the middle of the night etc for it to be called harassment

Just ask yourself though would you like loud noise from his house. Cockerels are noisy so you have to be fair.  It's like barking dogs, they get on your wick but apparently not the owners, so make an effort to be a good neighbour then at least you can say you've upheld your end of the bargain. I wouldn't get involved in direct dialogue with him if he's awkward and definitely avoid an argument as there are no winners and you'll just end up stressed