[Goldfinger]

A question from some fellow plotters....

Is it actually against the law, that you are not allowed cockerals on allotments near to residential areas?

Even though, in the councils rules it's states you are allowed 'chickens'?

There are many plotters that have cockerals*, and have recieved letters from the council stating some law and saying 'get rid of your cockerals within 14 days, or you're off!'

*one decided to hatch some eggs and ended up with 5 cockerals and only 1 hen, and they kept them all! So this is going to hurt them alot. 

[Yorkie]

"Chickens" is defined better as "hens" and does not include "cockerels".

An allotment is defined in the 1922 Allotments Act as " ... wholly or mainly cultivated by the occupier for the production of vegetable or fruit crops for consumption by himself or his family."

Therefore an allotment isn't designed or defined by reference to livestock of any sort.

This was expanded by section 12 of the Allotments Act 1950, which specifically gives the right to keep hens [and rabbits] on land including allotments, irrespective of any clauses to the contrary, as long as they don't cause a nuisance.

It isn't illegal per se to have cockerels on the land, but:

a) there is no right to keep them, and
b) they can constitute a statutory nuisance, particularly a noise nuisance - and it is illegal to keep anything which actually constitutes a nuisance. 

[Sassy]

A*one decided to hatch some eggs and ended up with 5 cockerals and only 1 hen, and they kept them all! So this is going to hurt them alot. 

It is unlikely that the 5 cockerels will continue to get on long term anyway! We could be talking about fighting to the death here So they would have needed to do something anyway. Sorry

[Craig69]

What I do find amusing is that an aviary full of Budgies & Parrots etc are far noisier than Cockerels & Hens.
I had this discussion with a Housing Association a year or so ago when my hens were at home. One of their tenants who lived in the house next door to me complained about my hens making a noise. But when they came to see (hear), all they could hear was this aviary down the road.

[Goldfinger]

A*one decided to hatch some eggs and ended up with 5 cockerals and only 1 hen, and they kept them all! So this is going to hurt them alot. 

It is unlikely that the 5 cockerels will continue to get on long term anyway! We could be talking about fighting to the death here So they would have needed to do something anyway. Sorry

I hear them scraping on regularly when I'm down one my plot! 

Just wish I could do/say something, but I don't want to 'rock the boat' as they say.