When Tom and Barbara got a flock of chickens in classic 1970s TV sitcom The Good Life, neighbourly relations with Margo and Jerry were suitably strained, writes Matthew Davis.
And in the real world, cockerels have been driving neighbours mad with early wake-up calls.
Councils received more then 700 noise complaints last year from households driven crazy by feisty fowl disturbing their sleep.
Keeping chickens soared in popularity during Covid, providing their owners with a welcome supply of fresh eggs. An estimated 1.5 million of the birds are now kept as pets.
But figures from council environmental health inspectors show not everybody is cock-a-hoop about the trend. In total, 737 complaints were lodged in 2023 but the majority of local authorities do not record issues with chickens and cockerels as a separate category.
Birmingham Council logged the most complaints – 74 – followed by Bradford, 69, and Haringey, in London, with 53. And authorities warn breaching a noise ban could land owners with a £5,000 fine.
Lorry driver Caroline Smith, 52, was last year ordered to pay £1,200 vet’s fees for Eddie, a crowing cockerel she had throttled after being repeatedly woken at 3am in Chorley, Lancs. Admitting causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, she said it had made her life a misery for six months.
