According
to Scientists, it is not the sight of the Sun rising - roosters don't need the
light of a new day to know when it's dawn—rather, their internal clocks alert
them to the time. In a stimulated
research, when the roosters were subjected to cycles of 12 hours of light and
12 hours of dim light, the birds crowed about two hours before the lights came
on. In conditions kept constantly dim, the roosters also continued to vocalize
early in the "morning," suggesting that their internal body clocks,
or circadian rhythms, were involved in timing their crows at dawn. The researchers
at Nagoya University in Japan were studying the genetic underpinnings of innate
vocalizations—or nonlearned behaviors such as crowing—in chickens, they
discovered that the male birds don't need external light cues to know when to
start crowing. That sound may not be too
pleasing to everyone is what a family in Somerset found out to their dismay !
UK
papers during Aug 2012 suggested that a noisy
rooster could land its owners with a fine of up to £5,000 after neighbours
complained about the early wake-up call. It was stated that Rodney the rooster,
owned by Matt and Kerrie Summers, starts crowing as early as 3.43am for up to
76 times over a three-hour period. Fed-up with the early morning racket, their
neighbours set up recording equipment to monitor the noise and the Council
officials served Mr and Mrs Summers with a noise abatement notice.
The
couple, who live in a residential area of Bath, have said they may now have to
look for a new home for their beloved rooster.
The father-of-four, who lives with Kerrie, 34, a nursery nurse, bought
Rodney for £20 to stop his seven chickens - which provide eggs for the family -
from fighting. The couple have been warned that they could face a fine of up to
£5,000 after neighbours complained about their noisy rooster's early morning
crowing. They said that the children see
Rodney as their pet and they would be really upset if they were to get rid of him. They said, 'Our
house looks out on to fields and there is a farm nearby. We thought that
crowing and clucking noises might fit in with that quite nicely.
When the council came round they told us we
could face a £5,000 fine every time he breaches the order. 'He crows up to 300
times a week, there is no way that we could afford that.' Rodney lives in the family's terraced garden
with a mixture of brown and coloured hens. Environmental health officers have advised
their neighbours in Weston to set up recording equipment to monitor the racket
made by the bird. It is stated that Rodney
the rooster can begin his dawn chorus as early as 3.43am.
Mr
Summers said he was frustrated that the definition of noise nuisance appeared
to be subjective. 'Mainly I think that they shouldn't be complaining about the
noise from one cockerel when in the surrounding farm there are sheep, cows and
a donkey who makes plenty of noise.' Bath
and North East Somerset Council received complaints from three of Mr Summers’
neighbours, following which the council placed its own recording equipment in
one resident’s bedroom. In a statement, the council said: 'These complaints
relate to the bird crowing seven days a week as early as 3.43am for up to 76
times over a three-hour period.
The council served a noise abatement notice - Should the notice be
breached, the owner of the cockerel would be breaking the law. Whether it was
indeed broken and how much the owners of Rodney were fined is not known !
With
regards – S. Sampathkumar
6th Feb 2015.
