THE saying ‘at cockcrow’ is old as time and refers to the first call of a rooster typically signifying daybreak.
A rooster crows because he has an internal clock that helps him to anticipate sunrise. While this would have been helpful in a time before alarm clocks, modern society no longer relies on a rooster to wake for an early start to the day.
In fact, the sound of one crowing has resulted in sleep deprived residents becoming cranky with fowl loving neighbours. Complaints have led to rooster removal by councils as well as orders to downsize fowl numbers.
Peak Crossing poultry breeder and Boonah Poultry Club member Malcolm Stenzel said these actions put genetic chains of pure-bred poultry under threat.
“The numbers of purebred fowls are becoming less and it comes back to council and council regulation,” he said.
“Even in semi-rural areas, if there’s a complaint, people have to get rid of their roosters.
“The gene pool is getting smaller because good poultry breeders in semi-rural areas are receiving complaints due to noise. This means they have to cut their poultry numbers right down or put the roosters into night boxes to stop them making a noise early in the morning.”
Mr Stenzel said the risk of losing ‘good genetic lines’ was high because the number of fowls being kept was becoming ‘less and less’.
“The number of fowls within Australia when it comes to different breeds, is almost at a critical point.
“This is because people have become less tolerant of roosters crowing in the morning.”
He says Leghorn fowls in all colours were becoming harder to find as were Rhode Island Reds.
“A lot of it comes down to lifestyle changes and people no longer seem to have the time or patience to do it properly.”
Rosewood’s Bruce Hodgson also keeps and breeds fowls and said Ipswich City Council regulations had created a situation that if not resolved could result in the business of poultry showing being wiped out.
“Council regulations and complaints from locals about roosters is becoming a huge problem and if it is not resolved soon, in years to come there will no longer be fowls on show at any agricultural show,” he said.
“It often is a trendy situation for families to move out to the country towns and within weeks complain about the sound of roosters crowing, a sound that if given time is something that families will just get used to.
“The sound is just like traffic or noise from the Willowbank Raceway and the Amberley Airbase, and the simple fact is without roosters there is no breeding.
“Families complain and council get rid of the rooster, a situation that is devastating for the breeders.”
And he’s calling for more understanding.
“Already the Black Orpington breed is declared endangered, and sadly they are at risk of becoming extinct.
“I have spoken to people involved in council and I really hope that they consider relaxing the rules for pure bred show poultry breeders.
“What they do not understand is that each breed of fowl is a separate species, if they die out their species is gone forever.”
