The Los Angeles City Council passed a law on Tuesday limiting the number of roosters each household can own to a grand total of one. To my ears, that's one too many. I'm sure others would agree.Longtime readers know I'm a big advocate for passing urban chicken laws that allow hens only, no roosters. The noise of one hen crowing is bad enough, but the thought of a rooster sounding off at all hours of the day and night would drive even me to seek legal recourse to reclaiming peace and quiet (right after I figure out how to get the neighborhood dogs to shut up with their all-night yapping).
I've always scratched my head at the fact the greater Los Angeles area permits roosters of any quantity within city limits. I don't want to say all roosters in LA are training for a neighborhood fight, but I'd imagine more than a couple are providing a spectacle on fight night.
We know the benefits of hens within city limits: eggs, weed- and pest-control, nitrogen-rich manure, entertainment, companionship.
With roosters, you swap out "eggs" for "obnoxious cock-a-doodle-dooing." I don't get it.
What am I missing?
3 comments:
Roosters are cute and beautiful! Plus you need a rooster to hatch eggs!
I have to agree with Amri on this one. I wish I was able to keep at least 1 rooster where I live. You think hens have personalities, wait until you see a rooster showing off to the ladies. Growing up I always had 1-2 rooster when I lived on my fathers property. As a kid, I was always hatching my own eggs, something that of course a rooster is required. On the flip side I can understand that in neighborhoods where the houses are almost stacked on top of one another (much like where I live now) having a rooster in each backyard would get quite loud at times as they crow to stake out a territory. Hum... can't we genetically engineer a "crow-less" rooster yet? Haha.
I have several roosters and adore them. They can be a challenge to work with, but they're much more rewarding as pets than hens. Each has his own personality, and they learn tricks readily.
They are also much cleaner than hens. Since they aren't "producing," they create very little poo, and what there is doesn't smell. So it's very easy to keep a rooster indoors in a roomy cage, not unlike a parrot or cockatoo (and I've heard some of those that are much louder than roos).
I'll take a rooster over a dog any day.
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