Rooster Ordinance Violations – Evidence Log (Unlisted)
This page documents ongoing violations of the town’s rooster ordinance at 111 Victoria St, Centerville. The purpose is to maintain a clear, dated record of observations and contacts with animal control. All entries were recorded from my property. Evidence includes written logs, videos, and photographs. This page is unlisted and shared only for enforcement purposes. Additional evidence for at least two crowing roosters being held at 111 Victoria St is shown on a separate page.
Contacts with Animal Control (click to expand)
- September 1, 2026 – Sent email to Barnstable Animal Control about multiple roosters not being kept in a fully enclosed structure.
- August 29, 2026 – Sent email to Barnstable Animal Control about current holding of multiple roosters.
- December 7, 2025 – Left a voice message for Barnstable Animal Control asking for help after being woken up two nights in a row at 6 AM respectively 5 AM.
- December 3, 2025 – Send an email to Barnstable Animal Control to follow up on the call from November 30. Included a link to this page. Received a response that a citation had been issued.
- November 30, 2025 – Called Barnstable Animal Control early in the morning and left message after being woken up by multiple rooster calls around 4:30 AM for the thirds day in a row.
- October 3, 2025 – Dropped off letter at Barnstable Animal Control about ongoing violations. Included address of this blog and contact information.
- September 22, 2025 – Visited Barnstable Animal Control offices to discuss the rooster problem, and talked to Animal Control Officer.
- September 11, 2025 – Officer confirmed multiple roosters on property (2 adults plus juveniles). Citation issued. Roosters remain, but two adult roosters were later put into two separate coops (see images taken September 17 below).
- August 30, 2025 – Wrote letter to Barnstable Animal Control explaining violations and giving contact information.
- August 2025 – Officer responded to phone complaint on 8/25; neighbor stated they had only one rooster. No violation confirmed at that time.
- September 2023 – Officer visit regarding rooster noise. Neighbor reduced problem for a period afterward.
Daily Log (Newest First)
September 1, 2026 — woken up rooster calls at 6:15 AM
Woken up by rooster calls at 6:15 AM. Poultry, including multiple roosters, was visible outside in both pens was visible outside.
Rooster calls were audible inside the house, with closed windows and at a distance of more than 70 feet from the pens, and more than 50 ft from the property line. This constitutes three violations of the Barnstable Rooster Ordinance:
- Roosters were not kept within a fully enclosed structure before 7 AM.
- Roosters were plainly audible at a distance of more than 50 ft from the premises.
- More than one rooster was kept on the premises.
August 31, 2026 — 100 calls from 2 roosters before 7 AM
Audio recording taken 70 ft away from the poultry pen show over 100 calls from 2 roosters between 5:15 AM and 6:15 AM. Multiple additional calls could be heard inside the house during the day. The image below shows a series of 15 calls around 5:45 AM.
August 30, 2026 — Crowing roosters before 7 AM
Audio recording taken 70 ft away from the poultry pen show crowing from at least 2 roosters, with the earliest recording calls shortly after 6 AM, and 48 recorded rooster calls before 9 AM.
Click to see video and additional details
The video below shows a series of rooster calls and a lot of additional poultry noise around 6:20 AM, with an overlay of the sound as visualized in Audacity:
August 29, 2026 — Video evidence of 2 crowing roosters
Calls from 2 different roosters were audible inside the house at 7:12 AM, with multiple additional call series later. Pictures show multiple adult roosters, and video and audio recordings clearly show that at least two of the roosters crow.
Click to see picture, video, and audio analysis details
A picture taken over the fence shows at least 4 adult roosters in the closer chicken pen:
A short video recording shows one rooster crowing in the chicken pen close to the camera, and at other times listening to the crows of a second rooster in the second chicken pen further away from the camera:
The differences in the rooster voices are clearly evident in audio analysis. The rooster further from the camera has a clear, high pitched call, with distinct peaks in the frequency spectrum:
The rooster closer to the camera has a rougher and lower voice. The audio spectrum shows that the 4th harmonic near 2600 Hz that is prominent in the first roosters call is absent, and that the spectrum is "smudged", with more energy between the harmonics:
August 28, 2026 — Audio evidence of 2 crowing roosters
Rooster call series were clearly audible inside the house before 8 AM. A second series of calls with a different voice followed about 15
minutes later, and more call series followed at 3:40 PM and 4:20 PM, and 17:05 PM. An audio recording from calls around 17:05 PM showed clearly different voices from 2 roosters - one clear and higher pitched voice, and one rougher and lower pitch voice.
August 21, 2026 — Multiple sets of calls from 2 roosters
Rooster call series were clearly audible inside the house, with doors and windows closed, around 9:25 AM, 10:30 AM, 3:30 PM, and 4:40 PM. Besides different timbre in the calls, the pattern itself suggests multiple roosters. When only a single rooster can be heard, there is typically just one series of crows in the morning, and a second series of crows in the afternoon.
July 30, 2026 — Multiple roosters again
In recent weeks, rooster calls have become more frequent again, and calls from at least two different roosters could be distinguished. I started audio recordings again, and they show clearly that calls are from 2 different roosters. Here is an example audio trace showing 4 calls, with 2 calls from 2 roosters each:
The first and last call are from the same rooster ("R1"), the two middle calls from a different rooster ("R2"). The frequency patterns make it easy to distinguish the two roosters. In particular, the second harmonic around 1200 Hz differs: for rooster 1, it is below the 1200 Hz (the white horizontal line in the picture), and for rooster 2, it is mostly above 1200 Hz. Other differences, e.g. in frequency and intensity of the 3rd and 4th harmonic, are also consistent.
December 9, 2025 — Finally quiet again
It's quiet again! We were finally able to sleep through the night without roosters waking us up. Yesterday morning, we heard a big commotion in the neighbor's yard, and noticed the neighbors with holding roosters. After that, no more loud calls were heard.
Audio analysis from this mornings recording shows a smaller number (about 40) of much quieter rooster calls in about 4 separate series. Each series has only about 10-12 calls. No different voices can be identified, although this might be due to the calls being quite faint, just above background noise.
Many thanks again to the Barnstable Animal Control. Let's hope it remains quiet, and that the neighbors are proactive in the future when their cockerels grow up and start rooster call contests.
December 8, 2025 — Woken up by rooster calls at 5 AM, 120 calls before 7 AM
Rooster calls are still bad. My wife was woken up by rooster calls around 5 AM. Audio recordings show about 130 call before 7 AM from 3 different roosters (2 loud, one quieter). First calls were at 4:01 AM from all 3 roosters.
December 7, 2025 — Woken up by rooster calls at 5 AM, 230 calls before 7 AM
Rooster calls are still getting worse. Both my wife and I were woken up by rooster calls around 5 AM. Audio recordings show more than 230 call before 7 AM. Today's evidence is summarized a https://roosterlog25.blogspot.com/p/evidence-from-december-7-2025.html
I walked around outside early and verified that calls were clearly audible 200 ft away from the property in different directions, and 300 ft away from the coop (video). Even at this distance, voices from at least 2 different roosters could easily be distinguished.
Today's calls we loud and frequent enough to constitute not just violations of the rooster ordinance, but also a violation of the general Barnstable noise ordinance, which prohibits loud noises that are plainly audible at a distance of 150 ft at any time.
December 6, 2025 — Woken up by rooster calls at 6 AM
Rooster calls are getting worse. As I am writing this, calls from several different roosters are clearly audible in the house, about 70 to 90 ft from the chicken pens. Doors and windows are closed. Audio recordings show about 180 call before 7 AM, starting at 4:33 AM. Calls got louder around 6 AM, with 57 calls between 6:00 and 6:24 AM. During that time, I was kept awake by the rooster calls, and watched as the calls woke up my wife.
December 5, 2025 — Video evidence for 3 different roosters crowing
The call patterns on the early morning video was similar to the patterns from previous days, with dozens of calls from different roosters evident in the audio recordings. Later in the morning, many loud calls that from different roosters could be clearly heard in the house. Visual inspection of the chicken pens showed that two different roosters where crowing in the pen closer to our property, and one rooster was crowing in the pen further away from our property. Voices for the three roosters are easily distinguishable. A short video with 4 calls from 3 roosters is at https://www.youtube.com/shorts/oHnc8pOx7ao. The audio spectrum for the four calls in the video is shown below:
The spectral patterns match those from the previous day. This time, I was able to see two different roosters crow. While I did not see the third rooster, the crow was clearly coming from the back pen.
December 4, 2025 — Evidence for 3 different roosters
Audio recordings show multiple sets of rooster calls in the early morning and the early afternoon. Some of the calls were clearly audible inside the house. Call series typically had about 30 to 40 calls. The spectral analysis from a call series shortly before 1 PM shows calls from 3 different roosters, with two of the roosters quieter and rougher (probably due to zip ties around the neck as observed in October), and one rooster (#2 in the image below) louder and higher pitched:
December 3, 2025 — Many crows from at least 2 different roosters
Audio recordings show six sets of rooster calls in the early morning with up to 30 calls from the louder rooster alone. Calls were audible in bedroom despite closed windows. In the early afternoon, there were two sets of loud calls, with voices from two different roosters clearly identifiable. Audio analysis shows distinct differences between the two voices:
The first call was slightly quieter than the second call, and rougher. The frequency spectrum shows maximum loudness at 682 Hz. The second call was cleaner and higher pitched, with maximum loudness at 1407 Hz. It was loud enough to be clearly audible 150 ft from the property. This is the same pattern that was observed at the beginning of October. Without any doubt, there are still two adult crowing roosters held at 111 Victoria St, in addition to multiple non-crowing cockerels.
December 2, 2025 — More than 180 crows before 7 AM, woken up by rooster
Audio recordings show the start of rooster calls at 4:16 AM, with 8 relatively quiet calls. Calls continued at 4:40 AM, now from 2 or 3 different roosters, including one loud rooster. At 5:50 AM, nearly continuous calls started and continued until 6:30 AM. These calls woke me up around 6 AM, and prevented me from going back to sleep. At 6:42 AM, the shed door was opened by the owner of 111 Victoria St to let all chickens out. Before that, several chickens could be seen outside, although it was too dark to see if that included the rooster.
The loud rooster that was plainly audible at a distance of 70 ft behind windows called more than 60 times between 4:40 AM and 6:40 AM. Such frequent calls are a clear indication of challenges by other roosters, and more than 100 calls from other roosters can be seen in the audio tracks.
December 1, 2025 — More than 110 crows before 7 AM
Audio recordings show more than 110 crows from the louder rooster between 4:30 AM and 7 AM. There is a similar number of crows from at least one other rooster that is not as loud; however, he is likely the reason why the louder rooster crowed more than 100 times. A video showing the concatenated rooster calls from 4 AM to 6 AM is available at https://youtu.be/nF-DoNkC3KM. The video shows all calls of the louder rooster; calls of the other rooster(s) are mostly omitted.
November 30, 2025 — third day in a row being woken up by rooster calls at 4:30 AM.
Restarted audio recordings after being woken up by multiple rooster calls. Recordings taken behind a closed window and storm window show dozens of calls before 7 AM from at least two different roosters - one loud and one quieter. In an audio recording (4:30 AM - 9:00 AM), more than 230 rooster calls can be heard in the 4 hour 30 minute recording. Time stamped security camera recordings for this time frame that also recorded these calls is available; the videos show outside activity by hens and roosters at first light (about 6:35 AM).
The spectrum below from one 20-minute period starting around 6 AM alone shows 46 calls from the loud rooster, and a similar number of calls from the other rooster (or possibly multiple other roosters):
October 8, 2025 — 9 crows
Nine crows were clearly audible on video recordings (taken behind closed windows) and inside the house. Crows were louder than the previous three days, and all seem to come from coop #2.
October 9, 2025 — multiple early, relatively quiet crows
Audio recording taken behind a closed window and storm window show about 80 to 100 calls before 7 AM. Calls were relatively quiet, barely above the (considerable) wind noise. Both number of calls and call spectra indicate that multiple roosters are still kept, but currently in a way that keeps the loudness of the crows at a tolerable level.
October 8, 2025 — 9 crows
Nine crows were clearly audible on video recordings (taken behind closed windows) and inside the house. Crows were louder than the previous three days, and all seem to come from coop #2.
October 7, 2025 — no crows
Switched audio recordings to behind a closed window (and storm window). No rooster calls could be identified or were heard in the house, making this the third day without loud rooster calls.
Big thanks to the officers of the Barnstable Animal Control for effectively addressing this issue again.
October 6, 2025 — 67 relatively quiet crows
Audio recordings show 67 calls, all before 7 am. Crows were not very loud, similar to October 5.
October 5, 2025 — 76 relatively quiet crows
Audio recordings show 76 calls from 2 roosters, with 24 calls before 6 am. Calls were not as loud as a week or two ago, but they are plainly audible on the recordings, which were done about 60 ft from the chicken coop 1, and 70 ft from coop 2.
October 4, 2025 — 8 crows
A quiet day with only a single set of crows around 4 pm.
October 3, 2025 — 113 crows
Roosters crowed noticeably more than on previous days. Back and forth calls between the two roosters were common. Here is an example of the spectral analysis from one such series that shows the differences between the two voices clearly:
October 2, 2025 — 83 crows
Lots of crows from both roosters were clearly audible inside the house today. The 93 calls were in 3 series in the morning and 4 series in the afternoon.
Pictures from the two roosters in the two separate coops:
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| Rooster #1 (note the zip tie around the neck) |
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| Rooster #2 in the second coop behind the divider |
October 1, 2025 — 22 crows
First crows started at 6:18 AM. Most calls today were from rooster #2, only 2 were from rooster #1.
September 30, 2025 — 49 crows
Crows are plainly audible inside the house in the morning and afternoon. The afternoon crow series included 38 crows from 2 roosters.
September 29, 2025 — 19 crows
A relatively quiet day, with just one "rooster duel" around 4:30 PM. The screenshot below shows 8 of the 18 calls in the afternoon. 6 calls were from rooster #1, 2 calls from rooster #1. A video showing rooster #1 listening to several calls from #2 before answering is available.
September 28, 2025 — 146 crows
Crows are plainly audible inside the house in the morning. Crows from rooster #2 were not as loud as crows from rooster #1, but started at 5:15 AM, with more than 45 crows recorded before 7 AM. Distance from chicken coop is about 60 ft.
September 27, 2025 — 122 crows
Audio and video recordings show a total of 122 plainly audible crows for the day. Crows were both louder and more frequent than on previous days. Both roosters could be heard multiple times.
September 26, 2025 — 7 crows
A quiet day with respect to rooster calls. Between 9 AM and 6 PM, only one set of 7 crows from a single rooster were audible inside the house.
September 25, 2025 — 34 crows
Audio and video recordings (from behind a storm window) show a total of 34 crows for the day. Crows from 2 separate roosters could be identified in two different series of crows. Crows were generally less loud than several days ago. The easily visible rooster (#1) still had a zip tie visible around his neck, which appears to limit the loudness of his calls.
September 26, 2025 — 7 crows
A quiet day with respect to rooster calls. Between 9 AM and 6 PM, only one set of 7 crows from a single rooster were audible inside the house.
The noise level from the roosters is tolerable now, so analysis will stop until it becomes problematic again.
September 25, 2025 — 34 crows
Audio and video recordings (from behind a storm window) show a total of 34 crows for the day. Crows from 2 separate roosters could be identified in two different series of crows. Crows were generally less loud than several days ago. The easily visible rooster (#1) still had a zip tie visible around his neck, which appears to limit the loudness of his calls.
September 24, 2025 — 51 crows
After a quiet day yesterday, we have heard multiple rooster crows again in the morning (inside the house, windows closed). The rooster in the pen (#1) next to our yard now has a ZIP tie around his neck, with the end sticking out. Unfortunately, it does not keep him from crowing, and he is still quite loud.
Wide "no crow collars" are easily available on Amazon for next-day delivery, but the reviews are very mixed, with many buyers reporting no or limited success in reducing noise. Mentions of using zip ties instead are quite rare; some that can be found highlight both danger and ineffectiveness of zip ties. It also appears questionable how humane narrow zip ties around the throat of roosters are.
Audio from video recordings show 51 crows, starting with a single call at 6:40 AM and goin until about 4 PM. Even though recordings were done indoor behind a storm window and on a rainy day, calls from two different roosters could be identified.
September 23, 2025 — 53 low volume crows from 5:01 AM to 9:32 AM
Security camera audio shows 53 calls from 2 roosters between 5:01 AM and 9:32 AM. Later video footage (until 6:03 PM) shows no additional rooster calls, and no calls could be heard during the afternoon.
Two adult roosters were still visible in the two chicken coops at 5:30 PM.
September 22, 2025 — 147 crows, starting at 6:12 AM
Two adult roosters, one in each coop, were visible both in the morning and in the afternoon. In the afternoon, a video shows the roosters crowing 12 times within about 3 minutes. There were several additional rooster calls before the start of the video, and many more after the end of the video.
4 separate videos recorded between 22 and 30 calls each within 30-40 minutes from 2 different roosters.
September 21, 2025 — 168 crows, starting at 6:00 AM
Recorded video (for rooster call audio) using security camera from 6 AM on. Verified rooster calls in videos. All videos are available for review. Analysis currently only includes videos until 4:10 PM. Later videos where not yet analyzed and may show additional calls.
September 20, 2025 — 77 crows, starting at 6:17 AM
Recorded video (for rooster call audio) using security camera from 6 AM on. Verified rooster calls in videos. All videos are available for review.
- 06:17 AM – 13 crows (partial video with time stamp)
- 06:33 AM – 4 crows (2 voices)
- 06:52 AM – 3 crows
- 07:34 AM – 9 crows
- 08:40 AM – 6 crows
- 11:41 AM – 1 crow
- 01:23 PM – 7 crows
- 03:07 PM – 7 crows
- 03:25 PM – 6 crows
- 03:41 PM – 8 crows
- 04:19 PM – 6 crows
- 04:46 PM – 4 crows
- 05:19 PM – 3 crows
September 19, 2025 — 52 crows, starting before 7 AM
Crow counts from September 19 and earlier are based on crows heard while at home.
- Before 7 AM – 6+ crows, disturbed sleep
- 09:55 AM – 11 crows (2 voices)
- 01:25 PM – 5 crows
- 03:39 PM – 12 crows
- 03:51 PM – 2 crows
- 04:17 PM – 4 crows
- 06:10 PM – 2 crows
September 18, 2025 — 84 crows
- 08:31 AM – 14 crows (two distinct voices)
- 10:55 AM – 20 crows (iPhone video from 150 ft away)
- 01:09 PM – 6 crows
- 02:30 PM – 6 crows
- 03:54 PM – 22 crows (two voices; partial audio recordings)
- 04:08 PM – 10 crows (partial audio recordings; concurrent calls)
- 04:17 PM – 4 crows
- 06:10 PM – 2 crows
September 17, 2025 — 65 crows
- 08:05 AM – 6 crows
- 10:26 AM – 8 crows (security camera sound recording)
- 02:16 PM – 11 crows (photos show 2 roosters in separate coops)
Adult rooster 1 in coop 1.
Adult rooster 2 in coop 2.
- 03:10 PM – 10 crows (video showing calls from 2 roosters)
- 03:38 PM – 3 crows
- 04:34 PM – 4 crows
- 05:03 PM – 19 crows (two distinct voices audible)
- 05:24 PM – 4 crows
September 16, 2025 (not home until afternoon) — 17 crows
- 04:55 PM – 6 crows (two distinct voices)
- 05:50 PM – 11 crows (two distinct voices)
September 15, 2025 — 26 crows
- 07:47 AM – 3 crows
- 08:01 AM – 14 crows (two distinct voices)
- 09:18 AM – 1 crow
- (Not home in afternoon)
- 04:50 PM – 6 crows
- 05:55 PM – 2 crows
September 14, 2025 — 51 crows
- 08:58 AM – 8 crows
- 09:08 AM – 3 crows
- 11:15 AM – 14 crows
- 02:48 PM – 14 crows (two rooster voices)
- 04:06 PM – 9 crows (two voices)
- 04:17 PM – 3 crows
September 13, 2025 — 35+ crows
- 10:30 AM – 20 crows (also many times before)
- 10:40 AM – 3 crows (different voice, quieter)
- 02:24 PM – 12 crows (more calls between 11 and 2 PM)
September 12, 2025 — 25+ crows
- 04:40 PM – 25 crows (two voices; multiple calls earlier as well)
September 11, 2025 — 83 crows
- 08:50 AM – 7 crows (one voice, quieter)
- 01:36 PM – 21 crows (two voices; two roosters visible)
- 01:54 PM – 5 crows
- 02:00 PM – 6 crows (movie recorded with 2 calls)
- 02:30 PM – 6 crows
- 03:25 PM – 8 crows
- 03:50 PM – 20 crows (two distinct calls)
- 05:15 PM – 10 crows