COURT HOUSE – Middle Township has long allowed domestic farm animals on private property. The municipality Aug. 16 moved to add one new restriction to its municipal code. If the ordinance introduced is adopted, roosters will no longer be allowed on property less than 5 acres.
“It’s a noise issue,” Mayor Timothy Donohue said, referring to a rooster’s crow, which is not limited to a morning wake-up alarm.
The municipality will continue to allow chickens that lay eggs without a rooster’s assistance. The main reason for a rooster is to breed chickens.
A rooster’s crow has been measured at 130 decimals, more than double the noise level of a hen’s cluck. The decimal range of a chainsaw or snowblower is less than that of a rooster crow, according to Michigan Medicine.
The ordinance will come up for a public hearing and possible adoption at Middle Township Committee’s Sept. 20 meeting.