SAN DIEGO — More and more San Diegans are lodging complaints to the city over backyard roosters.
Data obtained by CBS 8 shows that 195 complaints to San Diego's Get it Done app as well as to code enforcement were made since the beginning of 2023, more than the previous two years.
The complaints range from a single word, "roosters" to diatribes describing the rooster crowing has on neighbors.
"The rooster starts his day every day of the week between 3:30 AM and 5:00 AM with the famous rooster cock-a-doodle-doo-ing. The rooster is extremely loud and disruptive, and the noise continues at frequent intervals (between about 5 seconds to 20 seconds) and continues for hours, every day of the week," read one complaint from an Oak Park resident.
"This has been continuing for many months and there is no sign of letting up. My wife and I work full-time and need a good night's rest every day, and this rooster has taken that away from us. Our performance at work is suffering; we are tired and lethargic throughout the day from being woken up by the rooster. The rooster has surpassed negatively affecting our quality of life and has become an extreme nuisance to the entire neighborhood; it can be heard loudly and clearly for a block's radius."
Citywide, residents in Encanto and surrounding neighborhoods filed the most complaints to San Diego Code Enforcement about backyard roosters with City Heights and Oak Park residents filing the second most complaints.
Click on the data points in the map below to see the specific complaints made in San Diego in 2023:
City of San Diego Rules for chickens and roosters
So what are the rules for backyard chickens and roosters in San Diego?
Regarding roosters, the city prohibits anyone from keeping roosters on their property.
Raising chickens, however, is allowed if the following rules are followed.
First and foremost, residents can keep up to 5 chickens if the chicken coop is located outside all required setbacks, or up to 15 chickens if the coop is more than 15 feet from the property line. Residents are allowed up to 25 chickens if the coop is at least 50 feet from any residential structures.
The coops, according to the code, must be predator-proof, ventilated, and watertight, and each chicken must have at least six square feet of area.
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