Asking Eric: Neighborhood rooster wakes us up too early

Dear Eric: One of our neighbors has acquired backyard chickens, and a rooster. His chicken coop is not far from our bedroom window. Now that it’s getting warmer, we like to sleep with the windows open to cool off the house at night. The rooster wakes up at 5:20 a.m., so now we do as well.

We are retired, so most days we can go back to sleep after the rooster has quieted down, but sometimes that is not possible. Our neighbor is relatively new to the neighborhood, and we are friendly with him, so we are reluctant to complain. He brought us eggs when he first got the chickens – probably a peace offering.

We want to be good neighbors, but we think that we should not have to close our windows in order to get a good night’s sleep. Moving the coop to another part of the yard would not solve the problem. What would you do?

– Crying Fowl

Dear Fowl: Though the gift of eggs was nice, with that early a daily wake-up call, I hope your new neighbor is prepping a full breakfast spread for you. I know that speaking up about the rooster seems like complaining but try thinking of the conversation as part of the basis of good neighborly communication. It’s possible he’s grown so accustomed to the crowing that it doesn’t even wake him.

Start with a question: “this is what we’re experiencing; do you know of any ways that you can get the rooster to crow a little later in the day?” Chances are he might have some ideas or, in the spirit of being a good neighbor, he might go off in search of some solutions.

For instance, if your neighbor makes the rooster’s coop completely lightproof and lets the rooster out a little later in the morning, it could have the desired result. However, roosters can crow at all hours of the day, to establish dominance, when they sense danger, or, sometimes, for no reason at all. There’s also something called a rooster collar that can discourage crowing when worn, but after speaking with a variety of backyard chicken owners, I’ve found opinions are mixed about the humaneness of this device.

All this and more can come out in conversation with your neighbor. You’re not drawing a hard line or giving him an ultimatum. But a question may prompt him to think more about you, and he and the chickens and the rooster can all coexist happily.

Dear Eric: My husband and I have been married for 21 years. When we met, we both had children from previous relationships. His son, Pete, was 12 at the time, and my daughter was 8. We did our best to blend our families, though it wasn’t always easy.

Pete had a difficult childhood. His mother struggled with alcoholism and often left him and his half-sister alone at a very young age. My husband stepped in and raised him on his own. We even put Pete in counseling to help him work through the trauma, though he told us later he never took it seriously and just laughed at the counselor.

My ex was never involved in my daughter’s life, and my husband raised her as his own. They have a close and loving relationship to this day.

Pete is now 35 and a father of two. However, even when we lived only 20 minutes away, we rarely saw him or the kids unless we made the effort to reach out. Now that we live in another state, we try to connect when we visit, but they often say they’re busy or have other plans. It’s hard not to feel like they’re making excuses.

I know this hurts my husband, though he rarely talks about it. He devoted himself to raising Pete and gave him everything he could. I wish I knew how to make this better, but I’m not sure what more we can do.

– Want a Healed Family

Dear Family: It is very likely Pete has unfinished work to do around healing from the trauma he experienced as a child. There may be part of him that, despite your husband’s efforts, blames your husband for this. While you and your husband can support Pete from afar, he has to be the one to do the work.