Lake Macquarie City Council has notified the fowl’s owner, Patrick Chong, that it intends to serve an order on him to remove the rooster, which is named Roger.

The notice gives Mr Chong 21 days to argue why an order should not be served.

The council’s decision comes 14 months after Wimbledon Grove resident Rob Maggiotto complained to the council about roosters crowing in Mr Chong’s yard.

The council confirmed it made its decision after receiving legal advice.

Mr Maggiotto said yesterday he could not understand why it took the council so long to act.

‘‘This could have been done a year ago,’’ Mr Maggiotto said.

He said being woken up every morning at 4.30am caused cumulative health problems for his family, including two children.

‘‘You can deal with it for a while, but it gets too much,’’ he said.

‘‘I challenge anyone to have a rooster at their bedroom window for so long.’’

The Newcastle Herald reported a fortnight ago that Mr Maggiotto had led a petition that 30 people signed calling for the council to ban roosters in residential suburbs.

Mr Maggiotto was pleased the council was investigating ‘‘the possibility of developing a policy regarding the keeping of roosters in Lake Macquarie’’.

‘‘The fact is you don’t need a rooster to produce eggs and you can easily acquire chickens without a rooster,’’ he said.

Mr Chong was unavailable for comment but said in a recent interview he believed councils ‘‘go too far with their by-laws and statutes’’.

He questioned whether the council had a constitutional right to interfere in his life and said he needed a rooster to spawn and protect chickens.