Hi Chook
I use to do noise surveys when I worked for National Safety Council. Noise measurment is a complicated area, to buy or hire the equipment would be very expensive and it takes a specilist to interpret the results.Its not like checking the PH of your soil lots of factors come into play before you get a true reading.Frequency (not how ofen, but a wave height in measurment) and pitch of the sound play a big role, something could have a low dB reading yet be at a pitch and frequency that drives you insane (a baby crying, mother nature puts it at a pitch and frequency that cannot be ignored, yet the dB output is quite moderate).If you got hold of a noise meter the types of results you will get is that your roo puts out about 60-70 dB up close and personal, if you walked a few hundred meters away your probably looking at about 45-50 dB (the approx noise level of normal conversation).If you were a neigbour on the next block it would drop to about 40 dB (the sound of light rain falling). Its not about dB its about frequency and pitch, people dont complaint about the loudness of roosters, just how bloody annoying the noise is.It would be to your advantage if someone measured just the dB output of your rooster from your neigbours bedroom, it would be ridiculosly low and you would fall well well below the 50 dB mark, but make sure its an idiot from council waving the meter about (a spealist will take the other factors into account)I wish you the very best of luck and it could be a good thing to challange council to bring a noise meter out.
cheers essie