Oh, How the Tables Have Turned

 

The young barred rock rooster you see above has a story.  He was one of the two roosters that we hatched out that we didn't butcher.  Our plan was to save him and another Golden Comet rooster to introduce to the flock to ensure all of our eggs were fertilized so that we can once again hatch some out this year.  

This fellow and his rival (the Golden Comet) lived in the chicken tractor along with 23 hens.  It was not a place of peaceful abode.  The two roosters fought constantly.  I take that back.  There was not a lot of fighting going on.  Primarily, it was the mean Barred Rock Rooster chasing, taunting, bullying, and terrorizing the Golden Comet.

They made such a racket in the tractor.  The poor Golden Comet could hardly eat without being chased around in the confined area.  One day, a day that couldn't have come soon enough for the Golden Comet, we set the 2 roosters and the hens free in the pasture.  FREEDOM!  It was a weird day.  The two younger roosters were met face to face with the dominant rooster out in the existing flock.  He was a Rhode Island Red.  An older bird, hardened by the cruel vagaries of life in the barnyard.

A new pecking order had to be established.  Only one way to do that.  The birds fight it out.  The results of the fights lead to a (new perhaps) dominant rooster and then the #2 and #3 cocks on the walk.  It was eventful.  Lots of squawking.  Lots of blood.  The combs of the roosters were all scarred.  Battle wounds were plenty.  In a couple days, the new pecking order was established.

Believe it or not, the Barred Rock Rooster (the one in the photo above) won the heavy-weight title, beating out his previous rival AND the elder statesman of the barnyard, the old, wise Rhode Island Red.  The Barred Rock was feeling his oats, strutting around the barnyard and crowing to announce his lordship over all of the fowl.  The other roosters cowered in his presence, while he romanced any hen of his choosing.

That went on for about a month.  And then...  Then a change took place that we did not witness, but we saw the results of.  Yesterday we noticed the Barred Rock full of dried blood on his black and white plumage.  But more than that, we saw fear in his posture - a lack of confidence.  The king had been brought low.  He hid in the corner at the sight of either of the two other roosters.  When it came to roosting time, he waited until the other two roosters chose their positions to roost.  Then he humbly came to roost and was promptly chased off.

Here's the surprising part.  The new king of the barnyard is...  you guessed it.  The Golden Comet.  The bird that the Barred Rock bullied for so long.  Now, the tables have turned.  The Golden Comet stored all that abuse up over time.  At last, it was time for retribution.  He stood up and fought like Tommy fighting for Becky against the Gatlin boys in Kenny Rogers' song "Coward of the County."  And the coward is now the cock of the walk.  And the former king now cowers cowardly in the corner.  

Oh, how the mighty have fallen!  It's a great lesson in humility for all of us.

Just Biding His Time

I think the rooster below is a pretty rooster.  He was given to us by our neighbor.  You might call him a "rescue rooster."  Our neighbor was moving out of their house down the road and was giving away a bunch of chickens and geese.  They asked if we were interested and well, who is not interested in a bunch of free chickens?

I really wasn't interested in the ducks.  Ducks make a mess.  Their eggs are delicious and higher in protein, but I don't want a mud hole in the pasture.  We have a big dog kennel that we loaded up behind the truck along with a net and made a short drive to their house.  We ran around and chased all sorts of birds.  We ended up catching a few that we wanted and took them home.

If you look at the rooster with a critical eye, I think you'll see the following.  First, he has a bright red comb and looks healthy.  He also has pretty, iridescent feathers.  He is big and has long, sharp spurs on his ankles.  You see 'em?  Those are weapons!

In looking at those attributes, you'd think that he is the cock of the walk and at the very top of the food chain in the chicken yard.  But you'd be mistaken.  If you look a hair closer at the first photo, his neck is hunched over a little bit.  That's because he has been beaten up and been humbled in a fight.  He knows his place in the pecking order and it is not the top.  Other roosters have fought for and won that position.

This guy struts, albeit humbly, in the pasture with a keen eye out for his rivals.  When he sees a mate, he quickly goes about his "roosterly" duties and runs away before another rooster sees him.  There's no real romance to speak of.  He knows that if the other rooster caught him with a hen, there would be a high price to pay.

So the rooster bides his time.  Waiting.  One day, the chief rooster will die or be killed.  At that time there will be another fight and challenge for the top spot - a new shuffling of the deck that brings about a new pecking order.  Perhaps this guy will win.  His posture will improve and he will be the leader of all the hens and roosters in the hen house.  He'll arise early and be the first to crow.  Life will be good.  He'll be the King!

For a while.  Enjoy it while you can.  There's always someone out there younger, smarter, faster, stronger, ready to take your spot.

Lessons Learned from a Dead Rooster

Well that's just crazy now, huh?  How can a rooster teach a lesson, let alone a dead one?  Well, that's a story that needs tellin', now doesn't it?  I can remember being a young boy watching cartoons and seeing Foghorn Leghorn teaching lessons to the old dog, Egghead Jr., and Henery Hawk.  "B-b-Boy, I say, Boy!"  Sure roosters can teach lessons and now that I'm older, I learned a lesson or two from a real rooster, not a cartoon one.

Image Credit

We've got a number of roosters running around in the pasture.  They are needed in order to ensure that you have fertilized eggs in the event that you want to hatch out any eggs.  The correct ratio of roosters for hens is 1:10.  You need roughly one rooster for every 10 hens in the flock.  We have that ratio and the roosters run around and do their thing.

Roosters can be very aggressive creatures and, as we've learned, there is indeed a pecking order. Roosters will communicate their dominance.  They each have their own 'harem' and the roosters do an effective job of policing one another and generally try to stay out of each others' way.  Every once in a while, though, a rooster will lose his spot in the pecking order.  He will get into an altercation with another rooster after the other rooster, usually a younger one, challenges him for the top spot. They'll fight and the loser, defeated and scared, will retreat.  It is sad what happens next.

The losing rooster will be picked on and intimidated by all the others and will hide from the others and will shortly die.  The other day this very event played out on our farm.  When we went out to milk, we saw one of our Aracauna roosters cowering in fear under the table near Rosie's milking stall in the barn.  He wasn't bleeding.  He didn't have broken bones,  He didn't appear to be injured.  But he was frightened and traumatized.  We've seen this play out several times.  When I fed the chickens, he never came out from under the table.  A broken dude, to be sure.

The Aracauna's hiding spot

I threw him some feed, hoping he'd come out, thinking that maybe, just maybe he'd get his "second wind" and fight back and live, but it was not to be.  A couple days later Russ found the rooster dead in his hiding spot in the barn under the table. What was the cause of death?  I don't know.  We didn't perform an autopsy on the old boy, but I think he died because he just gave up.

After getting beat up and knocked down, he just gave up and didn't have a will to live.  He cowered in fear in the corner of a dark barn and just quit.  Quit on his ladies.  Quit on life.  We buried the rooster in the garden, between the row of kale and carrots and even though he no longer lives, he'll provide fertilizer for our vegetables. So his dying wasn't a total waste, he has offspring running around the pasture and with the nutrients from his decomposing body, he'll provide for our garden, but his death was tragic and needless.

The rooster's final resting place

So what lesson did I learn from the rooster?  Well for one, we, just like roosters, will always have times in our lives when we'll get beat up.  Sometimes we will get beat up by literal bullies.  There is a pecking order.  Everyone can't be the "head rooster," but we all have an important role to play.  Just because we aren't the leader, doesn't mean that we can't contribute.  Excel in whatever role you have. Bloom where you are planted.

Sometimes we will just get beat up by events in life, disappointments, and dreams not realized.  I've been there.  So have you. In those times there will be a strong temptation to just hide in a corner, curling up in a fetal position and you'll just want to give up, quit, throw in the towel.  Take heart, old rooster!  Don't cower in the corner.  Come out fighting.  You have much to live for.  Don't give up. Never, ever give up.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."  Joshua 1:9