So Long, Boys!
We finally did it. We finally captured the hens-turned-roosters and took them down to J.P. at Western Farm Center. As you might remember, Farmer Jeff bought me 5 little female Ameraucana chicks for Mother's Day and, lo and behold, 2 of the 5 turned out to be ROOSTERS!!! Not just any roosters, but loud and clumsy-lover roosters!!! These guys were the bad boys of the pen, jumping on, or at least chasing, all of the hens. Poor Jericho and Bruce were out-gunned/out-muscled by these two characters.
I announced to Farmer Jeff, as we were getting ready to go to Western Farm today for feed, that it was time for these guys to go. NOW. Farmer Jeff thought it might be fun to capture THEIR capture on film/photo. You can see that it was not an easy proposition!
The first one, Duke (the-hen-formerly-known-as-Duchess) was easy to get. He was in the coop and I just walked in and grabbed him as he was attempting some sweet talk with one of the girls. He was not a problem. The next one was.
Sophocles (the-hen-formerly-known-as-Sophia) was another story. I strolled up to him in the pen and thought I would just pick him up. NO...not going to happen. I ran around that damn coop, flapping my arms like giant wings, making every attempt to grab him. First I tried cornering him, then I tried...cornering him and then tried...cornering him again, only to have him fly over my head! Farmer Jeff was laughing so hard he could barely take pictures!
I finally corralled him into the coop and was able to grab him by his ankles. At that point, like all bad guys in bad fiction, he went limp, became compliant and stopped strug
gling. He really didn't have much choice! As you can see, he is a real beauty. I thanked him for being with us, told him he would go to a home where they really wanted him. I hope that is the case. When we got down to Western Farm, we saw many other roosters up for sale. He was the most handsome boy down there, as well as his brother. This breed is just regal. They can't help it.
When we got back home, I was able to sweet talk Farmer Jeff into putting up a board over the coop window. It just has a screen and flimsy curtains, which is just not enough protection for our cold nights. Last night it got down to 25 degrees!!! That is DAMN cold for us little hot house flowers in California. Actually, I am the hot-house flower having grown up in San Diego, but I am adjusting to stronger seasons and freezing temperatures. The gray hen is Eleanor Roosevelt and the white one is Martha Washington. They are both Ameraucanas.I leave you with a picture of Sophocles. Goodbye, fair Prince!
Labels: Ameraucana, Sophocles, Western Farm Center
posted by Chicken Mama at 5:11 PM
3 Comments:
Such fun pictures! Thanks for the visit!
Great story and very funny pictures. I hope the boys get wonderful new homes, too. I'm sure the girls will be relieved not to have to fend off their clumsy fumblings any more.
Tell me, what do you have on the ground of the fenced pen - are those bark chips or is it dirt?
25 is really cold for CA! We're shivering up here in OR, too, with high 20's overnight! And today is supposed to bring the "storm of the decade" to the Willamette Valley... 3 to 4 inches of rain is expected in the next 2 days.
Fun story. i hope your boys get a real home that has nothing to do with a stewing pot.
I remember doing that with 2 spectacular silver laced Wyandot cockerels/roosters back in the mid 1990's. The boys were mean to hen and human alike and it was mid December and a blizzard was coming in in 2 days. We has 75 chickens in a coop built for 100 during great weather (i.e. they could go outside). We already had a great rooster, Mr Kazudy, and did not need 2 vicious cocks.
So I caught 'em and killed them, skinned them and ate one and fed the other to the dogs-they were gamy and tough birds. That was the last time I killed and dressed a chicken
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