RIP, Brave Rooster

With great sadness, I must report the death of Rooster. He came to the farm as part of our anti-fox measures, and he did his job. Roosters were put on earth to do two things (aside from scratching for feed)- make more chickens, and protect the hens. He protected every single one of his ladies, with the ultimate sacrifice. The very same fox, the original culprit, came back while we were out on a walk...as we came up the driveway, Chuck saw a flash of red. We knew right away that it was probably too late for someone. As Jezebel and Chuck raced after the fox, I took Winter inside to her crib and started the search. Last time, when the fox got five hens in about 45 minutes, there were puffs of feathers everywhere, strewn across the yard and some of the fields. This time, I only saw one drift of feathers, fluttering in the evening breeze. It was Rooster. The fox had dropped him as it ran. I will spare you the details, but I waited with him as he breathed his last, then managed to stroke his beautiful feathers for the first and last time. I am deeply sad that he was with us for a short time only, as he was a really wonderful rooster. He died the death of a hero...if he were human, his story would have been a blockbuster Mel Gibson movie, complete with slow motion montage and adagio in the background. But he was just one chicken, on one small farm, on one beautiful spring evening.

Every single chicken keeper who keeps chickens in an agricultural setting (instead of factory farming) has a fox story. Or, usually several stories. Along with dog, hawk, and coyote stories. The predators are doing what is in their nature, and chickens are pretty easy prey. You can't really blame them. But when your chickens get hit, you don't exactly feel warm and fuzzy, or terribly forgiving. We had already made quite a few changes, but fox truly are masters of cunning, and exploit every weakness, no matter how small. We will redouble our efforts, pay Jezebel in rawhide bones for her diligence up at the coop(she also performed well, coming within a few bounds of the fox), and learn to work as hard as we can to balance the cycle of life and death towards life. Rooster helped us make one more step in that direction.

The Birds and the Bees

In response to a recent fox hit, we got a new rooster. He arrived early one morning, popped out of his carrier blinking, and proceeded to introduce himself to the ladies. So far, he is a really stellar rooster- very handsome, very alert and watchful, not at all aggressive to us or other humans, and he has run off both Jezebel and the cats from his flock. We even enjoy his crow quite a bit...it makes the place seem very...farm-ey. The hens knew it the second he showed up, and proceeded to gossip all about it to each other, and still have plenty to say. It was clearly the biggest chicken happening of recent note (fox excluded). They steal treats right from his beak, and managed to pluck a few of his neck feathers- now we really know what henpecked means- but he is boss.

I am currently scrambling to get a hive in place, because someone found a package of bees for me. I thought I had missed the window for this year (bees are in high demand, and you have to order them very early) but I lucked out. A neighbor is passing on an old hive to me, and being kind enough to show me the ropes. To my surprise, bees may be the most complicated animal we have yet, insofar as learning to manage them well.

Winter and I visited the goats a couple of weekends ago, and they are doing well. Chuck, and our friends Heather, and Mike, have done an excellent job getting things ready, and the goats will be coming home to quite a nice facility. They have a house all their own, a nice secure barn, some fun ramps, and an outdoor enclosure with some sweet wooden fencing. The goats are cute as ever. The one pictured is Orion.

Winter has finally perfected her crawl. Or scoot. Or whatever it is. We have wood or tile flooring all throughout the house, no carpet. I think the floor is uncomfortable on her knees, so she has developed her own little crabby crawl, which gets her where she needs to go without having to use her knees. She is getting pretty efficient at it (more than it seems in the video below- she gets camera shy) , and is enjoying reaching and demolishing cabinets, magazine racks, kitty tails, and anything else that strikes her fancy.