We wanted chickens just as soon as we could get them here. Spring finally came and we sent for baby chicks from a well-known hatchery. Did you know chickens come in the mail? I mean, not like in an envelope, but in an adorable chick-sized box with little air holes and that box has the cutest sounds coming out of it! Can't handle the cuteness.
So, anyway, our chicks arrive and they are THE cutest babies I have ever owned (besides my own babies, settle down). Our eight little ladies make themselves at home, in our home, because it was early spring and I couldn't bear the thought of them being outdoors yet. So they live in a dog kennel in our living room and the kids hold them 500 times a day, they even watch TV with us, the whole nine yards.
Chickens grow fast and very soon it was time to move them into the coop (about a month after their arrival). About two weeks after their move, our daughter tells me she heard Sammy crow. "No, that's not possible" I say, "I ordered all girls." It is at this time that I read the small print in the chicken catalog and indeed, gender identifying of chicks is not guaranteed. Well, maybe it is just a hen that happens to crow. After many Google hours later, its apparent... Sammy is a rooster.
I tell the kids that Sammy gets to stay for now as long as he is a nice rooster. Well, after one night when we got home a little late from a friend's party, we are missing a chicken and it happens to be Sammy. The kids are bummed but I think we dodged a bullet.
The next day, I kid you not, our daughter returns from a visit to the coop and says "Pearl is crowing." You've got to kidding me. "Okay," I say, "Pearl gets to stay as long as he is nice."
Two days later, our daughter returns from a visit to the coop and says "Daisy is crowing." "WHAT! No, Daisy doesn't even look like a rooster! Our huge hen, Wyn, is way bigger than him." Okay...so we need a few days to process this. We finally decide that I will attempt to re-home Daisy and Pearl will be the one to stay. Thank goodness for a lovely family out of Pine River that took Daisy (renamed him Mr. Ramler) and to our knowledge, Daisy still lives happily with his 21 hens.
So Pearl lives on with our now five hens... until one day he snaps. Pearl, for whatever reason on that fateful day, decided to stalk and attack me as I returned from the treehouse. After punting him into the woods to save myself... Pearl had to die (Earl Had to Die from the Dixie Chicks anyone?)
Finally, peace and quiet. Five quiet hens and no rooster, just as we intended. For. A. Day. Then our daughter returns from a visit to the coop and says "Wyn is crowing." FOR THE LOVE! I had to excuse myself to say a few choice words into my pillow. Then I returned with, "Okay, Wyn gets to stay as long as he is nice."
Well guess what? Wyn is still here. And we love him dearly. I have never met a sweeter or larger rooster than Wyn. He may look like he could carry a small child away, but he never would. He is just too Wynderful.
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