Farewell dear Rooster Friends

So today I made the decision the roosters had to go. Now for anyone that knows me...knows that where animals are concerned I think with my heart and rarely with my head, so for me this was a very "Big Girl" decision. I have this false sense of truth that my home is always the best home for any animal--even when its not. For three large roosters, this was not the ideal situation. They would eventually become more of a problem then their original intention...which was to supply eggs. How many of you out there were not aware that Rooster's do not lay eggs? Well, i did know that...but apparently the girl at Tractor Supply Co was misinformed when she told us that the lighter the chick the more likely it was to become a hen someday. I have done ALOT of research since buying these guys and I can assure you that were Golden Comets are concerned

LIGHTER IS NOT BETTER unless you ARE looking for Roosters. Maybe I should go get a job there and help them learn. INTERNET PEOPLE! It will teach you most everything you never wanted to know...and then some. I suggest the folks selling the chicks at TSC do some light reading and then start educating folks on hens vs. roos. It would save alot of dumbasses such as myself the trouble later on.

The kids actually took the whole situation quite well considering they had grown to love these feathery friends. As a final "sorry" and in hopes of being forgiven we let them out into the tree next to their run. Daisy and Little Red quickly made their way up

on to some of the high branches. Sunny quickly became jealous and jumped up as high as he could... he was able to get about a foot off the ground and seemed quite satisfied with being "taller" than the other roos'! He sat proudly on his branch for a little while. In fact their new free status did little to excite them when about 20 minutes later Little Red went into Rooster Protection Mode (RPM...lol) and began crowing her(his) combless head off to round up his flock. He crowd and crowd...and one by one the roosters all retreated into the coop!
I am thoroughly amazed by the power one little roo posesses. He speaks and they go running.

I couldn't see the threat, but apparently he saw or heard something I couldn't. He spoke and they listened. After he rounded them up into the coop he sat at the door blocking their exit and continued to crow... perhaps warning whatever was out there. I have to admit I was thoroughly impressed by his prowess and even more glad to have made the choice to keep him. Note the random photo of Stanley hanging out with his chicken friends in the bottom photo. Stanley is a scaredy cat...but loves to watch the chickens--and clearly they like to watch him in return!
Anyway, the happy ending to the story is that we gave the roosters to a nice young couple who lives in Northfield...a beautiful quaint Connecticut town (population 12 i believe) about 15 minutes from here. They had 12 chickens already...only 5 of which were hens. They also purchased theirs from TSC...and didn't seem all that educated on the needs of a rooster...I suppressed the urge to tell them technically for every one rooster you should have 8-10 hens. They seemed to be working backwards, but were so happy to take them off our hands FOR FREE! and I didn't want to argue.

Today I was able to locate a couple hens about one year old this month in Burlington...they began laying in December. Hopefully we will be able to pick them up this week (or she offered to drop them off...probably in hopes of getting a peek at their new home). As soon as the ladies arrive I will be clicking or is it clucking away with the camera and posting their pics. I know one will be a Plymouth Rock hen...I have chosen the name Maddy for her...for no reason other than it seems like a good strong hen name!

Factoid: Most standard sized Hens start laying around 20-24 weeks old...and only lay eggs until they are 2 or 3 years old... BUT they live until they are about 5 or 6 years old. Which means they only work half their life and get to relax the rest! Ah~life is sweet.