#easter egger rooster

[thomas--bombadil]

A new rooster joins the family. This one is a young Easter-Egger.

Hopefully, he will be as brave a protector of the flock, as our last rooster (who lost his life defending against a large predator).

[kristinamercedes]

Farm, Officially

     There's a funny thing that happens when you add the crow of a rooster to the buzz of bees, the clucks of hens and the scurry of rabbits: you suddenly, officially, join the ranks of farm-dom.

     And even so, there's more to getting a rooster than that; for me, the cock's crow sounds like home. The tiny island in the Atlantic from which I hail is home to hundreds of wild "gypsy" chickens, descended from Spanish fighting Game brought from Cuba many generations ago. Tourists and visitors to Key West find them charming; transplants to the city find them intolerable (and admittedly, these precocious birds do perch on cars, poop in pools, and the roosters keep many downtown residents awake through the wee hours of the night with their crowing). True natives, on the other hand, find that having chickens underfoot is just another normal part of island life; most of us respect the origins of this wild inhabitant and are endeared by their quirky ways.

A Key West "Gypsy" chicken, taken two summers ago. This handsome ginger ruled the grassy area outside the KW Post Office.

     We'd always toyed around with the idea of giving our flock of ladies a boy-toy, but couldn't justify it. We don't have many predators and we won't be hatching eggs any time soon. But I got a call this week that an Easter Egger roo had been dropped off at Eagledove Greenhouse (where we purchase our feed and I teach my homesteading workshops), and couldn't resist . Shortly after meeting this beautiful boy, we knew he'd make a lovely addition to our little homestead.

     So, I got to work cleaning out the tractor for the big boy's new quarters; fresh linoleum went in and I hosed out the worst of it (the worst being old crusty chicken sh*t, dead spiders, and caterpillar cocoon carcases. Yuck). He'll be in quarantine for a while; 3-4 weeks is a smart amount of time to separate a new bird before integrating him/her to the flock. This guy was raised organically, came from hatchery stock and has been vaccinated, but it's always wise to keep a close eye on a bird moving to a new micro-climate, especially to one housing a healthy flock of birds.

Putting that chick feeder and font to good use once again.

Picking up our new charge at Eagledove Greenhouse and Garden Center.

     What an easy-going boy. We opened the Eagledove coop door, he sashayed on out, and I scooped him up without trouble. He rode home in the Prius without too much fuss (see my video in the last post - he's the noisy fella in the box), and is currently settling in as best he can.

     I anticipate some shenanigans as he's introduced to our dogs and gets used to the sounds and smells of our neck of the woods. But he's a big, healthy, beautiful roo; I know the ladies will love him.

Folks, we're officially a farm... and it's never felt more like home.