Tag Archives: rooster

Chickens!!!

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It’s a great Monday morning here at the farm. Everyone is content, settled, and happy. Just lounging in the barnyard. The view has changed over the weekend with the addition of some new girls…chickens to be specific. Every since “Beau Cocks” came here as a stray rooster we’ve discussed adding a few hens and this weekend was the right time. Saturday, we went to a Chicken Swap, something we’d never even heard of and found a couple of really nice girls. Also, we’re pretty much certain that Beau is a Welsumer Rooster. The Welsumer is the Kellogg’s Rooster, so he’s a real honor to have (when he’s not spurring and crowing constantly)..but back to the new girls. Our chicken collection now sports an adult Araucana hen, an Araucana Pullet, a Welsumer hen and an American Game Hen. Here are a few shots of them:

American Game Hen

Araucana Hen

Welsumer Hen

Something else we did was purchase fertile eggs from Araucana hens, several we’re not sure about and 6 Buff Orpington. Since the Game Hen is a huge success in her appearance and temperament, we’re saving her eggs to incubate too. Oh yes, we bought an Incubator! So we are definitely chicken ready now. How, you may ask, is Beau Cocks handling the new girls..well, if you remember from previous posts he thinks he’s a sheep..he still does! He is, however, starting to be protective of them. He’ll learn.

If anyone has checked out our website recently, I’m sure you’ve noticed what a mess it is. For now let’s just call it a work in progress. Just as I was getting the site ready and uploaded, Mom was released from Pulmonary Rehab and it’s been a new drama everyday which, once again, is taking me away from the farm and the business. I hope that very soon, I will announce the new website on the Blog and everyone will have something complete and professional to view. Until then..bear with me.

Have a wonderful day!!


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Rooster Antics

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You all remember Beau-cocks the stray rooster? Well let me share some of his award winning antics with you this morning. He has developed quite a little personality since he moved on to the farm.

We still haven’t gotten him any girls yet, so he still thinks that he is a sheep unless a human is around..more specifically my husband. These two “men” have developed a very strong and steadfast relationship with each other. Apparently when hubby goes to the barn Beau helps him with all of the barn chores including running interference when the border collies are given a command..he thinks because noise came out of hubby that means he has to do what he says too. As hubby said, “I’m really worried that one of the border collies might eventually notice him and that could end badly”. All I see from the kitchen window is this little “rooster man” following hubby everywhere he goes and when hubby thinks no one is looking or listening, he has little talks with Beau. They make quite a team!

He has now taken to “dog aggravation” every morning along with standing under each window of the house when he sees hubby moving around and crowing. With the “dog aggravation” he simply stands in front of the pens, flaps his wings, crows and flies up on top of the runs, tapping and pecking and then flies down and does it all over again. The dogs run in circles, bark and run in their houses and peek out. Guess you have to be there.

Yesterday, I tossed a buck of water out the kitchen window (that’s another story for another day) and before I could get the screen down, Beau was standing in the window. Needless to say, my spoiled rotten cats freaked and took off running. Poor things don’t know what dinner looks like on the claw!

As soon as the weather becomes more predictable we are going to build a small coop and get 10 or so hens. That should finally give this little guy his own place in the barnyard. Until then I will continue to enjoy hubby and Beau making the trek to the barn together each morning. I have to say, there is nothing as cute as a running chicken from behind!

…and so ends 2009!

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What a year! I can’t say that I’m glad it’s almost over because that would be wishing my life away and at my age, that’s not a good plan. I can’t believe how fast this year flew by. With Mother’s illness the first 3 months of the year and finishing out the last 2 months with illness again, most of the year has been a blurr.

Just trying to think..we’ve done some farm improvements, a few home improvements, added a couple of sheep and Beau-Cocks the rooster, birthed goat babies in the Spring, added on to our garden this past Summer, sheared sheep and goats in the Spring, took a couple of local trips to the mountains, and other wise it has been a fairly calm year..just the way we like it at the Farm. With the exception of Mom, it’s really been an OK year.

I guess there’s nothing more to say than…..



… be safe and all the best in 2010!!

New Kid Continued….

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Between yesterdays post, Facebook, Twitter and neighbors joining in the name that Rooster, we got some very good and interesting possibles. “Jake” was in the running for a good while. Then Jill recommended “Beau”. Hubby took “Beau” a bit farther and our Rooster’s new name is…

“Beau-Cocks”

(Get it? “Beau-Cocks”…Botox)

Needless to say we will call him “Beau”. Thanks for everyone joining in the fun of naming him and thank you Jill for his new name (sorta). I am certain he will be talked about a lot in my future Blogs.

New Kid On The Farm

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You met this guy on Wordless Wednesday a few weeks ago..today I want to share his story.

While out running the Border Collies, Monday morning, several weeks ago, we heard a Rooster crowing. Around here we have sheep, goats, cows, horses, dogs and cats..no chickens. That’s just not something anyone close by raises and after the fox killed our last hens, we had been chicken free for 4 years – which brings me back to the crowing Rooster. I started following the crow. Imagine my surprise when I found 2 beautiful Roosters pecking around in the cemetery at the church across the road from us.

These guys seemed very tame. Catching the first one was easy. The second one got very upset and confused. He took off into the woods and we couldn’t find him. Hubby had to go to work and I had early deliveries, so we brought Rooster #1 over to our place and said that we could get the other one when we got home. Also, as much noise as Rooster#1 was making, we felt confident that he would encourage Rooster #2 to come to him. Well that didn’t happen.

When we got home that night, we discovered Rooster #1 running around and crowing. Apparently, these guys had been pets..they didn’t even know how to roost. We went to the church to find the other boy but had no luck. At midnight, when we let the dogs out for the last time, we heard Rooster #2 crowing. We got the dogs in and headed for the church. By the time we got there all was quiet. We hung out for almost an hour and decided this Rooster quest would be easier in daylight. We never heard him again! Rooster #1 was just sad the next day perpetually crowing and running around but there was no response. I spent hours at the church and in the cemetery listening and looking for Rooster #2, but he was no where to be found. The following day, I found him dead in the cemetery. He had been slaughtered by what we assume was a weasel.

Thankfully, by day three Rooster #1 had acclimated to his new home and had stopped calling his brother. So now we have a new Rooster! He’s quite the cool little guy. He thinks his job is to tend the sheep. Where they go..he goes. We’ve worked with him a lot and now he knows how to roost, where to find his food (sheep and goats eat anything that hits the ground, so we had to put his food up) and that bugs are a good dietary supplement. He’s a good boy. We are now considering adding a few hens so he won’t be without his kind and hope that the fox families have moved on for now. We didn’t realize how much we missed having chickens in the barnyard.

This Blogger/farmers rant – With so many avenues to find homes for unwanted animals a story like this should never have happened. We live in the country, there are 3 feed stores within a 15 mile radius of us, they have bulletin boards. There, of course, is Craig’s List, a local paper and word of mouth. We would have gladly taken these two Rooster’s if the person who dropped them had simply turned up our driveway and asked. There is just no excuse for one of these beautiful animals being slaughtered! All of this being said, we are very happy to have our new Rooster..there is a new peaceful calamity on the farm now and he’s good for the soul…guess things really do happen for a reason.

We still haven’t named him though..got any ideas? Please share.