Big Bird
(March 2010-May 2011)
It was bound to happen. Big Bird took his role of being the "Alpha Male" just a little too far last night. Husband and I were out in the yard, surveying the veggie garden and checking on watering, peepers, etc. I was walking around the Blazer, when suddenly (really...absolutely no warning whatsoever...I mean a squawk or even an evil cackle would have been appreciated) Big Bird flew up, extended his legs complete with that nasty rear talon, and attacked me! He got my leg pretty good with that horrible claw thing...and it hurt like the dickens! Bled quite profusely too. I'm not sure if I was more upset about the stabbing or the fact that I got blood on my pants...ugh, I forgot to wash those!!!!! So, husband, being the REAL alpha male in this household, grabbed his pvc egg checking pipe (he lifts Coop Mama up with it to get eggs) and whacked the evil bird quite hard. I went inside to nurse my wound...blood was spewing and pouring EVERYWHERE...okay, I'm exaggerating...it was dripping down my leg onto my shoe. When I came back out, I expected to see the vile beast dead. We figured he would just bleed out. He was dazed and most likely experiencing the worst headache of his life. He was hiding under the trailer in the front yard and husband was trying to whack him again. Our new neighbors were at their nearly completed house, so he wanted to wait until the deed could be completed without an audience. Husband took me inside and cleaned (scrubbed=ow!!) and bandaged my wound. Very professional job I have to say. After I was bandaged and husband made me promise to keep this very clean...I'm still a little concerned that I may get the Bird Flu or Chicken Pox or something equally annoying...we went back outside. We figured we would see BB lying on the ground dead. Nope...what we found was him strutting around, looking a bit like Robot Chicken, still going after his women. Seriously?? Is there Viagra for chickens? I wonder... Husband asked me a very important question...did I want him dead or alive. My answer? "DEAD!" This cannot happen again. He has already attacked both kids and husband. I would feel terrible if someone else got attacked by this rogue rooster. On his advice, I went inside while husband made quick work of it. When I came out a few minutes later, the kids had gotten home and we all stood and looked at what used to be the big guy in the yard. He was lying in a sad heap in the coop. I asked husband how it went and he said that when he started going after Big Bird, the hens all ran out of the coop all bug eyed and quick-like. They knew that was not a good place to be, although secretly I think they are happy to have one less rooster to deal with. I guess Thunder came in and tried to get in on the action. Probably saying something like, "So whose in charge now? Huh??!!!!" He has always been low man on the totem pole around here...not anymore! I hope Thunder got a good look at the evening's events...any sort of undesirable behavior from him will most likely lead to a similar fate. Once Big Bird was properly disposed of...Hefty, Hefty, Hefty...things went back to business as usual.
The bandaged wound.
During the melee, where did all the hens go? They certainly didn't stick around for the violence. Oh, found them...in my compost pile! Rolling around, fluffing their feathers, getting all crazy in the pile. Why? I have no idea...I understand there are worms and other delicious creatures, however they weren't eating them, just rolling around. Kind of gross actually. We throw all the non-meat scraps and garden trash in there and all the poop from the coop. We also threw a Sun Chips bag in there last year...why? Well, they redid the bags that the chips come in and they proclaimed on the bag that the new bag was "compostable". I am concerned that this was false advertising. I bought the new bag since I love the chips, however the bag turned out to be ridiculously noisy and annoying. Chips finished...bag went out into the compost pile. Doing my part for the environment! I buried it deep too. So as the chickens are rolling around in the compost pile, what do I see sticking out of the dirt? Yes, the Sun Chips bag buried over a year ago. I'm tempted to write a strongly worded letter to the manufacturer. Lies!
Chickens in the compost pile...ew.
Sun Chips bag complete with proclamation of "compostable-ness".
In other news, the teenagers are very funny...exhibiting typical teenage behavior. They run in a pack, they chase each other, and they are very loud. This morning was the best. I went out to feed them and I only counted five...panic set in. Where is the funny speckled girl? Oh wait, there she is! She was head down, butt up in the feeder. Must have been a hungry girl. I, of course, ran inside to get the camera, but by the time I got back, she had gotten out and was wandering around with the others acting like nothing was out of the ordinary. I think they all have a guilty expression on in the photo below. Typical teens...
Us? Misbehave? Naaaahhh...
Last update belongs to the peepers. They aren't so small anymore and are approaching their teenage years quickly. I went in to feed them and brought the camera this time. You just never know when you'll catch them doing something amazing. I was not disappointed... I came in and they were practicing some sort of chicken stack. Awesome!
Chicken stack!
I think that's it for the local news. Stay tuned...
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