This is an article written by my neighbor Joy, about our chicken experiences. She refers to my "Little Chicken Stories" publication.
‘Fowl’ play in coop contest
My neighbor across the street, Mary Rocap, and I are chicken rivals. We try to see who can build the best coop, find the most colorful and hardiest breeds and, of course, try to sell the most eggs at the farmer’s market.
I lost the coop contest because Mary’s husband, Tom, is a meticulous and talented hobby woodworker. A few years ago when we both began to raise chickens, they would cross the road back and forth — who knows why — unless, as the saying goes, “To show an opossum it can be done.”
We both learned that there is a breaking point in the balance of hens and roosters, and a hen may flee to pastures with fewer roosters. A friend of mine said that she thought that hens really don’t want to be bothered by the males of the species. Decades ago, hens might have needed a rooster to help them find food and for protection, but now in modern times hens are much more assertive about such things. Some city folks don’t know that the hen doesn’t need a rooster to lay an egg.
Bucky was one of Tom and Mary’s finest roosters. His tail feathers were a long and cascading rainbow of iridescent colors. He was proud and tall and top chicken of the flock. He had plenty of hens to impress with his strutting and crowing, but one day Mary said he just disappeared.
Of course, this wasn’t new drama for Bucky. He originally brought a flock over to Tom and Mary’s from their next-door neighbor, Phillip.
Well, I must say that we have some fine roosters ourselves. The Delawares, John Henry and Gunther, are large and white-bodied with a black shiny fall of tail feathers and a black ringed neck below a bright red comb. A new rooster appeared some months ago, and proud and gorgeous that he was, he was not welcomed by the Delawares.
The Delawares were chosen for our farm for several reasons: The roosters are docile and don’t bother small children, they are on the rare list of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy and their eggs are nice and large. The downside of being docile is they are not as aggressive as other breeds of rooster, i.e. this newly-arrived competitor.
My poor boys were under the shrubs, chagrined and bloodied by the new intruder. Frantic yet afraid to make a sound, they would occasionally muster a sparring round of a few seconds near the end of the day. I waited like a stealthy thief until full dark and, cloth bag in hand, I grabbed that rascal rooster. I placed him in a wire cage with food and water and retired to mull my next move. My choices were eat him, sell him or give him away more likely to someone who was rooster-free. Although I touted his finer virtues, not one phone call was successful.
Suddenly remembering a large flock of free-range hens down one of the country roads nearby, I hatched a plan. I placed the captured rooster and wire cage in my car and covering it with a cloth.
No one was home when I knocked on the door. I debated for a semi-second about leaving him without permission, opened the cage door and fled. The rooster headed toward the hens, eyes big; I sped for home. I felt guilty later and left a note, but never heard anything more, until we received a wonderful book for Christmas written by Mary Rocap titled, “Little Chicken Stories.”
About three-fourths through, I read the tale of Bucky and Goldie and shockingly discovered that I had taken Bucky miles from home when I could have just crossed the road. For, you see, I had never seen Tom and Mary’s Bucky.
I usually include a recipe or two related to the topic, but for some reason I just couldn’t do chicken. To order Mary Rocap’s book ($7) e-mail gathercreek@earthlink.net.
Joy Redfield Kwapien lives in Cedar Grove on Infinity Biodynamic Farms among the cows, sheep, goats, chickens and a few humans here and there. She is educated in nutrition and nursing and delights in creating meals from local food.
Joy Kwapien - News of Orange (Jan 15, 2009)