serena
Tig built this awesome chicken tractor for our backyard flock.
I haven’t done the obligatory chicken update post. Tig built the ladies a sweet A-frame chicken tractor, and I breathed a sign of relief when they left our house. Our happiness was short-lived, though. One morning, while camping out in our backyard (the living room floors were being finished, but that’s another story) I heard the beginnings of a crow.
“Tig, I think I heard a crow this morning.”
“No, it must have been Kedrin’s chickens.”
“The sound came from the other side of the tent.”
Long story short, we did have a rooster. My mind immediately went to the sociopathic araucana, but it was not the usual suspect.
It was our (V and my) favorite chicken (and O’s second favorite, his first is Rhodie).
Goldie Parsnip Muppet, our favorite hen, turned out to be a rooster.
After we identified the source of the 4:30am crowing–also confirmed by our neighbor who also saw Parsnip in action–we had to do something. Our town ordinances don’t allow for roosters, and the morning cockadoodle-doos were getting louder and louder.
With a heavy heart, I talked to the kids and posted to a few boards. A couple days later, a sweet family came by to see Parsnip. They liked him immediately and offered to take him back to their farm where he would keep eleven laying hens–all around the same age–company. We said goodbye and they took him home.
Then the tears flowed and I dried them.
We talked about pets and farm animals, rules and ordinances, noise and consideration for the neighbors, chickens and life. It’s all part of the package.