There is anarchy in the hen house ! Tux the Black Wyandot rooster has become a dictator. Tux began his life on our ranch as a refugee from the city. Banished and potentially homeless due to city ordinances, the young rooster possessed none of the self assurance he now displays on a daily basis. The young Tux was initially introduced to the chicken flock in the Roost. The Roost flock was a group of barnyard hens hatched here at the ranch, a multicolored bunch under the guardianship of Adolf the placid Rhode Island Red rooster and Ernie the handsome barred rooster of undetermined parentage. Life in the Roost appeared to be idyllic (if you are a chicken). Squabbles between the "ladies" were quickly resolved by the intervention of Adolf or Ernie who clearly were intolerant of any disruptions to the peace. Contented chickens and fulfilled roosters = happy healthy hens= nice fresh eggs.....so we were happy ranchers. Tux's arrival clearly upset the balance in the Roost and the young black rooster incurred the wrath and vengeance of the resident and older birds.....which resulted in Tux resorting to impersonating a chicken, buried so deep into a nest box that only the tip of his handsome tail gave a clue to his hiding place. We rescued the terrorized "wanna be" chicken and gave him his own little flock of young "ladies" which clearly emboldened the maturing rooster who is now the aggressive undisputed head of the chicken house. Poor Adolf secretes himself in the corner of the Roost and only emerges when Tux is "otherwise occupied", Ernie the big golden barred rooster has gone to chicken heaven ( he lost his last battle) and Tux confidently struts around the chicken pen all memory of his early insecurities gone. Sadly, the black rooster does not distinguished between the chickens under his administration and the hand that feeds...ME. Of late, Tux has been challenging my presence in the hen house, he has objected to me entering the pen and dared me to take the eggs from the nest box. Of late....Tux has been on the top of my hit list, twice he has attacked..... three strikes and MR. Tux will be soup. Sorry Holly, ( Holly is a much loved member of our extended WWOOFER family) Tux was her cute fluffy little pet chick in the city before he turned into a tyrannical despot, I promised to take care of him...and take care of him I have. Should his current behavior continue, I will most certainly take care of him ....for good !
Big brother John arrived bright and early ( well, maybe not bright...it was VERY early !) for his weekly WWOOFER experience here on the ranch. John is our second oldest ever WWOOFER , Greg's Mom being just very slightly older at 93.....neither are actually conventional WWOOFERS but both are most certainly volunteers. After a quick costume change and after donning the requisite silly hat John was as ready as he ever will be for his day at the barn. Misty Moo the adorable Jersey cow does not discriminate against WWOOFERS, Englishmen or men in silly woolen hats as long as their pockets hold a tasty treat or three and John's first mission was to take Misty out to Cow Lane for her day out on the pasture. Misty has been here at the ranch since she was three months old and, in that time she has trained us well, the golden brown cow with deep brown doe eyes smudged with sooty eye liner and eye lashes to die for requires her treats to be brown bread, preferably expensive and never stale. Treats need to be administered frequently, a vigorous scratch behind the ears is never declined and Misty the bovine prima donna is never ignored. Big brother John was still smiling as he removed Misty's head collar and the Jersey cow lingered long enough for the requisite scratch and morsel of expensive brown bread...on to his next mission.
Friends of the ranch are very familiar with the dig the hole and fill it in exercise.....Greg has an aversion to being predictable so a ditch had to be dug but John was thankfully spared from having to follow tradition and John's ditch will help to control the run off from the next Winter storm.
Before Greg could have a change of heart on the ditch John got to work with the paintbrush. The egg hutch has been remodeled after it was a casualty of a heavy wind storm and a new coat of white paint has given the old rabbit hutch a new spruced up lease of life. Tomorrow the transformed egg hutch will return to its original position beside the ranch road and our customers will once again have a drive by egg service. Thank you John.....same time same place next week ? ( ps. did your silly hat really need painting ?)
Well, time to post this well overdue entry.....take care, keep safe, M
Big brother John arrived bright and early ( well, maybe not bright...it was VERY early !) for his weekly WWOOFER experience here on the ranch. John is our second oldest ever WWOOFER , Greg's Mom being just very slightly older at 93.....neither are actually conventional WWOOFERS but both are most certainly volunteers. After a quick costume change and after donning the requisite silly hat John was as ready as he ever will be for his day at the barn. Misty Moo the adorable Jersey cow does not discriminate against WWOOFERS, Englishmen or men in silly woolen hats as long as their pockets hold a tasty treat or three and John's first mission was to take Misty out to Cow Lane for her day out on the pasture. Misty has been here at the ranch since she was three months old and, in that time she has trained us well, the golden brown cow with deep brown doe eyes smudged with sooty eye liner and eye lashes to die for requires her treats to be brown bread, preferably expensive and never stale. Treats need to be administered frequently, a vigorous scratch behind the ears is never declined and Misty the bovine prima donna is never ignored. Big brother John was still smiling as he removed Misty's head collar and the Jersey cow lingered long enough for the requisite scratch and morsel of expensive brown bread...on to his next mission.
Friends of the ranch are very familiar with the dig the hole and fill it in exercise.....Greg has an aversion to being predictable so a ditch had to be dug but John was thankfully spared from having to follow tradition and John's ditch will help to control the run off from the next Winter storm.
Before Greg could have a change of heart on the ditch John got to work with the paintbrush. The egg hutch has been remodeled after it was a casualty of a heavy wind storm and a new coat of white paint has given the old rabbit hutch a new spruced up lease of life. Tomorrow the transformed egg hutch will return to its original position beside the ranch road and our customers will once again have a drive by egg service. Thank you John.....same time same place next week ? ( ps. did your silly hat really need painting ?)
Well, time to post this well overdue entry.....take care, keep safe, M
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