When the rooster didn't crow
HW just happened to remind me "remember when the rooster didn't crow? Because he was a beta rooster?". He's right! The big rooster learned to crow after he arrived here, when he suddenly had to "man up" to his promotion to big cock on the block.Now, he is deafening! He puts his whole considerable body into it, and throws his voice like a shotput. When he hops up on top of the coop, perfectly ear level to me, and delivers a cannon while I'm in the greenhouse, oh it makes my head ring! I can't imagine sitting in a small, echoing box with him firing off multiple volleys, every morning. Maybe all the hens are hearing impaired.Actually, he was probably a delta rooster, very low in his flock of origin, voiceless. I'm a big fan of secondary roosters, and promoting them. They're so nice, appropriately frightened of people, and so appreciative of the job, it seems. They take it seriously and do it well.I was commenting on the cocks of both flocks being both so good, it's a shame they are aging and will soon need to be replaced. The red rooster lost all his accent feathers from his tail last year and they haven't come back. Aging. And rooster choosing is dicey. A bad rooster can be a real dick. We are blessed with good rooster fortune on both sides of the haybales at the moment.HW said "No... roosters can be really old and still be good roosters. You know, like in Chicken Run, the rooster's a beat up old veteran."Me: That's an animated feature! You can't base your livestock knowledge on a cartoon!HW: Yeah, but it's a cartoon based in truth!This may have gone on a bit longer. It is a very good movie.