My Ladies

So I have this thing about chickens. I would say that my hens are my favorite pets by far in all my many years of having animals. They are smart, and sweet and give me little presents each day just because. They eat all of my kitchen leftovers and keep the grass trimmed all around their pen. The hens are loyal to their rooster and always follow his lead when he scratches up a tidbit of food or a fat, juicy worm in the chicken yard.

But now my roosters....they are a different story. I have two guys out there among the 18 hens. They are macho and cocky and they strut around the yard like they own everything in site. When we go into the pen to collect eggs or to feed them, we have to carry some kind of weapon in our hands to ward the little buggers off! We rarely make contact with them, just swing the club around and yell kind of loud. But the black rooster in the picture is a hard learn. He almost always goes for one of us, pecking or flying at us with his spurs~~an extra claw on the back of his leg that are used for fighting.

When I was younger, my kinda "rough around the edges" cousin took me to a cock fight in Southern Illinois where the good ole boys lived. The farmers would pit their roosters against each other for a fight and bet on the outcome. Some had razor blades tied on to their spurs, so the injuries were severe. It was awful. The winning rooster would leave with their owner's wallet bulging with winnings. The losers were usually dinner that night.

But I have to admit when that little rooster starts coming at me with his spurs flying, I consider how he would do with a few well positioned razor blades.