A Tale of a Rooster

About a week and a half ago, a rooster appeared in the yard. This isn't a really strange occurrence, since many around have chickens. He wandered about, and disappeared at dusk.

That evening, the rooster flew into my nephew's dog pen, lost a lot feathers, and managed to escape - although he was worst for the wear. My nephew caught the rooster, put it in his chicken pen, and he hid behind their nesting boxes. After a day, my nephew brought the rooster to my sister-in-law's pen. That's where the story gets fuzzy, since one story is he escaped, and the other story is my sister-in-law took it to the neighbor's, and threw it over the fence to live with his chickens. Regardless, the rooster disappeared.

Last weekend, while sitting on the porch, the rooster appeared again. He was obviously moving slow, appeared bedraggled, and was not doing well. I went for a piece of bread, broke it into pieces, and coaxed him closer. He ate as well as he could, but appeared to be having a hard time swallowing. I put him a pan of water, and he disappeared again at dusk.

The next day he appeared in the morning. I had no idea where he'd gone overnight, but he was hungry. I gave him some cracked corn we keep for the ducks, which he ate at the end of my porch steps. He'd appear, disappear, and appear again during the day. Late in the evening, I watched him closely. When he wandered off, his nightly roosting place was soon apparent.

He was roosting on top of a cinder block under my sister-in-laws house. He'd found safety from the world that left him scrambling for his life. His tenacious effort of survival was rewarded.

Over the last week, the little rooster gravitated over to my porch. He stays under it, except to eat, satisfy his curiosity about our activities, and is much better. He lost a lot of feathers, when the dogs attacked, and it will be awhile before the wings on one side grow back. There's no way he could fly, so he is very wary.

The rooster's left eye is usually closed, although he'll open it occasionally. There doesn't appear to be any damage, although there's no telling what injuries he sustained.

We now have a permanent resident. He crows in the morning, and during the day. We bought him some chicken feed, so his diet is good. He warns, when a predator flies over, and ducks back under the porch. We'll never know his entire story, but I have a feeling those that do are not willing to talk about their participation. With nobody claiming him, and the fact chickens don't appear from out of nowhere, I have a feeling he's like most roosters. People only want one, those that are not wanted are expendable, and if they don't make it to the pot, they're on their own.

He's a good rooster, and fun to watch. I think we'll keep him.

I need to add he's a bantam. What kind? I haven't a clue, but he's small. He's some type of hybrid, and there are many hybrids.

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Sometimes, I just can't fathom things that happen. Yesterday, on Easter  Sunday, my niece, and nephew, let their dogs loose to run. They found the rooster and finished him off. I'm still fuming, and debating whether it's worth shooting their dogs over. This isn't the first time they've killed neighbor chickens.

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My nephew's dogs must have carried the rooster away into the woods by their house, and he escaped. He appeared the day before yesterday with a terrible wound, which is healing. I have him in a cage, his appetite is good, and the next big question is what to do with him.