I Hear You Knocking . . .

by Pa Rock

Farmer in Very Late Summer

My little band of poultry is completing its first summer at The Roost, and overall the experience has been a success.  I acquired the entire group during a couple of visits to poultry swap meets in the spring.  Swap meets are roadside events in which an assortment of agrarians show up in their pick-up trucks and well-worn mini-vans with caged birds and other small farm livestock which they then sell to curious passers-by.  

My first stop I bought a couple of dozen young banty chicks (bantys are small breeds of chickens)  and a few guinea chicks (guineas are small farm poultry - very noisy - that originated in Africa).  I got all of the little birds home and created a safe living environment for them inside of the chicken coop.  A few died before they got big enough to be released out onto the farm.

Then, while the baby birds were still consigned to their coop prison, I made a second trip to the swap meet to try and find some adult chickens to help safeguard the little ones once I turned them loose.   There wasn't much to choose from on the second trip, and I wound up bringing home one full grown golden rooster, a Buff Orphington whom I named "Ralph."  Ralph was immediately given a free run of the farm, and it didn't take him long to notice the baby's cooped up in the coop.  After Ralph became established in his role as the chief cock of the walk at The Roost, I turned the little ones loose and Ralph immediately swooped in and took control.

When I released the little ones, they numbered seventeen, thirteen bantys and four guineas.  They stayed together in one flock and followed Ralph around the five or six acres of mowed yard.  In the evenings Ralph would lead them all back to the coop where the farmer - that's me - would show up at dusk and shut them in.   Then everyone would have a good night's rest, and the next morning, right at daylight, the farmer would show back up and let them out again.  

It was a good, dependable routine, and the flock did its duty by circling the house several times a day eating bugs - and particularly devouring ticks and chiggers.  This summer proved to be the most "tick-free" that I have experienced during my seven summers at The Roost.

And the little birds were cute - they did cute things and were comical to watch.  Most turned out to be roosters, and they liked to line up along the railings on the front porch and have crowing contests - and little banty roosters put their hearts and souls into crowing!   A couple of times they ventured across the road, and once caused traffic to stop as good samaritans got out of their cars to shoo the birds back into their yard.  Fortunately, the phase passed quickly!

Now, at the end of summer they number fifteen:  nine banty roosters, two banty hens, three guineas (gender unknown), and Big Ralph.   The little roosters are becoming aggressive, fighting each other and even occasionally trying to challenge Ralph.  Yesterday one mean little bastard chased poor, terrified Rosie  for nearly a hundred yards before I finally got between them.  Another likes to sneak up behind me and attack my legs, but so far I have managed to remain the dominant species on the farm.

I am trying to find a few more hens to work into the flock, hoping that will serve to dial down the aggressiveness - but, of course, it could make it worse.

One day a few weeks ago the entire flock gathered on the back porch for a serenade.  I opened the door and threw a handful of dry dog food out into the yard to disperse them - and it worked - but now, of course, like Pavlov's prize students, they have taken to coming back looking for more of that good, high-protein dog food.

Yesterday, while I was sitting in the front room typing, I kept hearing a slow and steady tapping at the back door.  When I went to investigate, I found a guinea knocking on the screen door with his beak.  He was ready for brunch!

And if that door is ever accidentally left ajar, I'm sure they won't even bother knocking!