What To Do About Rod!

Well, the routine with Rod Stewart has been the same each day. Every morning, as the sun rises....

I open the door to the fancy chickens' coop so that they can spend the day in their yard. As the door opens, they all rush out, with the exception of Rod Stewart (who is waiting to exit out the back of the coop). Rod spends his days running around the barn taunting Hank (who, if they were together would be beating up on Rod). (Mental picture: Rod Stewart with the personality of PeeWee Herman being beat up by George Clooney with the voice of Hank Williams and the physicality of Jean-Claude Van Damme....not a pretty picture, is it?) Hank, on the other hand, spends his day keeping his hens in line and trying his best to procreate as often as possible. This, of course, makes Rod all the more frustrated (you must understand that roosters have one and only one thing on their mind....and Rod has no hens to himself, now).

At the end of the day, when all of the chickens are roosting, we snatch Rod from his perch on the horse water trough and place him back in the house with the rest of the fancies. Our fear is that if he is left outside he may become prey to an owl during the night. However, once placed inside the house, Hank immediately pounces on Rod and the beatings commence. Rod usually flies up to a higher roost and safety for the night.

Yesterday morning, however, when I opened up the henhouse, I could see no Rod in his usual roosting place (on top of the nesting boxes). I looked and I looked.....no Rod. Then I looked up...way up to the ceiling of the henhouse, where the heat lamp is hung.

There was Rod, safely roosting as far away from Hank as he could get.

(Ok, if this isn't the cutest picture ever!)

After all the hens had exited the henhouse, Rod flew back down to the ground, only to have Hank pounce on him once again. So, I quickly opened the back door, and Rod scooted out to safety.

My problem is this: I now have more roosters than I have henhouses. And although Murray McMurry claims that 25 hens can handle 2 roosters......they obviously didn't clear it with the roosters first!! I think I will make one of my extra stalls in the barn Rod's new nighttime home. We'll see how that goes......I'll let you know.

PS....Yes, I carry my camera in my pocket at all times!