Two's company,
three's a crowd.
What is four?
In the case of the roos...
four seems to be just one too many.
I opened the rooster house yesterday morning, and these three came running out.
Running, as if to get as much distance between them and their house as possible.
Up the driveway towards the house they ran...
at full chicken speed!
It was concerning, however.
Where was number 4?
Where was poor Fish?
I walked over to the rooster pen, to find poor Fish standing alone in the doorway.
He slowly walked out of the pen and into the yard.
Something was obviously wrong.
And what struck me right away was his poor floppy comb.
(A floppy comb can be a sign of stress.)
Looking closer at Fish, I noticed that he had dried blood speckled down his back,
and his comb was looking a little battered.
It looks like Fish has been named as low man on the totem pole...
last in line of the pecking order.
I realized that some action needed to be taken to rescue Fish from this fate.
However, catching these fellows during the daylight hours while they are out free-ranging
would be impossible.
A chicken re-location seemed necessary,
but it would have to wait til evening.
Once everyone is inside roosting, it is easy to pluck one from his roost and transfer him to
safer quarters.
So we waited.
And watched....
just to make sure that Fish would be ok through the day.
All four roosters stayed in close proximity to each other throughout the day,
but I could tell that Fish had been ostracized.
He stayed hidden behind bushes....close but not close enough to be noticed by the others.
Living in fear is no life for any kind of animal.
Moving to one of the upper chicken houses will be a good change for poor Fish.
Since the loss of our Silkie, Elton, this past winter, one of the houses will be able to accommodate
this poor rooster.
And the beauty of this is...
handsome Fish will have his fair share of the ladies.
Meanwhile, the other three Roos will continue to know nothing other than bachelorhood.
Seems fair to me.
Once dusk fell, we plucked Fish from his roost and transferred him up to our smaller henhouse.
He was quite cooperative throughout this entire rescue mission.
Introductions to his new housemates will be made in the morning.
Oh, the girls will be all a flutter to have such a handsome fellow in their midst!
To be continued.....
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