Casual Conversation

Well, everyone is doing well. Little black hen is as sweet and sassy as always.

Volunteer hen is as demanding of treats as always.

And rooster is as rooster as always, except for one thing.

Here lately, he has been the most entertaining of the three for sure. His insistence on seeing me before he is willing to go to bed is always a laugh because he's about as smart as a brick.

But, sometimes, he surprises us with something truly strange.

For this story, there's two things folks need to know. First is that roosters in general, and this rooster in particular, are usually territorial. Second is that roosters have a behavior when they find something of interest the the flock

That behavior is that they make a specific sound, and show the item. The sound is kind of like popcorn popping in that it has that basic rhythm. But the sound is kind of like saying tuk or took over and over rhythmically. They show the item by picking it up and putting it down. The item could be food, a stick, a random leaf, it doesn't have to be anything important at all, just something interesting.

Now, our rooster does this for both hens, and my wife. She can give him a treat by tossing it in front of him, and he'll bring it over to her feet and tuk-tuk while picking it up and putting it down until she touches it or him. Then he'll usually eat it, unless volunteer hen gets it first. She's a ravenous beast.

So, a few days ago, I'm out there with some stale biscuits. Not exactly the best treat, but they enjoy it, so small quantities are okay.

I drop some bite sized chunks, the hens are squabbling over some, and the rooster is busy tuking and displaying the item. Happy chickens, yay!

Well, big boy picks up one of the chunks and makes his way behind the coop, where he starts tuking again, and displaying. I hear some scuttling and rustling, and he comes back out and grabs another chunk. He goes back and does his bit. I can't really see what is going on from that angle, all I can see is his tail bobbing as he's picking up and putting down.

So, I edge my way around the run as he comes back out. I drop a chunk for him, he does his thing, then picks it up and goes over to the fence.

Out of the fence pops a little gray head, followed by little gray shoulders, and then a body and a bushy tail.

This rooster has successfully roflstomped coyote, foxes, and dogs. He's slap curb stomped a bluebird,mice, and a cowbird for daring to touch his food. And he's run off both rabbits and squirrels. This rooster is no joke, he protects his flock, and he beats the crap out of anything that isn't a cat.

But here he is feeding a squirrel. He has adopted this rodent, out of all possible rodents. He's all anti-squirrel, "I hate you, I hate you, I really hate you, but you? You're okay." Our pet rooster has a pet squirrel.

I've been watching. This squirrel will come into the yard a few seconds after the humans are gone, scuttle up onto the coop with something to munch on, and play lookout. A bird or other squirrel comes along, it does that angry rodent chatter, the hens duck inside the coop, and rooster gets all puffed up. It also signals when there's a hawk circling. After the hens are in, the squirrel dashes over to the little hole in the fence and waits until the rooster calms back down and starts foraging again.

Now, that rooster is still as dumb as a brick about most things, but he managed to work out that squirrels are pretty decent alarms, and let this one stick around.

The squirrel gets the extra safety of being inside the chicken run with a top and a bodyguard, the rooster gets a little room to breathe since he doesn't have to be on swivel constantly. And it is just that squirrel. Any others come close to the fence, and rooster mode gets activated.

I'm not sure why, or when, or how this little alliance happened. But the damn rooster is bringing his buddy treats. So, I've been making sure to leave a little extra.