Monday, June 27, 2011

His first crow, and it was pathetic

Yes, gimpy roo finally crowed. Long since over his limp, he's still a little slow. Yesterday, he finally crowed, and it was one of the most pathetic things I'd ever heard. But, at least he tried!

This morning, as I was feeding the geese and filling waters before work, I heard gimpy-roo practicing in the coop. All the ladies were out in the yard, enjoying the morning scratch, and gimpy was in the coop all by himself, singing his heart out. It was pretty bad, sort of like a rooster being throttled while trying to imitate a cat in heat. I laughed until I cried. After a few minutes of early morning serenade, our bossiest buff lady was fed up with gimpy's antics. She turned to face the coop and cackled at him loudly a couple times. When that didn't stop him, she left the yard at a run, and scrambled up the ramp and into the coop, cackling at the top of her voice. Next, I heard a crash and a couple outraged squawks, and miss bossy calmly hopped out of the coop and returned to her breakfast. A couple moments later, gimpy followed. Apparently, she'd informed him that enough was enough, and breakfast was on the ground. Poor gimpy...

Farm updates... Probably not going to be posting much over the next two weeks, as Mom is coming to visit, and we have a LOT to do before she gets here. So, quick updates, and I'll hopefully be able to squeeze a couple posts in later to explain more.

Birds- I finally made a new door to the coop and a new ramp, and hope to get a window installed next weekend.

We lost a turkey poult last week. Whatever killed it didn't eat it. The bite on its neck looked like it was from rodent incisors. My best guess is that a squirrel or something was raiding the food and lashed out at the poult when it investigated the trespasser. It was one of our two bronzes. :(

Goats- the goats stripped their pen in two weeks. We're hoping to get them moved to a new impenetrably thick brush zone this week. Nuts! Lyle will likely be rehomed, as he keeps jumping into the pig pen to steal food, and is pretty mean to the other goats (especially poor Snowy). We don't want to have to build a fortress every time we move the fencing, so Lyle needs to go.

Pigs- they still think they're goats. They've started pushing down saplings so they can strip the leaves off. I swear they learned it from the goats. Good pigs.

That's about it for the moment. Hope everyone has a fabulous week!

7 comments:

kpannabecker and jpannabecker said...

I love the pitiful sound of a rooster learning to crow. It's even better than an experienced one. It's kind of like a 13 year old boy when his voice begins cracking.

Sorry to hear about the turkey. We have lost several chickens that just had bites on their necks. We always assume it's a weasel.

I'm sorry to hear about Lyle. I wanted him to do well (mostly because I like his name). Glad you're happy with the rest of them.

Miriam said...

We have a rooster (Hector) that we were convinced was mute. Haa! Ha ha! Sure enough, he found his voice and now he won't shut up...

Paula said...

Your descriptions of Gimp sure sounded like a teenage boy, and I suspect that it's much the same thing. I love that the one hen made him Shut. Up!

How cool it is that your mom is coming for a visit- I hope I get to meet her.

Sorry about the poult! That just sucks. Sorry about Lyle, too, but you gotta cut your losses early before they mount up.

Sounds like you guys have enough to keep you off the streets and out of the pool halls.

Hey, did you ever rename Bubba or did it stick?

Alex said...

"....sort of like a rooster being throttled while trying to imitate a cat in heat"

LOL! I nominate this quote for the blogging hall of fame. Hilarious!

Lana said...

You've got a busy life and with mom coming to visit, I'm sure it'll get busier! I loved it when our roosters began to crow - it was hysterical sounding. Even my neighbors said they would sit in their backyard to simply listen to his attempts so they could all get a good laugh. I just re-located my two roosters last evening, so my rooster sounds are gone. If we were on our land full-time, I'd have loved to have kept them. Oh well. That's how it is for the city backyard farmer, for now!

Lindsey at NW Backyard Veggies said...

I like the little scene of the hen coming in to take care of business. Like a older mama cuffing a 13 year old kid for being too rambunctious.
Priceless.

Rae said...

KP- I'm sorry about Lyle too, but he's too much of a butthead to have around. We're hoping to find him a better home.

Miriam- Gimpy seems to just enjoy morning wailing at the moment, but I'm sure he'll improve. Can't wait to see what the geese think of it, once he starts coming outside the coop for his practice sessions... :)

Paula- The name didn't stick, Bubba or Elmer. We're still trying to find one that works. Our schedule for Mom's visit is pretty packed, but maybe we can do coffee one morning.

Alex- LMAO... I just types it like I hears it. Lol.

Lana- I read about your rooster relocation, and I'm glad it finally worked out. You can always add one to the flock when you move to your land. :)