Our Rooster, Gurgles, is the perfect blend of gentleman and womanizer. He’s the first one down the ladder in the morning and waits at the bottom for all the girls to join him. He lets them eat first, makes a particular noise when he finds something interesting or tasty for them to share, and runs to get any strays that wander from the flock. A couple of days ago one of his girls ran under the lawn mower (we attribute this reckless behavior to their little bird brains and the discovery of freshly cut grass to play in). We checked her over and didn’t find evidence of broken bones, broken wings or internal trauma, but she was favoring her right foot and there was a wound. So we cleaned and medicated and kept her inside to rest and heal. After a day we let her wander around outside (securely away from the others) for a while to assess her injury and ability, and on day three we put her in a cage near the coop so she could be close to her friends. Gurgles was ecstatic and frustrated! He would ‘talk’ to her through her cell bars and dance around her throwing grass and sticks in his demand for her release. Finally we put her back with the flock to see if she could manage normal chicken life. Gurgles, as hoped, keeps her safe. When she needs to rest he stays with her keeping watch. When she lags behind he hangs back with her. And when her sisters tease he steps in and settles any disputes. She is still favoring her leg but healing nicely, phew! The flock has lost their fascination with the lawn mower, thankfully. And we feel confident in Gurgles’ ability to manage care for now.
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