A New Feathery Order

Our rooster, Duncan, has retired from active duty. When you have a fantastic rooster you have flock harmony, a rooster who finds tasty morsels and calls the girls to him so they can have it. He crows, he watches out for predators, he has his wicked way with willing girls and he treats those other roosters who attempt the feathery sexy time fairly by telling them off but not killing them. When the door to their coop has blown shut, Duncan could be found with all of the girls huddled up against it and him guarding the rear of the feathery pile. Not to mention, roosters are a gorgeous colourful display in the garden....

.....but no more. Duncan quietly retired himself. He turned into a loner, he ate without waiting for the girls to finish and one of young cockerals took him on, and won. After almost 4 years of faithful service, the reign of Duncan has ended, and that is sad. A great rooster can be hard to find. So we created a retirement run for Duncan equipped with the gentle Emily and her daughter Phoebe. He is separate from the other roosters and he can kingpin in the safety of the oldie run.

Which leaves a vacancy at the top. Nature abhors a vacuum and there is a gaping hole in the feathery order and the flock is uneasy about it. There is unrest as they wait for someone to step up and call the shots. They may be waiting for a while. Floyd, Duncan's understudy is not fit for the role. As a true Autocrat, Duncan did little to prepare Floyd for the top job, so Floyd has spent his days sneaking sexy time with the girls, crowing rarely, forget about predator watch and gobbling the tasty stuff for himself while still looking like a pretty piece of eye candy. Floyd does not tick many boxes.

The new head honcho may actually be one of the young'ens that beat Duncan up. We will see how good he is at it. If he fails, and he has very big chicken feet to fill and an unsympathetic judge in me, he may yet become dog food.

Retire in Peace, Duncan. You have been one hell of a rooster.