Saturday, October 25, 2008

Just can't stop talking about the chickens...

We've reached a new and hilarious milestone in chicken development - the youngling roosters are learning to crow.
Rooster chicks are born with an innate desire to crow, but there's no innate ability to crow to go along with it. It's a learned skill.
They start out making strangulated "ER!!" noises, with overtones of rusty hinge. Then they progress to variations - "A-ERRRK!" and "ERRRRKKK-AH!" and "ERK!_ERK!" It takes many many tries over many many days to arrive at a true rooster crow.
Now this is hilarious in and of itself. The range of sounds produced by that crowd of little roosters is rich and crazy.
But in the coop next door is our full-grown rooster, Big Red, he of the Monstrous Ego. In his view, his place in the universe is Top Gun, Supreme Master, Cock-of-the-Walk (literally), and Boss of All Chickendom. Every crowing noise from those out-of-sight little roosters is seen as a challenge to his Majesty, and a personal affront.
So he answers each little "ERK!!" with a full-tilt 5-syllable how-dare-you full-throated crow.
Now there's at least a dozen of the little guys, and only one of him.

Big Red is starting to get a little hoarse...

4 comments:

  1. That's hysterical! Reminds of a roomie who was trying to learn to pay the bagpipe in the basement. Remember, trying....

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  2. Plus, what he probably doesn't know is that by crowing to outdo them, he is actually teaching them. Heh. Nature is a cruel woman. :)

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  3. I would sit there and giggle myself silly.

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  4. I am ROFL with this post. Norma added the perfect PS on this one.

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