Every Passle of Hens needs a good Roo

This beautiful specimen, a Buff Orpington rooster, is nicknamed “Ol Rand ‘l” after Randolph McCoy.  He came to be called that because I introduced two flocks together with two different roosters.  You can imagine that it didn’t take long for them to earn the names”Devil anse” and “Rand l”  after the great Hatfield and McCoy characters.  Things weren’t pretty around these parts for awhile.  Eventually they began to settle in together quite well until “Devil anse” decided to continually take his aggression out on poor unsuspecting ME when I came down for daily chores.  He started by sneaking up on me and then gradually became more and more bold.  After a couple of “tail taps” with the nearest available stick, he would settle down for a few weeks.  Then he made one fateful mistake by trying to come after me the night before I was going to dispatch my meat birds.  Poor “Devil anse” is all I can say!  I won’t have many animals around here that don’t earn their keep in some way, and I certainly can’t keep one that has a “less than rosy” disposition.  May Devil anse rest in peace! Back to “Ol Rand’l”. He looks out for his flock well.  I have seen him bust up fights among his squawking females, call the hens over many times to food sources and I even witnessed him picking a worm up and throwing it in front of a hen for her to consume! Wow, Rand’l! Pretty impressive! Oh, and I might add that he shows me the most respect and admiration that a chicken is able to give! Who says chickens aren’t smart.  I know better!