Birds of a Diff'ernt Feather...
Yeehaw! My daughter and I find ourselves smack-dab in the middle of a chicken show. And, seems the birds weren't the only thing that was rare!
Urban/Backyard chicken keeping… You may have heard of it. And, for all intents and purposes, I think it’s a good idea*. I had even researched it somewhat this past couple of years, but I haven’t really had time in between my jobs, and other projects to give it much consideration, until Saturday, when my daughter and I happened upon –of all things – a poultry show, here in the good ole’ mini-town of Newcastle, Oklahoma.
It all started on a nice, sunny, Saturday afternoon.
I groaned, & slipped my IRS payment into the big, blue mail box at the mayberry-esque post office, and one wrong/right turn found us at a parking lot that resembled a partially open, one-story rec-center. The gravel driveway was rife with 4x4s and cages upon cages upon cages upon cages of POULTRY, of all varieties.
My daughter didn’t have to beg me too hard to go check out these exotic yard birds. There were many different types, colors and sizes, and then… HIM. I saw the mother of all roosters (Ok. Maybe he was the Papa to the mother-of-all-roosters.) (Please forgive, for I was at a loss for words.) ;-) Even if you’re not a chicken (or bird) person, you’d probably still say,” That’s a pretty damned COOL looking rooster.”
He can best be described as a giant, black Pomeranian-turned-Yard-Monster. His black feathers blowing in the breeze, covering his substantial frame only added to his ominous countenance. I am positive if this bird were out of his cage, he could’ve easily stood at my mid-thigh. He moved like a lumbering giant, one foot planted down after the other slowly in his (prob) 3x3 cage, which only added more of an intimidating air to him. Each move seemed deliberate as he eyed us… keen to our every move.
He had that cocky bravado… plenty, that if you saw that bird OUT of it’s cage, you’d probably run, praying….
I knew I had to have him. ;-)
Now, I’ve largely abandoned my impulsive purchases of years-ago, but, this strange looking brute was really working on my Achilles.
But… this is not my house. I rent. I am a good tenant. (At least, I try to be.) When we got home, I told the homeowners about the anomaly we had seen (more out of excitement than trying to appeal the idea of owning him.) But, what to my surprise? The house matron surprises me, by saying, “Go back and get that bird.”
My responsible side was favoring my lethargic-feeling side that day, and we decided IF we get one, we would wait till spring, and get a couple of baby chicks. (We had learned his variety is called Cochin.) There are a few holes in the fence that need to be repaired, and also, we would need a hen house for them to roost in). Yard size is not an issue, as this house sits on about 2 acres… plenty of room for a big, bad, uh.. rooster. ;-)
Even though we decided waiting till spring is best, we didn’t have much to do today, so, we moseyed back down the street, back to the foul show, to inquire of the breeder and also to get a ball park on just how much one of these beauties would run ya. At almost 3PM, most of the cages were packed up and gone, save for a few straggling chicken keepers. Unfortunately, our big brute was gone, along with most of the rows of chickens that had been around him.
We decided to mingle with the locals… and ask about the breed. (Maybe we could find out who the breeder was, and if they were local?)
A lady sat behind an authoritative looking card table, and I asked her if there was some kind of website we could go to. She summons an old man. Correction. She shouts across the building. (I cringe, because I hate yelling of any kind.)
Out from the crowd, emerges an old dude who looks like he may have had a rough couple of days. He has on a baseball cap (the farmerish, redneck type), a plaid shirt, jeans, and blood? Yep. Blood running down from a nice (peck?) on his right arm. Still, there’s a feisty gleam in those old blue eyes. I half expected him to spit down some chaw, even though we were in the building.
“A website?” He squinted, as though I had just asked him whether or not he owned a tube of lipstick. “I dunno.” He turns to another fellow. “We have a website?” “No, I don’t think so.” The man answered. The old man looks out over the crowd, “Does anybody have a website?!” Once again, shouting was the preferred style of communication. (It was now I doubted this guy or half the people there even owned cell phones!) ;-)
Finally, eureka! A younger guy emerges, and said he had a website, but the most he could tell me was it’s called, “Back yard chickens”. Uhm… Ok… Guess I’ll be googling that, since he didn’t know if it was dot com, dot net, or whatever…
Additionally, they told us they have auctions/sales there at that very establishment every other weekend of the month. “There’s one November 5th, but I’m not sure what day that lands on..” the friendly lady tells my daughter and I.
“Okay… Thanks.” I smiled. By now, I had gotten over the audacity of the yelling, and had grown keenly aware that these locals had been standing extremely close to us… to each other… I was starting to feel, uhh…“cooped up”.
My daughter and I made a pretty quick exit - not knowing quite what to expect next!
As for the chickens? Well, if I do decide to go through with it, I think I’m just gonna go ahead and wait until next spring… as long as I’m still living at this house on 2 acres, (in the middle of nowhere… there have been a few cons to this arrangement. While my roommates are lovely people, the commute to the city has been a little rough on my car... and my pocket book).Not to mention they are smokers, and I am not. Of course, I weigh "This is an opportunity to keep some yard birds…" (again, it’s working on that Achilles heel of mine..)
However, if I DO decide to go through with it, the next time I scuttle down to the chicken sale, I’m asking one of my roommates to drive me, because I think I’m gonna be takin’ a few shots of something potent before headin’ down there. ;-)
* For more information about Urban/Backyard Chicken keeping, here are some good websites (and there are a lot of good ones out there):
http://urbanchickens.org/
Oh, and, before I posted this, I ACTUALLY DID find the guy’s website! Feast your eyes upon: http://www.backyardchickens.com/
As for me? I'm getting the cluck off the computer for a while.
Urban/Backyard chicken keeping… You may have heard of it. And, for all intents and purposes, I think it’s a good idea*. I had even researched it somewhat this past couple of years, but I haven’t really had time in between my jobs, and other projects to give it much consideration, until Saturday, when my daughter and I happened upon –of all things – a poultry show, here in the good ole’ mini-town of Newcastle, Oklahoma.
It all started on a nice, sunny, Saturday afternoon.
I groaned, & slipped my IRS payment into the big, blue mail box at the mayberry-esque post office, and one wrong/right turn found us at a parking lot that resembled a partially open, one-story rec-center. The gravel driveway was rife with 4x4s and cages upon cages upon cages upon cages of POULTRY, of all varieties.
My daughter didn’t have to beg me too hard to go check out these exotic yard birds. There were many different types, colors and sizes, and then… HIM. I saw the mother of all roosters (Ok. Maybe he was the Papa to the mother-of-all-roosters.) (Please forgive, for I was at a loss for words.) ;-) Even if you’re not a chicken (or bird) person, you’d probably still say,” That’s a pretty damned COOL looking rooster.”
He can best be described as a giant, black Pomeranian-turned-Yard-Monster. His black feathers blowing in the breeze, covering his substantial frame only added to his ominous countenance. I am positive if this bird were out of his cage, he could’ve easily stood at my mid-thigh. He moved like a lumbering giant, one foot planted down after the other slowly in his (prob) 3x3 cage, which only added more of an intimidating air to him. Each move seemed deliberate as he eyed us… keen to our every move.
He had that cocky bravado… plenty, that if you saw that bird OUT of it’s cage, you’d probably run, praying….
I knew I had to have him. ;-)
Now, I’ve largely abandoned my impulsive purchases of years-ago, but, this strange looking brute was really working on my Achilles.
But… this is not my house. I rent. I am a good tenant. (At least, I try to be.) When we got home, I told the homeowners about the anomaly we had seen (more out of excitement than trying to appeal the idea of owning him.) But, what to my surprise? The house matron surprises me, by saying, “Go back and get that bird.”
My responsible side was favoring my lethargic-feeling side that day, and we decided IF we get one, we would wait till spring, and get a couple of baby chicks. (We had learned his variety is called Cochin.) There are a few holes in the fence that need to be repaired, and also, we would need a hen house for them to roost in). Yard size is not an issue, as this house sits on about 2 acres… plenty of room for a big, bad, uh.. rooster. ;-)
Even though we decided waiting till spring is best, we didn’t have much to do today, so, we moseyed back down the street, back to the foul show, to inquire of the breeder and also to get a ball park on just how much one of these beauties would run ya. At almost 3PM, most of the cages were packed up and gone, save for a few straggling chicken keepers. Unfortunately, our big brute was gone, along with most of the rows of chickens that had been around him.
We decided to mingle with the locals… and ask about the breed. (Maybe we could find out who the breeder was, and if they were local?)
A lady sat behind an authoritative looking card table, and I asked her if there was some kind of website we could go to. She summons an old man. Correction. She shouts across the building. (I cringe, because I hate yelling of any kind.)
Out from the crowd, emerges an old dude who looks like he may have had a rough couple of days. He has on a baseball cap (the farmerish, redneck type), a plaid shirt, jeans, and blood? Yep. Blood running down from a nice (peck?) on his right arm. Still, there’s a feisty gleam in those old blue eyes. I half expected him to spit down some chaw, even though we were in the building.
“A website?” He squinted, as though I had just asked him whether or not he owned a tube of lipstick. “I dunno.” He turns to another fellow. “We have a website?” “No, I don’t think so.” The man answered. The old man looks out over the crowd, “Does anybody have a website?!” Once again, shouting was the preferred style of communication. (It was now I doubted this guy or half the people there even owned cell phones!) ;-)
Finally, eureka! A younger guy emerges, and said he had a website, but the most he could tell me was it’s called, “Back yard chickens”. Uhm… Ok… Guess I’ll be googling that, since he didn’t know if it was dot com, dot net, or whatever…
Additionally, they told us they have auctions/sales there at that very establishment every other weekend of the month. “There’s one November 5th, but I’m not sure what day that lands on..” the friendly lady tells my daughter and I.
“Okay… Thanks.” I smiled. By now, I had gotten over the audacity of the yelling, and had grown keenly aware that these locals had been standing extremely close to us… to each other… I was starting to feel, uhh…“cooped up”.
My daughter and I made a pretty quick exit - not knowing quite what to expect next!
As for the chickens? Well, if I do decide to go through with it, I think I’m just gonna go ahead and wait until next spring… as long as I’m still living at this house on 2 acres, (in the middle of nowhere… there have been a few cons to this arrangement. While my roommates are lovely people, the commute to the city has been a little rough on my car... and my pocket book).Not to mention they are smokers, and I am not. Of course, I weigh "This is an opportunity to keep some yard birds…" (again, it’s working on that Achilles heel of mine..)
However, if I DO decide to go through with it, the next time I scuttle down to the chicken sale, I’m asking one of my roommates to drive me, because I think I’m gonna be takin’ a few shots of something potent before headin’ down there. ;-)
* For more information about Urban/Backyard Chicken keeping, here are some good websites (and there are a lot of good ones out there):
http://urbanchickens.org/
Oh, and, before I posted this, I ACTUALLY DID find the guy’s website! Feast your eyes upon: http://www.backyardchickens.com/
As for me? I'm getting the cluck off the computer for a while.
Comments
Post a Comment