Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Taking a Poll: When Is Enough Enough (or Should I Just Eat Him Already)?

I am getting extremely tired of my rooster.  He started with attacking my boots when I entered the chicken run to gather eggs and scatter feed.  Now he is attacking my hand that is holding the bucket.  Although it would be nice to raise my own chicks and not rely on the feed store, I am eyeing him with roast chicken in mind.  The last time I had an aggressive rooster, he made a delicious curry... What do you think?  Keep and hope a hen gets broody to produce some offspring, or eat, and buy a new batch from the feed store?

Today, I did paper work, mom taxi duties, planted jalapenos, bell peppers, lettuce, Japanese eggplant, chives, two kinds of basil, cucumbers, and peas.  I am in this weird in-between zone, so the timing on things is not in any book, really.  I just do my best.  I checked on the tomatoes the eleven year old staked yesterday.  Then I went in to do the baking: Portuguese Sweet Bread rolls and sandwich bread.  I also tried out my food grinder on the taro chunks I cooked yesterday - wow, that was so much easier than pounding out by hand!  I mixed in eggs and panko and fried them in a little olive oil.  They were so good!

Only two real days for Spring Break.  Friday is Prince Kuhio Day, a state holiday, and I am scheduled to go to a Workshop on Digital Media.  I am only going if my student team will go, and they are dragging their feet.  However, I do need to keep the day open for them - so I need to think about how to best use my remaining time.  I bought more plastic planting pots, so I want to get some more seeds starting in the greenhouse.  I should also do some cooking ahead and freezing, because the last two months of the school year are nuts and I am often to tired to do real family quality meals.  If it isn't too rainy, I might try to squeeze in a ride.  There is always laundry....

8 comments:

Lisa said...

Hi there.
My vote is "eat him already". I had a rooster-briefly. He made it to about 4 or 5 months of age and then tried to take my eye out. He scratched me from JUST under my left eyelid, across my cheek and down next to my ear. This attack came after one or two "warm up" attacks. It might be easier just to buy some chicks and not have to worry about your personal safety!
Lisa

Rae said...

If it was my bird, I'd vote eat. Nasty critters are no fun, and make it harder to enjoy the nice ones. Chicks are relatively inexpensive, compared to dealing with a nasty roo. Perhaps you can find a way to acquire a nicer rooster down the road. I've seen them on places like craigslist before, where they have a nice roo but can't handle the crowing.

Anonymous said...

If I had an aggressive rooster, he'd be my next meal :)

NancyDe said...

Lisa, yeah, that's why our last roo that ended up as a meal became curry - he was attacking my kids. When he scratched a forehead, he was dinner.

Rae, I am sure it would be easy to find a roo replacement. I got him in a batch of pullets, so he wasn't supposed to be there anyway!

Renee, the consensus seems to agree with you :).

Deb said...

I'd eat him, there are some nice roosters out there(what breed is he ?), no need to keep a nasty one around !

NancyDe said...

Deb, he is an araucana rooster. He must have read the blog, because he was the model gentleman this morning at feeding time.

Chai Chai said...

A Roo is nice to have around for reasons other than breeding. He is supposed to protect a free ranging flock and pick out choice morsels for his girls. He keeps a look out for birds of prey and brings everyone home at night.

My Roo is borderline on coming after me too hard, so it depends on how bad he is compared to the good he does.

Deb said...

Next time he comes after you or anyone else, grab him by the legs and hang him upside down for a bit, that sometimes gets the message of dominance across to those bad boys !