Chickens are fun too!

Dali is our accidental Roo . He was a surprise and has turned out to be a magnificent bird. He is a White Face Black Spanish and they are a rare breed.  Once this breed was a very popular breed as the hens lay a good number of large white eggs.  It is thought to be the oldest breed in the Mediterranean class of poultry and fowl. When the dual purpose breeds came into favor, the WFBS  numbers began to decline. These birds are now listed as critically endangered by the Livestock Conservancy. When I realized that one of the two day old WFBS chicks that I had purchased was looking like a rooster, I was quite excited but also concerned at the same time. I was excited at the idea of possibly breeding them and giving babies away to help get their numbers up.  My concern was due to the fact that roosters can be loud and I don't want to annoy my neighbors. I began to research the no crow collars that I had read about. It seemed like a great option so we invested in one and when he began to crow, we put the collar on him. After letting him get used to it we began to slowly to tighten the collar and after several weeks of moving very slowly, his crow was very quiet and not as loud as my hens when they are singing their egg laying song.  Dali can barely be heard when he tries to answer the other couple of roosters that live in the area that are pretty loud.

Things felt pretty good but I always worried about the collar getting too tight as he continued to grow. All of our neighbors were happy to hear him and said his crowing didn't bother them, but we were feeling stressed about noise, especially early in the morning when most roosters will crow to let everyone know "the day is beginning"! 

I felt that things were ok with the situation but still wondered if this collar was really a good option for our boy.  It seemed unnatural and I wondered how uncomfortable it was for him.  

He began to show some typical roo behaviors that were less then desirable and I made the difficult decision to find him a more suitable home were he would have his freedom.

I was happy to run across a post from a fellow farmer in the area that uses roosters and hens on his 7 acre farm as natural bug control.  I contacted him and he agreed to take Dali. I was happy with this opportunity to give Dali a better, more natural life with freedom from a collar and no crowing issues.  He will be living a free life as a member of a bug control unit. He will be with other roosters who can teach him some manners that he lacks at this time.

He went to his new home on August 1st. His new flock tender was so enamored with his he asked me if I would consider trading Clarabelle (my WFBS hen ) so that he could breed them. I had to decline the trade as Clarabelle is a  member of our family.  Dali may miss his hens and they may miss him too in the beginning, but I'm sure they will all survive this change. I think they will all be better off in the end as a result of it. I know  I will rest easier knowing the collar is not going to get too tight and hurt him.  Our neighbors will continue to enjoy having our fresh eggs delivered to their doors without the risk of wake up calls.  

I have received photos of Dali at his new home with his new flock and he looks happy! I am glad to have had him long enough to see his amazing face develop and have some very memorable times with hm.  I have done several paintings of him and the experience of raising him is not one I will forget.