Bartley

We have a new rooster named Bartley. He is a beautiful black Australorp whose feathers are tinged with iridescent green. Although he is young and about the size of our full-grown chickens, in a few more months he will be over twice their size and proud of it. He has already begun to take on an air of superiority as roosters do. However, we never realized when we started raising chickens just how valuable roosters are to the flock. They don’t just prance around and crow a wake-up call in the morning. A good rooster is very protective of his hens, always aware of possible dangers. If the hens are scattered about too widely, he crows them back closer to watch over them. If a hawk is flying close to the chicken yard, he will crow loudly to gather all the hens under bushes or a tree until the danger is over. And if a predator ever gets too close, the rooster will be the first to confront him and defend the chickens. Long live Bartley!