Winter Rooster

Rocky and Daughter

We woke up to the merest skiff of snow covering the land.  I went out with my camera to record the contrast on the land shown by this rare occurrence and couldn't resist taking this shot of my original rooster, Rocky who is the patriarch of the flock.  He always, always keeps an eye on me.

We got along just fine after I brought him home about a year and a half ago.  He was nearly full grown, and stuck close to the matriarch of the flock, Ruby.  But he never quite trusted me.  Then one day I tripped over him when I was running to untangle the neighbor's cat from a temporary fence I was constructing in the hen yard.  I was instantly viewed as a mortal enemy and combat ensued.  I have since learned to make my trips to the flock with my trusty broom in hand.

Never the less, it is thanks to Rocky that the flock has been kept safe, and that it has increased.  He and Ruby gave us 4 hens and Sparky.  (Sparky is my teddy bear of a rooster and even now that he is bigger than Rocky, I never have to worry about him.  In fact, I suspect he has run interference a time or two for me by distracting Rocky).

I love this photo because it shows Rocky in his true light.  A devoted patriarch and protector of the flock.