4a. The Great Chicken Decision!

Larry and Kathleen had an ongoing interest in raising chickens. Whenever they broached the topic in casual conversation someone would invariably say they didn’t want a rooster crowing in their backyard. They did not decide to pursue their original intent because Larry was not interested in raising chickens without a rooster. After five years had passed Kathleen said she still wanted to raise chickens, even if they could not have a rooster. So Fred and Cyndi joined Kathleen and put together a proposal with the following intents:

• for the education of our children,
• to fertilize and weed the garden
• to produce quality eggs for the community.

The proposal assured folks that there would be no rooster, there would be no accumulated smell since the chickens would be moving weekly, and that there was someone ready to take care of the chickens.

The two main concerns raised were:

1. One person had grown up in a village where chicken odor permeated the village and he did not want to create a similar situation at Songaia.
2. Two persons expressed concern about the prospects of spreading Avian flu.

After some discussion, the one person was assured that chicken odor would not be a problem with only 12 chickens and their continual moving across the garden, The Avian flu folks decided they could bracket their fears until there was an actual outbreak and then the chickens might need to go. The proposal was approved.

Post Script: When the first 12 sexed chicks were purchased and raised, it was noticed that one was developing a larger comb. Sure enough, one of the chickens was a rooster. The kids thought the rooster was quite handsome. They also knew he might be headed for the chopping block so they decide to name him “Dead Meat”. However, there was no ground swell from the “rooster haters” to call for his execution. Perhaps, they were not ready to take on the kid’s wrath. In fact, one of the dads, who had been one of the early skeptics for raising chickens, now became the champion for saving the rooster. The rooster was renamed Rudy and still lives happily among the hens today.