First of all, I don't believe in naming livestock, we have one hen that has a name because she's the only one we kept out of our first batch (one died, 3 were roosters.) Now we are so fond of her she will live out her life with us. So we agreed no names for the rest of the livestock.
As my birthday present this year my husband let me get a pasture so we can have more livestock. Got a donkey, more chickens, we're building pens, thinking about goats, etc. Over the weekend we found out the pen holding our lone rooster had been broken into. A huge hole was torn in it and all that was left was feathers trailing away from the pen. We immediately starting working on a much stronger pen, which my husband built from hardware cloth, lots of strong wood and screws, etc. It's great. We were sad to have lost the rooster and determined to do everything we could to not let that happen to another of our chickens if possible.
This morning (after getting to sleep in for my birthday!) I went to the pasture to take care of the donkey and check on the new roosters in their "fort knox" pen. As I'm filling the donkey's water, I hear someone yell "Hello!" The guy who owns the land behind our pasture is standing at the fence. I yelled back Good morning! He says "I have your rooster!"
I thought he meant one of the two in the pen, and I was like, I just checked on them, they're there - when I saw my RIR roo in the neighbor's pen I literally did not know what to say. We were sure he was dead. The neighbor commented on how easy he was to catch, this rooster is very friendly (for a rooster, so I mean he lets you catch him without a fight
)
He handed him over and we chatted for a bit. It sounded like (he was hispanic and I wasn't sure I understood everything) that the predator did get his hens, his two roosters were ok. I thanked him several times for keeping him for me and returning him. I just can't believe he made it out alive, I really thought he had been taken by a fox.
So I held him for a while, checked him for wounds, he looks fine. Just a lot less feathers. I put him in the new stronger pen and watched him and the new roosters for a while to make sure they were not fighting. (He was in with the other guys' roos as well and there's no hens around at all so I think they'll be okay) I called my husband and said I think he deserves a survivor kind of name, so my husband named him "Rocky".
So for my birthday I got my rooster back, and now we have a new lifetime chicken.
As my birthday present this year my husband let me get a pasture so we can have more livestock. Got a donkey, more chickens, we're building pens, thinking about goats, etc. Over the weekend we found out the pen holding our lone rooster had been broken into. A huge hole was torn in it and all that was left was feathers trailing away from the pen. We immediately starting working on a much stronger pen, which my husband built from hardware cloth, lots of strong wood and screws, etc. It's great. We were sad to have lost the rooster and determined to do everything we could to not let that happen to another of our chickens if possible.
This morning (after getting to sleep in for my birthday!) I went to the pasture to take care of the donkey and check on the new roosters in their "fort knox" pen. As I'm filling the donkey's water, I hear someone yell "Hello!" The guy who owns the land behind our pasture is standing at the fence. I yelled back Good morning! He says "I have your rooster!"
I thought he meant one of the two in the pen, and I was like, I just checked on them, they're there - when I saw my RIR roo in the neighbor's pen I literally did not know what to say. We were sure he was dead. The neighbor commented on how easy he was to catch, this rooster is very friendly (for a rooster, so I mean he lets you catch him without a fight

He handed him over and we chatted for a bit. It sounded like (he was hispanic and I wasn't sure I understood everything) that the predator did get his hens, his two roosters were ok. I thanked him several times for keeping him for me and returning him. I just can't believe he made it out alive, I really thought he had been taken by a fox.
So I held him for a while, checked him for wounds, he looks fine. Just a lot less feathers. I put him in the new stronger pen and watched him and the new roosters for a while to make sure they were not fighting. (He was in with the other guys' roos as well and there's no hens around at all so I think they'll be okay) I called my husband and said I think he deserves a survivor kind of name, so my husband named him "Rocky".
So for my birthday I got my rooster back, and now we have a new lifetime chicken.