Buuuuurrrrp!!! Oh my! Excuse me!
That was one of the most delicious meals I think I have ever had the pleasure to share with friends and neighbors!
Robin really outdone herself this year! She had everything from candied yams to tender cauliflower in a wonderful hollandaise sauce, and of course the obligatory roasted Turkey!
We brought along my moms recipe of candied sweet potatoes and they all but licked the bowl clean.
wish I had known just how many people were coming. I would have made a great deal more. There were 7 of us in total. I had been under the impression there was only going to be the four of us. Oh well, I'll make it up to everyone next year when my own kitchen is done and we can put on a nice great big spread for everyone!
Like I told Denny, "Looks like you're going to need to get out the Alaskan sawmill honey and make me a 20 foot long dining table!!"
If I can get Tom from across the street [a.k.a. Turley Logging & Timberland Management
] to get me a log about 3 or 4 feet in diameter and 20 or more feet long, we just might do it!
The boys are back in their coop since the overnight lows are only going down to about +15F tonight and I'm pretty sure they can handle that as they have before. But OMG, what a scary time I had with Brutus and Red upon returning them to their coop this morning.
I took Red out first and that was fine, other than he was very much on the excited side. Kept struggling in my arms and that's just not like that boy. He has always been content to be carried from one area to another any time I need to transfer him. So, I let him down inside of their coop in case he wasn't quite ready to face all that cold white stuff. He happily scratched around in the fresh shavings I had just put in their coop after cleaning out the old.
I returned a few minutes later with Brutus in my arms. He was being a perfect gentleman, as he always is. Brutus is a real Mama's Boy in many ways. He's very quiet, reserved, and never picks a fight with anyone. He'd rather fly or run away from an uncomfortable situation, rather than to have any kind of confrontation. This includes Red. And due to that non-combative nature of his, Brutus and Red have always gotten along very well. It's always been kind of those two against CB, though they don't ever try to hurt CB, they just want to avoid being hurt by
HIM!
Today, to my utter and complete horror, Red attacked Brutus the moment I let go of him into the coop. I mean, my hands hadn't even cleared his back and Red was on him, a furious flurry of red hackle feathers flaring, leg spurs brought to bare, and a series of vicious grabs with his beak at Brutus's comb and wattles. It was so fast and so unexpected by either of us, I was all but powerless to stop it in time. And believe me, I tried! In a flash, both of them had tumbled out of the doorway of the little coop and hit the ground, totally engaged with each other. I swear Red was going to kill Brutus!
I managed to separate them momentarily. Maybe each was trying to catch his breath before he plunged in for the next round. And that came within about two minutes after I got them broken apart. By this time, Brutus was bleeding from about three or four really bad gashes in his comb and one really bad one on his wattles, right under his chin. That one right there made me believe that Red was going for Brutus's throat to kill him. And yet, that crazy rooster Brutus provoked Red by flaring his hackles at him, lowering his head and making a charge at Red while his back was partially turned. I was right there and kept them from doing much more damage to each other, but even with me there, they still kept trying to get at each other. Nothing was going to make them happy but than to settle the matter then and there, in their own way.
I'm not stupid enough to try to get between two dogs fighting, but I'm certainly silly enough to try to stop two roosters from killing each other. Yeah, they got a few accidental licks in on me. My own durn fault of course. I should have known better. But I love my boys! I could not understand for an instant this sudden turn in attitudes towards each other, and I was determined to stop it from going any further. It had to be a misunderstanding! These two boys have
always gotten along. It's CB that the other boys have always had to tiptoe around.
Now I know CB's purpose in life. He keeps these two boys, Brutus and Red, so busy trying to avoid him, that they don't have time to kill each other. But at that moment, CB was 150 feet away in the pump house.
Both Brutus and Red looked like they had both just about had enough at this point, thank heavens. So, I let Brutus go and stepped back. Yes, they went at it again, but this time it was less aggressive, or so it seemed. Red put Brutus's head into the ground and that was that. Conflict over! Red simply turned his back on Brutus and walked away, satisfied that he had made his point. I may never know what brought all of this on. I hope and pray fervently to God that this never happens again, but boys will be boys, and I'm sure, as we slip closer and closer to spring time, these flare ups are going to become more frequent and more vicious.
I brought CB out, and just as I expected, he chased the other two boys around their covered run for a couple of minutes. Order had been restored, and all three boys quietly shared a meal of scratch grains, crumble and good fresh water. [Their treats are coming tomorrow morning!
] About ten or fifteen minutes after CB joined them, all three boys climbed up into their coop, snuggled down together and took a nap. Just as if this is how life has always been for them. Not even so much as a warning growl from any of them.... Go figure.
I just wish I knew what it had all been about.......................
I think I'll be spending a good portion of any free time I have on plans and ways to divide up the side yard further and still accommodate two more small coops. Something tells me, with or without flocks of their own to oversee, these boys are going to need to be separated come spring.
ETA: Every time I checked on the boys throughout the remainder of the day, they were getting along just fine. No animosities showing, no signs of strained relations.
When it came time to close them in for the night, Brutus and Red were snuggled as close to each other as they have ever been, just like every night before this. I really just don't get it!
