Jorge the Rooster Has Died.

A noble bird indeed!

Jorge, my pure-bred Araucana rooster, has passed away.  The night before I was not able to shut the chickens into their coop until a little later than normal.  When I did get the chance to close the coop door, I noticed a trail in the fresh snow of footprints leading away from the coop and into the woods.  I quickly inspected the chickens who all seemed fine perched and sleeping.  I didn’t think much more about the trail and shut the chickens in and went to bed.  The next morning, I noticed that Jorge the rooster did not emerge from the coop as normal.  When I went looking for him, I found him lying dead.  I suspected the cold temperatures, but on closer inspection, I noticed that there was blood on his talons.  Then, I followed the trail of footprints into the woods where I found a few droplets of blood in the snow.  I assume that before I was able to shut him in, Jorge courageously defended the hens by fighting of an attacker, and in the process, gave his life.

He was a very good rooster for several reasons.  One, he was a lot nicer than any of the other roosters I have had.  He never challenged me.  He was also nicer to the hens.  He rarely crowed, which was nice because I am not fond of the noise roosters make.  His chicks were also terrific.  Very healthy stock.  Many of his daughters are now laying blue and green eggs.  I am collecting eggs right now to try and get a few more chicks out of him.

As the ground is too frozen for a proper burial, he will have to wait until things warm up a bit.  I am especially disappointed because I had hoped to have the same breeding this year as I did last.  I had excellent chicks.  I will write an update as soon as a new rooster can be acquired and introduced.  My only hope is that the new rooster is at least half the rooster that Jorge was.

Thanks for saving the hens, Jorge.  Rest in Peace.