Oh what a big cock....

There are a few things that I never imagined I would hear being said to me, and " oh what a big cock you have" is one of them. For obvious reason this is a statement that surprises me when people say it to me, however, on reflection he is rather impressive. I am of course referring to one of the cockerels we have here!

We seem to have rather a lot of cockerels, which is a bit of an issue as apart from the obvious reason, they serve no other purpose. They eat a lot, and are a nightmare to catch, which means to have them for food is just not happening. There are four, older, dominating cockerels, two in each orchard, which are the fathers, of a lot of the chicks. However, there are also several younger cockerels which are beginning to be a pain.

The noise cockerels make is never ending, and don't ever be fooled into believing that they only crow in the morning. Mine "cockadoodeldoo" all day long! from about 3am they start, and in a very long dawn chorus, continue until the evening. This is something we have got used to, and thankfully we manage to sleep through the annoying morning wake up call.

The older cockerel that we have is the one that causes the most comments "AL" as he has been named is an impressive cock, as many of the Spanish inform me on a regular basis. I don't claim to be a cock expert,  however, I have seen a few, and I must admit he is rather large and I can see why both men and women feel the need to comment.

There is something very majestic about the way that AL stands in the orchard, and you can feel the wisdom he expels. The chickens follow him like a harem, and he ensures that they all remain in one group, with no stragglers. AL has become the Hugh Heffner of the chicken world, and just like his human  role model he attracts all of the "girls" AL has none of the wealth that Heffner has, therefore, it must be his charm and good looks!