Goodbye, Liberty

He’s a handsome loudmouth.

There’s never a dull moment in the barnyard.  Most of those moments are delightful.  Some, less so.

Recently, Liberty the rooster has been crowing (from within the confines of the coop) starting at 4:30am.  Crowing. Almost. Constantly. Every. Morning.

He settles down after around 7am when I open the coop door and he can strut around the barnyard – mostly.  He still gives about ten good crows to let everyone know I’ve been nice enough to let him and the ladies out.

He’s not exactly quiet during the day, either.   After a hen does her “I’ve laid an egg” song, he goes nuts. Like he’s SOOOO proud. Like he wants to tell the world how proud that one of his ladies laid an egg.

I gathered twelve eggs yesterday.  He was loudly proud of each and every one of them.

Today I went out at around 6am, grabbed him and put him in a dog crate in the garage.  It worked, but that’s not a good long term solution.

It’s hard for me to think about, but Liberty needs a new home on a farm.  Luckily, in less time that it took to write this post, I found him one.  My Craigslist ad stressed I was looking for new home, not a stew pot.  A very nice older lady who is starting a new flock on her son’s farm answered the ad in minutes.

And now I’m crying over a rooster.

He’s the only chicken that was hatched from an egg here at Happy Mama Acre.  Maude the hen went broody and I got some fertilized eggs for her to sit on.  One hatched.

He was a beautiful baby.

It was so much fun watching Maude do her mama thing.

Maude was always attentive – she kept Liberty close at all times.

As he grew up Maude tried to distance herself, but Liberty was quite the mama’s boy.  He had to be forced to make his own way in the world.

He was a good learner. And he loved his mama.

The three princesses, Jasmine, Rapunzel and Belle are his pride and joy.  They were never far apart in the barnyard.

They made a fine foursome.

I wonder if they will miss him when he’s gone.  I know I will.

You will be missed, sir.

(Shared at the Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Homestead Barn Hop, Down Home Blog Hop, Backyard Farming Connection Hop, Link Love Thursday, The HomeAcre Hop, Country Homemaker Hop, Farm Fun Friday, and Farm Girl Friday Blog Fest!)