Just a rooster...

[Motorboat Cruiser]

A simple warning: I’m sharing this because I know there a lot of animal lovers around these parts. If you aren’t one of them, you may find this exceptionally silly and may not want to waste your time reading it. Still, it makes me feel better to write and share this and I know I am among friends here.


He was just a rooster…

And when we first laid eyes on him, almost 2 years ago, our first reaction was amazement. He was certainly the biggest rooster we had ever encountered. Our meeting was by accident - a few minutes to kill while waiting for a train, and a decision to spend the time walking past a local farm and aviary.

I should preface this. We’ve always just had this thing about chickens. Some people like dogs. Some like cats. Some like bunnies. We love dogs, cats, and bunnies too. For above all, we are animal lovers. There was just something comical, yet noble, about chickens that drew us towards them. A shared idiosyncrasy between Matthew and I, a pastime uniquely special to us.

And the first time we visited the farm, this magnificent orange specimen proceeded to win our hearts. We named him “Reggie” – short for “Reginald Rothchild Rooster.” It seemed a fitting name for a rooster as regal as he. But informally, we preferred “Reggie”. He wasn’t much for formality anyway. For one thing, he had this peculiar behavior, what we referred to as “flopping”, where he would be just standing there, then sort of get this glazed look in his eyes and sort of flop over to one side, sticking his leg in the air, as if he were playing dead. The first time he did it, he actually gave us a momentary scare. Soon after, he was up and around, pecking for his feed, and seemingly fine. The farm workers told us that he loved to do this and that it had startled them at first, as well. Apparently, he was a practical joker of sorts. From that point on, it made us laugh every time he did it.

Reggie could also imitate other animals. He could gobble like a turkey, bark like a dog, and even make a noise that sounded much like the moo of a cow. You couldn’t help but smile in disbelief. He was just a character –plain and simple. We got into the habit of bringing him snacks every so often and it wasn’t long before he was eating out of our hands. Reggie preferred lettuce and there had to be big leaves. And most importantly, they had to be green. While some may enjoy lettuce that has shades of purple, Reggie could spot it a mile away and would have absolutely nothing to do with it. We learned the hard way and got stuck with a few batches of purple before we caught on. I should also mention that there were plenty of other chickens at the farm and we fed them all. Reggie always got preferential treatment though. After all, he was King Rooster. It got to the point that when we would walk up to his coop, he would spot us immediately and waddle his huge body over towards us, getting as close as he could. He would stay there until we left. Even if we went walking around the farm, he would stay at the fence, seeming to know that we weren’t leaving until we said goodbye. He brought us so many laughs and smiles over the years. It was therapeutic for us. You just couldn’t be in a bad mood when you were feeding the chickens and we always scheduled a visit in when we were feeling stressful - or just missed them. Today was such a day.

It just so happens to be Matthew’s birthday today and I asked him if there was anything special he wanted to do. He had two simple requests: thai food and then go feed the chickens. It was to be a good day. On the way over to the farm, we were excited to see Reggie and were discussed having similar feelings of relief every time we would walk up to the chicken coops and see him lying there. Although healthy, he was getting up there in years. We always just worried a little extra about him. I know all of this sounds strange but he was our chicken friend, as we liked to refer to him. But he wasn’t in the coop today. I suspected the worst and inquired to one of the owners of the farm about his whereabouts. She informed us that he had died of a heart attack a couple of weeks ago. Very quickly, and with no suffering. As any animal lover can surely relate, our hearts sank and we grew most sad. It must seem odd to feel such a loss of what was “just a rooster”, but he was such a good chicken with a kind and playful disposition - one who we grew more attached to than we ever even realized. We came home and shed a few tears for our rooster friend “Reggie”, an uncomplicated, unsophisticated and (not so) little animal that won our hearts. And as sad as the day turned out to be, we both realize that it is just part of being an animal lover. We could have chosen not to get attached but that would have meant discarding the joy that he brought us. We chose the other path and are suffering the consequences at the moment. We raised a glass of wine in toast to him this evening and if that makes us crazy, than so be it. Tomorrow will be better, we will get on with our lives but today we mourn our animal friend as we remember how many smiles our encounters brought. We would like to think that we made his life a little more special as well. We tried, at least. He may have been just a rooster but we miss him dearly.

[Morrigoon]

Dude, this belongs in Beatnik, that was some awesome writing

[Not Afraid]

That was a terrific story! RIP Reggie!

[wendybeth]

I was heartbroken when Tori's hamster died- I can certainly understand how you feel. I'm sorry about Reggie.


(This might not be appropriate here, but tell Mathew we send birthday wishes his way).

[RStar]

A freind is a friend, and will be missed. A rooster by any other name, is still a freind.

Reggie sounded like a blast, I'm sorry for your loss.

When I was growing up I had a flock of Pigeons. Then I raised nine abandoned Mallard ducks from chicks until they could fly well enough to be released into the wild. When my kids were younger, they loved when I would pick up the chickens at Knotts Berry Farm so they could pet them. And we fed the ducks at our local parks on a regular basis.

No, your love of all things fowel is not odd at all.

[innerSpaceman]

Thanks for sharing about the life and times of Reggie. I feel like I knew him just a little bit, such was the warmth of that writing. Would that any of us would be so fondly remembered.











And in honor of the solemnity of the occassion, I won't make a single joke about 'chickens' or. oh yeah, 'roosters' or anything..



Oh, and Happy Birthday, Matthew.

[Mousey Girl]

I'm sorry for your loss...

[blueerica]

Suddenly things like "ChickenXing" make sense...

MBC, that was a beautiful story, and only more so because it's true.

[Betty]

I love how he used to fall over with his leg up and imitate the other animals. What a character! Sorry for the loss of your sweet fowel-y friend.

[thecorndogwalker]

Giving an animal, any kind of animal a chance to affect us will ultimately lead to a connection that every spends so hard on other humans.. I think it was a great story. Sounded like a character...