Page 16 - Book Eleven Havelock

Page 14 PECKING ORDER Written September 26 2009
Onl􏰀 a few people send them but ever􏰀bod􏰀 gets them􏰁 I􏰂m talking about those absolutely unique, wonderfully unforgettable quotables that some emailers feel would be forever helpful if forwarded to who knows how many of their grateful friends, relatives, and once-met acquaintances.
Not every day, only occasionally, mind you, I get them from Earle, Grace, Carol, Ken Nanfelt to name a few. I have also received them from others in the past who have since wearied and eliminated me from their preferred list. And Bob Jones from Havelock.
Bob Jones sent me one awhile back that had a list of important life questions
in one of those chain-letter type emails which he deemed worth forwarding.
Questions Like: Do pigs smell? Are dogs ticklish? Do chickens have a pecking order? Hey. I knew the answer to that one.
I was eager to share my knowledge with Bob. After all he must have wondered about the answer or why would he bother to forward the email question to me. So I answered his email as follows 􏰃 and I know you want to hear the details:
􏰄I can answer that one􏰅 Bob. YES. CHICKENS DO HAVE A PECKING ORDER.
I continued my email: When I was young we used to keep chickens when we lived in Havelock􏰁 I use the term 􏰄we􏰆 loosel􏰀 because it was My Dad and Allan who kept them. Except for the eggs they provided, the rest of the family merely put up with them as a part of life over which we had no control. For instance we all had to endure the smell of baby chicks kept inside the house at least one spring-time until the brood was mature enough to be released to a chicken-run outside.
They were exotic species mostly. It was bantams at first. We got bantams from a man named E L Thompson in Simcoe who kept an impressive inventory of all kinds of bantam chickens. But they were pretty delicate and one year they all got the 􏰇roup􏰂􏰅 an unkind disease that causes ugl􏰀 swelling on the bantams􏰂 faces. Since they dwelt in the basement of our house, my wife Rilyne thinks they all died of the roup because they never got any sunlight.
So we graduated to larger species when we moved to Havelock. Speckled Anconas, for instance. You must have heard of Johnny Cash􏰂s song 􏰄The Great Speckled Bird􏰆􏰅 a theologicall􏰀 incorrect song about getting to heaven on the back of a great speckled bird.
Well Anconas aren􏰂t 􏰇great􏰂 􏰈as in la􏰀ing eggs) but they were speckled.
And Blue Andalusians. They were not blue.
But the pieces de resistance were the Buff Orpingtons. They were buff 􏰃 and BIG. Big enough to terrify little Shirley,5 and Evelyn,3 trying to guard their bread and peanut butter from the greedy attacks by huge buff orpington roosters strolling freely and menacingly in the free-range back yard.
We had lots of buff orpington roosters. Most flocks of chickens consist of, say, a dozen or so egg-laying hens and one rooster to keep order. Allan and Dad had about 7 laying hens and about 15 big virile roosters. Of course that gender ratio elicited many rooster fights over the meager supply of female companionship.
That􏰂s how I know about 􏰄Pecking Order􏰆􏰁 I would be busy every morning washing the big family porridge pot after breakfast . I hate porridge pots to this day. Meanwhile Allan and Dad were enjoying exciting entertainment in the back yard that would establish the ver􏰀 latest 􏰇pecking order􏰂 among the buff orpington roosters.
So, yes, Bob Jones, and yes, whoever started that chain-letter email about important questions. Among buff orpington roosters anyway, there IS a pecking order.
p.s. None of these roosters ever died or even got severely injured in these cock-fights. The loser just backed off and walked away.