the Old Rooster

I was about 5 or 6. Mom and dad were still together and everyone from Vern on down was still living at home.

On the ranch there was always plenty to do. Dad always said if we were not working, then we were Idol, and that made us Idolaters, which was totally against Gods way of life.

Dad didn't really know too much about what some terms in the Bible meant, and mostly came up with his own ways of figuring things out, and like a lot of people in his day, he treated kids, like they were adults.

Well every family of any size, usually has one kid, or two, that just doesn't like to work. Manual labor type work, that is.

In our family that was your uncle Wendell. He is about 2 years older than uncle Marvin.

Our 12 cows had to be milked ever evening about 6 pm and every morning about 6 a.m.

It was always one the kids that had to go, find where they had wondered off to, in search of good pasture and water. Sometimes dad would send 2 of us younger kids.

Usually the cows were over at the prairie... that was my rock area. Or they would go down the road to the old sow wash area... that was down the road from the house, and at the first fork in the road you make a hairpin curve and you go back about half a mile. That is also where we would go in the summer, to get water for the house.

Well this one evening was Wendell's turn to get the cows. He hated all that walking, so he would sometimes try different things to get out of it.

This particular time, he decided he would go over to the chicken coop, and make a hole in the fence, that kept them inside their chicken yard, and if they got out, he would be too busy chasing chickens to have to go get the cows. Well that was his plan...

Now for you to appreciate this story, you have to know that we only had one rooster in our chicken coop, with about 17-20 hens. We called him "The Old Rooster".. that was his name.

The Old Rooster, had more pride and more meanness in him than any thing I have ever seen in my life.

I think it may have been because, when Marvin and Lyle were bored, they would go over there and tease the poor fella just to make him jump at the fence with his spears, in a feeble attempt to attack them.

Well anyway, mom warned and warned, us all, time and again, to leave The Old Rooster alone.

Wendell never was very good at listening to good advise.

Vern was up on the hillside, just about a 100 feet from the chicken coop, and he was building himself his own cabin. He had all the poles set, and some of the siding on, but that was as far as he had gotten.

I knew what Wendel said he was going to do, so I stayed back behind the gate that goes into the yard of the house, and watched. Marvin and Lyle, were on the other side of the gate watching as well. We were all scared to death of The Old Rooster.

Well at 5 each morning and night, you could hear dad holler out one of our names, and then command, "time to get the cows".

It was about 4:50 pm when Wendell desided it was time to carry out his big plan. He loosened the chicken wire on the coop, stepped back a ways to wait for the chickens to come out.

Nothing happened.

He then went up to the the cage and rattled the chicken wire a little.

Nothing happened.

(dumb chickens didn't even know they could get out)

He started tossing rocks into the cage to scare them out. They fluttered and squawked and ran all over the inside of the cage.. but didn't seem to know they could get out.

by now Wendell is really mad at those dumb old chickens..

So he ran up to the cage to really rattle the wires and holler at the chickens, and .... swoosh.. quick as a flash,... The Old Rooster, came bounding out of that hole, running and hoping on both legs, feathers flying everywhere, his spures on his feet straight out after Wendell's legs. He ran faster than you would ever think a bird could go, squawking and hollering with all the meanness of Satan himself, right for Wendell. Wendell took off running as fast as he could go, hollering, "hold on ,hold on, don't hurt me, don't hurt me, help somebody help!", The Old Rooster chased him up the hill, over the road, and up the next hill, and The Old Roaster caught him just as he started to climbed straight up one of the poles that Vern had put in, for his cabin.

There Wendell hung, for dear life, as The Old Rooster spurred him with his claws and pecked him with his beak.

Wendell was glad he had on heavyweight blue jeans, that sort of protected him a bit.

We all just about split a gut laughing at him. Boy, that was the funnies thing you ever saw in your whole like. Wendell hollering at The Old Rooster, and begging him for mercy. Wendell stayed up that pole until one of the boys, ran and throw rocks at The Old Rooster, and another ran and got dad.

Dad was the only one that The Old Rooster would not attack.

Well , Wendell got a good beating for that dumb trick.

We all had to help get the chickens back in the pen, but Wendell had to mend the fence and he still had to go get the cows!