Deadly Weapons

We were out all day today at an agility trial, and when we did get home just before dark we had to deal with the rest of the animals.  

The new hens haven't even ventured out of their coop yet (well actually there were two out when I went over there), and we have a temporary fence up to keep them close to the coop for when they do get brave enough to come out.  The poor rooster that belongs to that coop is a bit confused.  Where are the sexy mature ladies he used to hang out with?  He doesn't seem to want to hang around and woo these sweet young things.  So being the feisty little so and so that he is, he flew out of the temporary pen, and then late in the afternoon he decided to go and pay a visit to the lovely ladies in the other (south) coop.  By the time we were collecting eggs and getting everyone sorted out for the evening, he had decided he was going to spend the night in that other coop.  Since it already has a rooster, I needed to carry him back to his own coop.  He is a real flighty thing, but my aim was fast and good, and I snagged his legs and swept him off the roost.

If you want to carry chickens and especially more than one, the easiest way is to carry them upside down by their legs, because after some initial squawking and flapping, they just relax, and well, just hang there.  This guy usually screams blue murder if you pick him up, but upside down, he was no trouble at all.

I had a good look at the vicious spurs on the backs of his legs, and decided that they were to be the subject of today's photo.

Since I didn't have the camera with me, and Larry was out feeding Pride, I had to go back to the house, kick off my boots and head up stairs to get the camera out of the kitchen, all the while with a seemingly drugged rooster hanging from my left hand.

Those black spurs are quite sharp, but since the rooster is only small and is not at all aggressive, they aren't an issue.  Any now I've just spent half an hour reading about rooster spurs....