chicken report {no. 2}

For months I've been watching our birds grow from precious little chicks, to gangly teenagers, to lovely ladies. All the while I've been suspicious of this one. It was different from the start. The bright red comb and wattle developed much quicker than all the other birds. Could it be a rooster? No. No biggie, I thought. It must be older than the others. Then I started hearing funny noises, but it was not even close to a full on crow, so I assumed they were being playful and chatting. In terms of the pecking order, this one was surely more aggressive and very bossy with the others. How amusing and charming, right? A few days ago, I noticed the tail feathers were much more pronounced and magnificent than any of the hens. I'm no chicken expert, and I find denial can be comforting, so I blew it off and attributed it to the age thing. Then, last night, I'm swimming in the pool, and I hear an awkward little cock-a-doodle-doo. I looked at my daughter. Then it came again--not a strong, boisterous crow, but clearly the beginnings of what is soon to be our new alarm clock. Hmmm... Now what? Stay tuned and have a wonderful weekend.