they can't all stay

I always try to be optimistic when it comes to raising animals. But, sometimes I'm a little bit too unrealistic. We hatched 8 chicks this past summer and it looked like, or at least I was hoping, they would all be hens. That's where I got overly optimistic. How could the entire hatch be hens?

Well, in a word, they're not. When I woke up this morning I laid in bed watching the sun break over the tree tops and listening to the roos sounding their morning ritual. Low and quiet, beneath the full grown rooster's crow I heard the distinct sounds of young males trying out their lungs. There were at least two. They're still too young for me to tell if they're rosters. Or, maybe it's just that I'm not real good at sexing chickens.

After I ran some errands in town I came home, cleaned the nesting boxes and bedded down the coop for a bit of cold weather that's coming our way. While I was working I could see at least three of the summer hatch with distinct rooster features. My hopes of replacing our aging hens is dwindling fast. I'll continue watching the others; and in the mean time figure out how to rid myself of so many roosters. I hate to admit it, but I can't keep them all.

Looking on the brighter side, though, I'll have to hatch more eggs. Darn:)!