My favorite cock.

I couldn’t write the title of this post or my photo description without giggling childishly and saying in my best Beavis & Butthead impression, “She said cock“.  What can I say?  I can be immature sometimes.

Folks, friends, readers and visitors… this is one of my roosters, also called a “cock”, Sumo.  He is a Sumatra rooster.  So why did I call him “Sumo” which is a Japanese wrestler?  Uh… because “Sumo” sounds a lot like “Sumatra”.

Immaturity aside, Sumo is my escape artist; he cannot and will not be contained with mesh fencing!  Sumatra chickens are really good at verticality, and he takes himself for walkabout over the corral gate and about the yard every day the chickens are released from their outdoor run.  Aside from spending time molesting wooing the lady-chickens, his main goals in life are to get the songbirds to toss him sunflower seeds from the birdfeeders and to defend the yard from squirrels.

I know when there has been an encroachment by the neighborhood squirrels as there is a great raucous in front of the house with a thump, skittering of rapid footfalls on the boards of the porch, a beating of wings and furious “BOWCK! BOWCK! BOWCK!”  The occasions where I have gotten up to see what has been going on have found me laughing as Sumo chases the squirrel to the fence, beats his wings, crows and struts around with his chest puffed out staring up into whichever tree the offending squirrel has found refuge.  He takes great pride in completing his duty.

Sumo was one of the day-old chicks I got a few years ago who I thought would end up in the freezer.  One day when he was about 6 weeks old I found him lying in the brooding pen trying to stand.  We will never know what happened, though I suspect he got a little “big for his britches” and attempted a vertical leap to the top of the stall divider and didn’t make it.  We separated him from the rest of the little guys in a cage inside of the big pen so he could still “be with” the flock, and let him rest up.  As he got older, he learned that I equaled food, and he started to leap up onto my outstretched arm if I put scratch grains in the palm of my hand.  Soon, he had taken to short stints sitting on my shoulder and in the fall, he hopped into my lap as Mr. Muse and I sat around a chilly afternoon campfire in the backyard, his eyes closing as I absentmindedly stroked his feathers.

Of course – you know what that means – he will forever be a pet.

I’ve fallen in love with the Sumatra breed, plucky, active little chickens.  Sumo is a great ambassador for the breed; so much so that my next order of day-old chicks will have some Sumatra ladies for him.  I gotta keep my guys happy.

UPDATE!  I’m not the only one posting gratuitous cock photos… Thanks Mars Rover for having my back!!