Benny & the Girls
2022 – February 19, 2024
It’s been a week now and I’m still struggling to put into words and put onto paper Benny’s loss at Kindred Farm.
When we first rescued two chickens, we thought Benny was a hen and the other chicken was a rooster (John). In hindsight we should have known Benny was a rooster because John wouldn’t let Benny eat first. This is not the way of the rooster. Roosters always let hens eat first.
Once we re-homed John we thought we could house Benny with Richard the rooster. We thought if we kept the hens separate all would be well. This was not to be. From day one, Benny just couldn’t wait to fight with Richard. So, we formed two separate chicken families:
(1) Benny, Dolly, Emmy Lou and Henrietta
(2) Richard, Ginger and Mary Ann
Everyone was happy with this arrangement. But Benny still couldn’t wait to fight with Richard.
Unfortunately, Benny got his wish last week. He jumped a partition when none of our volunteers were around and got into a horrible fight with Richard. Why didn’t Benny understand that he didn’t stand a chance with Richard. Benny had scoliosis and a bad eye. Richard is a very healthy, large Rhode Island Red.
Benny didn’t survive his injuries.
This left me a question about animal nature, why would a bird who had all the resources he could ever want and a tight knit family need to fight off another male?
I remember reading Jane Goodall’s book, “A Reason for Hope,” and how she grappled with this question, “why did her beloved chimpanzees fight to the death with family members?”
We’ve had roosters since 2015. We’ve learned a lot. All our birds have are domesticated and bred for either meat or egg laying. But they’ve been able to hold onto some of their natural instincts.
Here’s something to think about too – every single rooster has their very own personality. Benny was very gentle with people while John (same breed as Benny) is not.
I will continue to wrestle with this one but in the meantime, Dee Jones, Monday Morning animal Care Volunteer, sent me this lovely message that she said I could share.
“With great sorrow I know we mourn the loss of such a valued member of the farm. Benny was such a vibrant and active member among the birds. He followed Dolly wholeheartedly and entertained with his morning noises. He will be missed by both the birds and volunteers. I just wanted to commend you and the others who gave caring compassion on that morning as well as prior attention to his injuries. I wanted to share two photos of such a beautiful bird. I look forward to continued volunteer work alongside such amazing, compassionate animal lovers, I am learning so much.”
