“Well, Pearl,” I said as I took a seat in the chicken house, “We have got a small problem here. All these many weeks I’ve been thinking you were a hen and, lo and behold, you are a rooster. I’m over my initial disappointment about the fact that there won’t be any eggs laid or chicks to raise. My biggest worry is that this chicken house just isn’t big enough for two roosters and I must remind you that Stripey was here first. You wouldn’t be worth your feathers if that fact didn’t cause you to brood a bit.”
“I expect you’ve been thinking ‘Well I might just go back to Halifax county to the place of my hatching’. A lot of chickens think they can go back, but I’m here to tell you that you can’t go home again. When you left Halifax you were just a young chicken. Everybody back home thinks of you as Pearl, the hen. If you tried to go back now everybody would be confused by all the changes in your life. It wouldn’t be like you remember it.”
“Now, Frank suggested that one of you roosters might just have to leave this chicken house and make your own way in the world. Being out on your own probably seems like a great adventure, but the world can be a mighty cruel place. At night there is a great big owl that flies around here plucking up plump birds. Last year he finished off 15 guinea hens in one summer. By day there are vicious dogs milling about including that Dalmation next door who also has guinea snatching experience. Life is tougher than you think on the other side of the fence. I just don’t think you’re prepared to deal with all that, being domesticated like you are.”
“We could certainly try to find a good home for you. I could put an ad on the internet with a picture of you and say, ‘Fine Dominiquer rooster searching for good home’. But you never can tell who might show up to get you. We might send you off with some smiling young couple. Then when you get out of the car at their house and there’s no chicken house in the back yard, the writing will be on the menu. Or we might unwittingly send you off with a chef-in-disguise who delights in serving home-fed, free range chicken to unsuspecting patrons.”
“Let me suggest that you try to work out a shared space with Stripey. You could point out to him that you are willing to take on some of the crowing responsibilities. You could work the sunrise shift and allow him to sleep-in every now and then. Why, you two might become good friends. You could play some egg soccer in your spare time. A little head butting and breast bouncing might bring you closer together.”
” I have to go now, but think it over. And Pearl, this is a good time to keep your head about you. Trust me.”