Why Do Rooster's Crow?

Maui, the Demi-God of the wind and sea...we named him from Moana, the Disney Movie

Last night it was cool enough outside for me to sleep with the windows open. This morning, my "natural" alarm was the crowing of my three roosters who start crowing bright and early around 5 am. People seem to have mixed opinions if the rooster's crow is a beautiful sound or if it's the most obnoxious thing to hear in the wee hours of the morning. My opinion, you'll never guess (haha), I LOVE hearing the cock-a-doodle-doo! That sound, for the past five years, now sounds like home to me.

Roosters crow to establish dominance within their flock. They wake up their hens in the morning with their "good morning serenade" to let the girls know that THE MAN OF THE HOUSE is still keeping watch and protecting them. They are also sending a friendly signal to their other rooster buddies that they are the head of the flock, hens are off limits to anyone else.

I love sleeping with the windows open, not only to get fresh air, but also to listen to the cues my roosters give me when it's dark outside. Roosters rarely sleep, they are on guard over their flock 24/7. When I hear a crow before 5 am, I know there is something suspicious lurking around the coop like a raccoon or a possum. Believe it or not, when I hear the rooster alerting me of a predator in the middle of the night, I've been known to run outside with just my nightgown on, a flashlight, and my muck boots, trying to scare away any predators...I just hope this doesn't result with me eventually getting sprayed by a skunk who is trying to break into the coop (it almost happened one time!).

I've had tons of mean roosters, but my main man, Maui, is a keeper. One of my favorite things about him is that he always crows when he sees me. It doesn't matter where he is in the yard, when I open my squeaky front door, he stops what he's doing and starts running to me, flapping his wings while he runs. When he gets to my feet, he stops and crows really loud letting the girls know I'm outside, usually with treats. Maui and I are buddies.

Maui is alerting the girls I have lots of sunflower seeds in my hands. What a guy: )

Thanks for reading my Country Squawk,

Kelly