Name That Rooster

I took this photo of my white rooster the other day while he was treading through the snow. He escaped the pen about a month ago and I haven’t made him go back in. I have a feeling that there is a rooster conflict brewing in the chicken pen. It can get pretty ugly in the springtime in roosterville. They will fight each other to the death in order to determine the top rooster of the coop. This guy is friendly and so I let him live in the mudroom for the rest of the winter. Chicken poop aside, it’s harmless and he is happy. At least he knows to stay in and away from the raccoons.

I love how this photo turned out. Although it is all white except for the rooster's comb, beak, and eyes, I thought it was a great example of how many shades of white there are in the spectrum. I tend to shy away from white as a design element in my knitwear – it’s a bit too boring and sterile for me. This photo shows how white can be cool and blue like the layers of the snow but that white can be warm and yellowy like the roosters feathers. At any rate, he is a majestic bird.

A while ago, I read somewhere, either in one of our farming mags or on Jon Katz’ Farm Journal Blog, that vets will often ask their clients if their farm animals have names upon arriving for some kind of treatment. The general assumption is that if the animals are called by numbers, the owners aren’t quite so emotionally invested in their animals. If they have names, then perhaps the owners are incredibly attached to their livestock. I have thought about this a lot over the past few months.

We gave up naming our farm animals years ago. Once in a while, a new animal who we buy or raise as a bottle lamb will end up with a name. "Jeremy" the guard llama came with his name. Julia raised and named Cora the bottle lamb last winter. She certainly has grown into her name and become quite a personality. Most of the time, our bottle lambs end up being called the generic “lambo” or “lamby-pie.” Generally, we don’t get too attached to our farm animals although we take good care of them and appreciate each and everyone.

Today, I decided that since this rooster is so nice and since he has attached himself to outside of the coop life, he should have a name. I’m wondering if you all have any ideas.

Send your rooster names to me at kristinnicholasATgmailDOTcom

You can also leave your ideas in the comments section (it will be a little harder for me to get a hold of you that way though if your name wins!)

The reader whose name we adopt for the rooster will get a gift from me. The deadline is April 9th – next Wednesday.