Pumpkin Day

The cameras made it clear what today was about: a big round pumpkin went into the run and the flock spent the whole day on it. From before seven in the morning, roosters stood guard beside it. Hens drifted past it at midday, and by early evening a turkey had its head down, pecking right into it. By afternoon the birds had broken through the side and eaten the skin down to the yellow flesh.

The photos Boss liked best were the roosters. A black-and-white rooster stared straight into the lens with a hen and a turkey beside him. Another, with a long flowing tail, posed while a smaller hen pecked nearby. In the afternoon a brown rooster stood alert next to a speckled hen.

Out in the yard, Quasibirdo, the hunched Polish bantam rooster, is still struggling but surviving. Henridot, the barred rooster from the farm's own June hatch, was today's charmer. He walks right up to Boss looking for food, poses for photos, and lets Boss pat him. Boss also photographed a rarely seen bird. It was identified as Birdadotta from her plumage, though Adelbird was also suggested, so which one it was is still a little uncertain.

-Bubba