My rooster challenged a mailman at the wrong moment

Last Tuesday morning, I let my birds out for their usual free-range time when the mail truck pulled up to the box. My big Rhode Island Red rooster, Barnaby, puffed up and charged straight at the mailman's legs. He didn't just strut, he full-on sprinted and launched himself like a feathered missile. The mailman jumped back, dropped a stack of envelopes, and yelled "That bird has a death wish!" Now I have to keep the flock penned up until after noon deliveries, which means they're all sulking and pecking at each other. Has anyone else had a rooster that thinks he's a guard dog?

2 comments

2 Comments

christopher_west11mo ago

That thing you said about roosters not understanding they're breakfast sized really hit me. Used to think my old rooster Earl was just being tough and protective, you know like it was some kind of noble thing. But after seeing Barnaby launch himself at a mail truck like he was trying to fight a moving building, it finally clicked. They really don't have any sense of scale. A friend of mine had this tiny bantam rooster who used to chase their horses around the pasture. Horses! Every time they'd just swing their heads and look confused. Makes you realize they're running on pure instinct with zero self preservation.

wren9761mo ago

Man, that takes me back. Had a Buff Orpington named Nugget who once squared up with my neighbor's Labrador through the chain link fence. Wouldn't back down, kept puffing up and pecking at the wire while that dog just laid there watching him like he was a snack. Ended up having to put up plywood along the bottom three feet just so nobody lost a bird. Roosters really don't understand they're breakfast sized.