About Star; he is about 2yrs old now and is a very docile rooster; so much so, that the girl's can pick him and hold him and he will 'lay' down in their lap and go to sleep. Last year, he cut his head on Russian olive thorn and of course we "had' to doctor him; I think he did it on purpose because he wanted to be held and 'babied' for the next week-he healed up just fine-can't even tell.
So this past month, he showed up one afternoon with a major limp. We have no idea what happened but of course he was quite 'comfy' with Jessie holding him while I looked at his leg. No evidence of any trauma other than the limp and he can't spread his toes well so I'm not sure if he broke the bones in his foot or toes or ruptured some tendons etc. The girl's of course went right to the question, "Your not going to kill him are you?" To which I replied, "If he is still willing to get himself up to get food and water and doesn't get worse, we will see how he does and see if his leg will heal." This by the way is our second rooster with a broken leg; the first one spent a month in our yard healing up only to be killed by a skunk after I put him back out with the others; needless to say we were quite sad.
So back to Star, I originally left him out on the property with the rest of them because he was getting himself around just fine-this made me happy. Then, our youngest rooster(2nd rooster in the pecking order and happens to be the chick that 'we' hatched last year), all of a sudden got a boost of testosterone(or something) and decided that Star needed to die!!! He got a hold of him and managed to tear 2 fairly large 'holes' in Star's neck. Of course the question, "Mom, are we going to have to kill him? I don't want him dead." I answer, " I have some stuff that we will try treating him with and we'll put him in the yard so that he can heal." Truth is, I didn't want to kill him either.
Star thinks that he is in heaven and has his new routine down. Food and water under Kentucky Coffee trees, shade and windbreak under honeysuckle bush or current bushes. Protection from rain under the deck and 'mom' brings him his scratch every morning by the honeysuckle bush. Oh, he has a friend too; one that he liked to 'study' and follow and occasionally chase last year.
Poor Lee; cats that he can't eat, horses that he can't heard, goats that he can't eat or heard and now a chicken is in his yard that he can't eat, heard, paw at, catch, chase, etc........
Actually, I don't think he minds him at all. Originally, Lee had his head down on his paws and Star was lying down. I think that they have an understanding and can relate to injuries in their past that have changed them forever-Lee's story is a bit graphic-no other way to put it!
"Mom, you know that I don't like the camera and me laying here next to a chicken, of all things, looks really bad!!! What will my friends think? Any dignity that I have as a noble, protective German Shepherd is gone. I am a disgrace to the breed!!! Whoa is me, whoa is me!!"" Lee, its okay. You can blame me. I have taught you to not chase the chickens, the cats, the horses(well, you learned that one the hard way. You should be thankful that your still here). As for the goats, I have let you help me some but you can't blame me when you scatter the goats and then I'm upset because they have gone in 20 different directions eating my flowers, trees etc..... As for your little 'accident' I have told no-one, well almost no-one but believe me, they all felt sorry for you, especially the men. Believe me when I tell you, that people see you and they think, 'what a noble, beautiful, handsome shepherd.' He is so well behaved. What a good dog. So see, we are the only ones that you need to concern yourself with. You be-friending Star is seen as a noble, dignifying thing. People have a tendency to be to judgmental over all sorts of things so I commend you and thank you for the example that you have set. Good boy."
Well, maybe he will have to think about it for a while. He promptly left this spot after this photo but later, he was back.
Well, maybe he will have to think about it for a while. He promptly left this spot after this photo but later, he was back.All that I said about Lee being a good dog is true but whats also true, and I can't share this with him-he's too sensitive, he sheds at least 2-3 other dogs out of his coat each year, and his lack of hearing or selective hearing is getting real annoying. While he can claim 'big guns' for some of his hearing loss, its gotten worse particularly with me and lately seems to be wanting to wander a bit from the yard. Maybe we should have another talk?
