Pbird the hen and Phyllo the rooster

 

By our own Professor Farnsworth, who knows his chickens!

Pbird the chicken opened her eyes to a new morning. The human hadn’t come to feed her and her sisters yet and she was hungry. She picked and scratched at the ground near the feeder in hopes of uncovering a morsel one of the others had missed, but no such luck.

  She made a pass about the pen and casually made her way to her escape exit in the fence. Phyllo the rooster always kept his eye on her. He was a handsome devil with his sharp black eyes, red comb and waddles and a very attractive neck spray of feathers about his head. As he does, he followed her for a bit, dropped his wing and made a circle in front of her cutting off her path to the secret exit. “Whatcha doin lovely pbird," he said in his sexist rooster voice.

  “Oh nothing, just want to go on a walk about for a bit 'cause you know the grass is always greener and bugs more plentiful on the other side of the fence."

 
  Phyllo’s pupils went to needle points and tilting his head sideways, he said, “you know a way out?" “Why yes I do” said pbird, the most excellent hen of the bunch. “SHOW ME” he demanded. "Well, I don’t know" she said, "you didn’t ask very nice, perhaps you should try again?"

  Phyllo clucked and tooked and picked at the ground, picking up a small dead blade of grass and tossing it, he said, “roosters should never be denied a request especially from a hen, but you are one of the nice ones and your feathers are pretty and your legs are a nice white. Your toes are straight and feet aren't scaly, so I will try. Pretty pretty Pbird, would you please show me your escape for I, Phyllo, the red combed rooster, would like to see the greener grass and juicy bugs on the other side of the fence."

  "Now was that so hard," she asked. Phyllo strutted, picked a small stick up, tossed it and took a strutting turn around her again. “Oh my" thought Pbird the chicken, "GAWD is he a handsome rogue, perhaps I will sit for him one day." They made their way to that special spot in the fence that she only knew about. She stuck her head through the wire, then past her crop, next came the wings, she had to tuck them tighter and with a 'pop' and a loss of a few loose feathers, pbird was out. Phyllo was a little bigger, so he got a little stuck and as roosters do, he began to panic a bit. “I’m caught! I’m caught!!” almost causing the rest of the flock to raise their heads from the feeding trough, for the human had come to feed them.

  Pbird ran over and said “Shhhhh!!!” in chicken language, gathered his ample waddles in her beak and pulled. Phyllo too, made a small 'pop' and he was through. They quickly ran over the small rise to the greener grass and juicer bugs on the other side of the fence.

  Pbird went into search mode, beak to the ground and birdy butt up in the air and searching. Phyllo kept an eye out while she searched for a bit, perhaps she would find something and maybe he might take it from her. Then, right at his feet, his sharp black eye spotted something, it was a bug and what was that, a tender young sprout of something, bunches of them “Took Took Tookie” he went, to which call pbird came running.

  He scratched, she pecked, she scratched and he pecked and they had a good fresh breakfast as the great rooster in the sky intended all chickens to eat. Then Phyllo, out of the corner of his eye spotted a gray beast slowly roll by with a human in it. The beast came to a stop and the creature inside looked at them. "Pbird! Pbird! What is that?" "Oh Phyllo, you’ve seen a human before and this one likes to stop and look at me for some reason, he lives somewhere near in those barns humans live in. I think he’s ok, I think he likes us chickens. In my mind, he may have had some once upon a time like our human does and missed them very much." Phyllo, blew a strange note out of the holes in his beak, "bah" he said, "me thinks he looks like a human rooster and like all roosters, their intent isn’t usually good for us chickens."

  Pbird the chicken turned and gave Phyllo the side eye and said, "don’t judge you silly boy, just enjoy the fresh greens and bugs. He will go about his business soon." Then in the very next moment, the gray beast rolled on. Much like chicken kind, it was about to start its day too.