Waldemar The Third

Waldemar the rooster was born two years ago in the neighboring village, at our friend's place.

He lived a happy childhood there until he started to challenge his father, Waldemar The Second. And so he moved to us and I think at times that we got him for our sins.... Or as payback for something we've forgotten... That thought only pops up when Walle has been extra silly, though. We do love him to bits, loud as he is.

He seems to have finally settled down to his new life here with us, at Stoneback farm. It took him a year to calm down as he is a bit stressed at times.

Waldemar grew up surrounded by horses, but found sheep extremely scary. In the beginning he almost fainted when the sheep got too close and sniffed. Sheep have a lovely habit of sniffing, when they meet friends and Walle was not pleased. He has a "danger!" warning sound and we still hear it a lot. Life is dangerous, according to our dear rooster.

He loves good food and life in general, when all his hens are following him around in his world. Unfortunately, that's not always the case as he has a team of feminist hens living with him. They do not follow him all the time and they fly of on adventures without him. So he jogs... He is much bigger than his hens and his claim to fame is that he has chased away foxes for them. He cannot count very well and has no idea how to keep his flock together but he is lovely and very kind. What more can one ask of him?

Waldemar lost his wife to cancer in the autumn and after a few days of sadness he realised that his world is full of women and has not looked back since. He even likes his friend's the sheep now, but still finds them a bit too big. They are very handy for cover though, when a bird of prey flies nearby.

We get offers from people who want to buy him, as he is a very impressive looking bird, but we decline. He was a gift and he is here to stay, loud as he is... It would be ungrateful to relocate him again and our village would become so quiet and peaceful.

                                   Credit: Dasha Dimitrova

Two weeks after writing this Waldemar met a bird of pray and is now no longer with us. John found him in a ditch and from the look of our dear friend he did not suffer for very long. I am so glad that this very morning Walle had his favorite breakfast and the sun was out all day for him. We now have eight scared little chickens that will miss him. We also have four sheep that will get to sleep a bit longer in the mornings... And I will have to get used to mornings without Walle jogging around and warning us about everything.

Waldemar died with his boots on, as my sister put it. He kept his hens safe and ended up in heaven. So now everyone there gets earlier mornings and a friendly nod. We will miss him dearly.

We will also get the long lectures about risking lives by letting the hens and rooster walk along being happy. The fact is; things happen, sometimes sad things... I still think it's more important to have a good life and to hope for the best, than to spend years in a small cage free from risk taking and adventures.    But we will miss him....

Text by Nina

Next blog will come out on Sunday 9th of August... Don't miss it