The Crowing Contest and a Peruvian Fowl.

Well, at least I said it might be a while.
But I didn't think it'd be this long.  Since May?!  Too long, I say.  

Well here's a short little something to read. It's about the latest excitement in our village.  Our neighbor told us about a contest taking place in tiny, little Stambach.  I kinda thought she was joking, but no...this was the first ever (in our town)
Rooster Crowing Contest.

Germans don't kid, so I instantly knew this needed to be documented through photos.  We weren't going to miss it.

Leo took part. 

I hear him every morning.  Well, it more like noon by the time I hear him.  He's our neighbor's rooster.  He's #5.

And a little note...Germany is a mild-weathered land.  Heat does not visit us often.  Summers are comfortably dewy and sunny; the days are hardly ever sticky and blazing.  

This day, however...was the latter.

Just as Nate and I claimed our spot in the shade, we were asked to be "Official Counters" for the contest.  To be sincere, I just wanted to watch.  And sit in the shade.  But we did it anyway, and it was fun tallying up the crows as the time went by!  

Well, Nate did all the counting.  

I just snapped pictures.

I'm a Lover of all things Furry, Fluffy, and Feathery and so I was enjoying every moment of these 30 minutes!  Wait, no.  I wasn't entirely. The river of sweat running down my back and chest was causing an issue with me.

So the Rules were: 

1. Once the timer started, you counted the crows.

2. NO DISTRACTIONS to the roosters was allowed.  

As in, getting too close to the cage, flailing arms and limbs towards the cage, hollering of any sort, etc.  

Kurt, our neighbor, was vehemently enforcing that rule.

Jessica (granddaughter to Kurt and Gertrude) came along for the show.  She looks enthralled, right?  ;)

The winner from the BIG CITY was there too...and I think he intimidated Leo.  Check him out! 

His final count was somewhere in the upper 70's, I believe.  

A few other contenders:

Stambach was a happening place for a few hours!  I can't even remember the exact count for Leo.  Something like 24 crows.  Well, he did decent.  We were proud.

As we were getting ready to leave, someone was talking (in german, mind you!) about the background of Fowl #9.  The father of that rooster....came from....PERU!  Immediately, I felt a bond to him.  Rather, it's my mother who is Peruvian, I said to #9, "We hail from the same land, friend!"  He spoke to me.  Well..it was more like a murmured cock-a-doodle-doo and a gleeful cluck, we'll say.

It was a hilarious morning.  We laughed a lot and wondered why do roosters crow so much??  Is there an explanation out there?  Our guy, Leo, doesn't do it to wake up the farm.  We're all awake before he crows.  

Maybe he's just proclaiming to the world how much he loves his Sweet Stambach.

-Christine