I never would have thought I would fall in love with a rooster. This feathered bird was the best at his job, and the longest-lived rooster you would ever know.
Marblehead was hatched in an incubator on Kelleys Island in the capable hands of Viktoria and Nik Skeans and their parents. He came from a broody hen on the Herndon property, and was part of a spring tradition of the Skeans hatching eggs from the Herndon property. Within a few weeks, he came back to live at the Herndon’s.
Thinking he may be a hen at first, as it is hard to tell with chickens until they are older, Vik named him Maria. Vik was very insistent that he was a she until one day the Skeans family came to visit, and Marblehead crowed, right in Vik’s face! With that first crow, Viktoria came up with the name Marblehead.
Marblehead spent his young roosterhood hanging out and pecking at things with the rest of his Herndon flock, learning from and guiding other roosters along the way.
When I got to the island in 2020, Marblehead was already 8 years old. This old man, who lived until the ripe old age of 13, taught the many hens that passed through his care the fowl ways. He enforced pecking order with precision, always creating a great flock cohesion. When we added new roosters to the flock, he kept them in order and loved crowing back at them, making his voice the loudest, of course.
Marblehead will be missed greatly; our flock will not be the same without him.
