Cock Fight!

We took Troy over to our friend’s farm tonight. It was an unplanned trip. We were out for a family drive to enjoy the weather, and I guess the car led us to the farm. My foot hurt, so I was giving Troy a little more freedom tonight than usual. He was chasing the chickens and ducks, and occasionally heading over to the cows or geese next door. At one point, he got a little too far ahead of me, as I struggled up the hill. Too late, I saw him approach one of the roosters and try to grab it. Unlike the hens, which would just scurry away from Troy, the rooster stood his ground. I screamed at Troy to leave him alone, but true to a “I know better than you” two-year old, he ignored me and kept trying to pick up the rooster. That’s when the rooster leaped into the air and went at Troy with his claws. Troy immediately got scared and started crying, running away in terror. He came straight for me, and I scooped him up in my arms.

At first, I didn’t think the rooster had actually gotten him, but he kept pointing to his leg and saying, “chicken booboo.” So, I pushed the leg of his shorts up and saw red, puffy scratch marks on his thigh. Luckily, the shorts were thick, so the rooster didn’t break skin, but it was a heck of a scratch anyway. And luckily, the rooster hit him on the thigh. If it has been on the bare leg, he would have torn Troy open, and we would have been headed to the hospital for stitches. God was watching out for my little boy tonight.