So, my parents have chickens in the yard between our houses. One rooster, “Chanticleer,” has seriously bonded with my son. During the day, he crows ONLY when he hears Jamie in the yard. When Jamie comes near him, Chanticleer puts on a show and even dances sometimes. Jamie loves his rooster, who incidentally, has been saved from his imminent stewpot fate by befriending our little guy. Every time Jamie learns something new, or gets a new pair of shoes or hat or something, or whatever else, he has to go show his chickens. He learned the letter “B” at preschool the other day, and when we got home he immediately took off like a rocket across the yard to show his worksheet to Chanticleer and teach him about the letter B. It is hilarious.
That said, Mom and I decided to contact our local toystore (which by the way if you still have not clicked on its link and shopped its expansive website, take this moment to!) and asked them if they had the Folkmanis puppet that looks like a rooster. They did, and were kind enough to keep it rocking around the store for us until I had time to pick it up today on my lunch hour. It is awesome — luckily the Folkmanis rooster is also a Buff Orpington and looks quite like Chanticleer himself. (There is a dominecker in the coop that Jamie’s not so keen on, so I’m glad the puppet didn’t turn out looking like him instead!)
Here are some photos of Jamie’s newest Folkmanis acquisition:
Sitting on my desk at work...
Proudly displaying his Folkmanis emblem...
Here's looking at you, Chanticleer...
Jamie doing his Daddy impression...which is very similar to his Grandpa impression.
Mommy, this doesn\'t taste like chocolate... 
August 12, 2008 at 8:14 am
I just looked at your chicken link, recognized the southwestern Missouri area code, and realized that the hatchery you linked to is the same one we saw during the Route 66 motorcoach tour I led this spring. They have a storefront in downtown Lebanon, Mo., a few blocks off 66, and the windows were full of fuzzy chicks. The tour director found the place while he was out scouting for restaurants or something, and the babies in the window were so cute that he made a special trip by there after dinner just so we could see them.