The Rooster Cat

When Your Alarm Clock Sounds Like a Strangling Feline

Life on the homestead has a funny way of humbling you.

When we added our American Bresse meat birds to the homestead, the plan was simple. These birds would be raised with care, respect, and purpose. They were meant to provide food for our family — an important part of learning where our food comes from and honoring the cycle of life that sustains us.

What we didn’t plan for… was the rooster cat.

You see, the birds were not sexed when we got them. That means we didn’t know which ones were hens and which ones were roosters. It was a bit of a gamble, but we figured we’d deal with whatever the homestead handed us.

Well… the homestead handed us two roosters with the vocal cords of a distressed house cat.

And every morning around 6:00 AM sharp, they let the entire neighborhood know they exist.

Not with the proud, confident cock-a-doodle-doo that you might expect.

Oh no.

These two sound like someone is strangling a cat in the backyard.

I wish I was exaggerating.

The first morning it happened, I sat straight up in bed trying to figure out if one of the chickens had somehow turned into a feline overnight. By the third morning, it became clear what was happening.

We don’t just have roosters.

We have rooster cats.

Now Jordan finds this hilarious.

I… do not.

While he’s out there laughing and tending to the flock, I’m inside wondering why nature designed an alarm clock that sounds like a haunted alley cat.

But here’s the thing about homesteading:
You don’t always get what you planned for.

Sometimes you get unexpected lessons. Sometimes you get surprises. And sometimes you get two teenage roosters discovering their voices and deciding the entire world needs to hear them practice.

Even the ones that sound like cats.

Despite their questionable singing abilities, these birds are still part of the rhythm of the homestead. They’re growing well, they’re healthy, and they are fulfilling the role they were brought here to serve.

And if nothing else, they have definitely given us a story.

So if you ever visit the homestead around sunrise and hear something that sounds like a cat fighting for its life…

Don’t worry.

It’s just the rooster cats announcing the start of another day at 1737.

Love y’all,
Shawana
1737 Urban Homestead