35:DIY Meet Piolina, Our Kelso Fighting Rooster

While in quarantine, and just in time for Mother’s Day, we were looking to build a vertical garden. It was not an easy task as we were smack dab in the middle of one of the darkest and uncertain times of COVID-19 for Mazatlán.

We had secured almost all of the tools and materials needed except for a wire mesh. And since we knew we needed to limit our outings, we were looking to quickly acquire the mesh. We were trying desperately to find a hardware store (or as it’s called in Spanish, a ferreteria) that was open and that had the wire mesh in stock.

We drove around to a number of neighborhoods looking for one and we finally came upon one in the middle of a dirt road on the outskirts of the neighborhood that we were in. Honoring the one-person per family inside the store policy, I waited outside in the car while Socrates went inside to make the purchase.

While I was patiently waiting inside the car, looking straight ahead on the road, I noticed a truck barreling down the road. I happened to see a chicken cross the road (yes, I am very aware of the pun/joke here) and I quietly thought to myself, thank goodness that she made it before the truck ran her over. It was in that instant that I turned my head over and saw this little nugget of a chick (yes, I’m also aware of this pun/joke too) running after its mom.

Without thinking twice, I leaped out of the car and stood in the middle of the road with my hand outstretched, standing like a crosswalk guard, trying to get the truck to slow down as I prevented the chick from getting run over. The truck slowed down but continued to drive around me as I bent down to collect the little one. I turned around trying to look for the mom and she was no where to be seen, having snuck into one of the row houses along the side of the road.

Left standing there in the middle of the road with a baby chick in my hands, I quickly made the decision to just get in the care with it. I had no idea what else to do. It didn’t feel right to just plop the cutie down on the side of the road when I knew it wouldn’t last long on it’s own. Covering the chick with my hands I simply waited for Socrates to get back in the car. Once in the car, he noticed I had a chick and on we went. We both knew that this little guy was coming home with us.

What started as a, we’ll keep it until it’s old enough to take the ranch turned into a guessing game as to the sex of the chick. After asking around for help sexing the chick we were told it was a female and so we aptly named her Piolina. We showered her with tons of love and food and she continued to be grow beautifully and healthy.

We built her a tiny house made out of chicken wire, wood, recycled otate (also known as Mexican bamboo) sticks and within one day she was already going to bed on her own between 7:30-8pm each night. We knew we had smart chick in our hands.

After a couple of months we took her to the vet to get the necessary vaccines and check up. Once we explained to the vet that we had named her Piolina he swiftly corrected our theory of us having this little soon-to-be egg laying hen as actually being a Kelso fighting rooster. Could it be that the chick we had rescued was going to grow up thinking it was a fighting rooster?

Needless to say, the vet was right. Up until that point we had identified this little chick as a female and so while we continue to refer to her as a she, Piolina is no longer an egg laying hen-to-be but rather a 6:30AM alarm-clock crowing rooster.

Five months in we still love Piolina and will continue to love her like a family member. She does have her days where her rage flares up and overcomes her entire existence in that moment. We read that when that happens it’s best to quickly sweep her up and start caressing and showering her with love and kindness. It actually works. As quickly as she was enraged she becomes calm and makes purring sounds as she starts to fall asleep in our hands.

Something we never thought we’d say is that COVID-19 brought us a rooster that we intend to keep as a family member. Piolina’s vet encouraged us to hold off on making any introductions with a hen until Piolina has reached maturity. Until then she will remain the single chicken in our home.