Saturday, May 16, 2009

Oldest Cock on the Blog

Mellow: July 2000 – April 2009

Last month, my children’s pet rooster Mellow, died peacefully of old age. At 8 years 9 months, he must be the oldest cock in Singapore – and the luckiest one too, I would suspect. Instead of ending up on the dinner table, he enjoyed nearly 9 years of tender loving care.

One day in July 2000, my wife brought back 3 chicks from the market for my children to play with. My children loved animals. It was a decision she would regret. As the chicks grew, they started to crow loudly at all sorts of hours. By then it was too late to get rid of them because the kids had grown attached to them. Finally in October when we had to move out of our house to do a major renovation, we struck a deal with the children to keep only 1 chick. Our renovation contractor’s Thai workers were only too happy to help us do the necessary, and Mellow had them to thank for escaping the chopping block, ending up on this blog instead.



Our many attempts to get rid of Mellow

Mellow had a powerful voice** and it soon became an embarrassment for us because he would crow in the middle of the night or early in the morning and disturbed our neighbours. We tried several times to get rid of him. Yes we did consider murder – after all the Sixth Commandment doesn’t apply to noisy roosters - but decided against it because the bible does tell parents not to tempt their children.

Once we brought him to an animal corner at Ghim Moh which was run by the neighbourhood residents’ committee but we could not find the person in charge. Another time, we brought him to an animal shelter in Jalan Kayu, but found that it was not suitable. Meanwhile we tried all kinds of methods to keep Mellow from crowing at unearthly hours or at least lower the volume of his crows. Once I bought a big piece of canvas to cover his chicken coop but his powerful voice easily penetrated the cover. I even surfed the internet to look for ways to keep him quiet. Perhaps there was some kind of poison that can cause him to lose his voice without killing him. Alas, the only information I found was that a healthy chick can live up to more than 10 years.

Finally I discovered a way to keep Mellow from crowing at night. By covering him with a carton box, he can be fooled into thinking that it was not yet daylight. So during the day, we would keep him in a coop in our backyard, but at night we would bring him into the back kitchen and cover him with a box.

I should mention that many of our friends and visitors were kind enough to volunteer to take care of Mellow for us. But when they found out how old he was, they changed their minds. Apparently old chicken meat is very tough.

Below is a video of my children playing with the rooster. Sorry – cannot figure out why there is no sound.





** I think Victor, YG and a few other Friends of Yesterday.sg who have been to my place can testify to how loud his crowing was.

Related Post: Oldest Cat on the Blog

23 comments:

Thimbuktu said...

I post this comment with deepest sympathy and condolences to Chun See and family, the kind and compassionate owners of Mellow. Mellow passed away peacefully without ending up in the cooking pot.

Nobody could bear to consume his/her domestic pet as food...I know how it feels because when our pet rabbit passed on about 2 years ago, we were so sad. My son and I gave her a solemn and decent burial late in the night.

peter said...

One time at the East Coast Vet shop, I almost put our cat to "sleep" because of a serious injury. I had to decide very quickly whether to save the animal; thereby causing more pain or put her to sleep. She was then 2 years old. Whilst she was in the cage, she must have heard my foot steps or sensed my presence. With all sorts of tubes/catheters plugged into her body, she slided up to the front of the cage door with eyes starring at me. I just could not make that decision which I never regretted. Today she is 12 years old and I am sure my family will all be at a loss when the inevitable happens.

Thanks to the video clip facility of digital cameras, I faithfully recorded all the funny moments with my cat.

So Chun See I suggest you can yourself another cock.

Lam Chun See said...

Keeping this old cock wasn't cheap OK. More than 1 occasions, my children didn't tell us until the last minute that we ran out of chicken feed. I had to drive all the way to Jurong East where there was this pet shop that sold chicken feed - there were also a couple of other places. In our kampong days, we simply get the cheap 'jargong' from the provision shop (Hokkien - kek ai tiam) across the road from our house.

peter said...

I thot cocks also can settle for scraps of rice?

My cat very fussy; she goes for cheap smelly fish (in my opinion). Once I offered salmon but she didn't want. Now because of her age I got to opt for "Scientific Diet For Elderly Cats" - 5kg cost me $50++.

In the process looking after the cat (the job always thrust to me by my children), I realised many human medications are also suitable for cats except must give in small dosage.

I think cocks and cats are easy to manage than dogs.

Victor said...

Not many owners would write such a glowing obituary for their old, withered and dead cocks. That you did is testament to your deep love for him. May he "roost in peace".

jean said...

Oh Lam Chan See you and your spouse have big hearts.What an endearing story.Your children will never forget the years with Mellow thanks to you both.Imagine all the funny anecdotes the whole family will exchange about the pets in later years at family reunions(like the last minute run for chicken feed!).Having pets in a family can help forge children's characters I think.The problem is Mummy and Daddy often end up doing most of the work LOL!Anyway I'm sure your children will never forget what you did for Mellow the fond memories he will evoke.

jean said...

Oops sorry I mean Lam CHUN See of course.I type too fast...

Lam Chun See said...

Thanks Jean for your kind words. You are right about the anecdotes and memories that pets bring back. In fact I always advise couples with young children, as I did here, to invest in a video camera and capture those precious memories.

Lam Chun See said...

Victor, thanks for 'giving chance'. I was expecting something naughtier from you. But talking about old and withered, towards the end, he actually walked with a limp. We said he had arthritis. But right to the end the crow remained just as loud.

peter said...

When was the burial ground for the old cock may I ask?

yg said...

when i was at your place, the strong and loud call of the old cock startled me. but, it did not sound like the typical crowing of a cock.
if you miss it so much, you should take peter's advice - get yourself a cockerel.

Zen said...

I can image how a family feels when they lose their pet which had been crowing for nine long years. This lucky cockerel certainly left this world with good 'memories'.

Tom said...

Tom said...
Chun See, Iam Sorry that your family Pet has pass away I bet it gave you and your family alot of happy days, (9 years) is a grand old age for a bird , it must have been well look after, In a few years time some one will mention its name and all the memories will all flood back,happy days.

Brian and Tess said...

Chun See

our condolences (and we do know that the loss of any pet does make an impact). We have just reached the home of Tessa's sister Sue and her husband Paul here in Montreal Canada and we had been telling them tales of our trip including your old and loved cockerel - and here I get a chance to catch up on your blog to discover it is deceased! Such is life.

Icemoon said...

What would happen if Chun See's rooster met Peter's cat? A Tweety Bird and Sylvester scenario?

Victor said...

Wah, lkjoijl followed Chun See's cock and advertised sex videos on his blog.

Lam Chun See said...

Yes. He must have some software that tracks naughty words. Too bad he is going to be disappointed.

I can't seem to delete his comment. Maybe should just leave it there to let my readers see how stupid such people are.

Tom said...

Tom said...
who put this Advert on Good Morning
yesterday, this blog is not for that sort of nonsence, this is a friendly, and clean blog, and the friends of GOOd Morning yesteday want it to be that way, am I right at saying that Lads.

Anonymous said...

Chuck said:
Mellow was a smart cock. I remembered that he once 'attacked' my son when he tried to get near to Lam Junior.

Anonymous said...

It reminds me of the chicks I have when I was a kid back in the 70's.

I bought 2 chicks at 10 cents each after school. Play with them alot and also try to train them.....to fly. In the end they did manage to fly from the top of the kitchen cabinet towards me at the kitchen entrance.

I remember my mom got rid of them before they are fully mature. She used to buy live chicken from the market and slaughter at home. At that time I have no idea about the meaning of death. Wouldn't allow her to do that if it is today.

I would say Mellow is really a lucky cock.

Alex Ho

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