Good Old Butch

John the farmer was in the fertilized egg business. He had several hundred

young layers (hens), called "pullets", and ten roosters, whose job it was to

fertilize the eggs (for you city folks).

The farmer kept records and any rooster that didn't perform went into the

soup pot and was replaced. That took an awful lot of his time, so he bought

a set of tiny bells and attached them to his roosters. Each bell had a

different tone so John could tell from a distance, which rooster was

performing.

Now he could sit on the porch and fill out an efficiency report simply by

listening to the bells. The farmer's favorite rooster was old Butch, and a

very fine specimen he was, too.

But on this particular morning John noticed old Butch's bell hadn't rung at

all! John went to investigate.

The other roosters were chasing pullets, bells-a-ringing. The pullets,

hearing the roosters coming, would run for cover.

But to Farmer John's amazement, old Butch had his bell in his beak, so it

couldn't ring. He would sneak up on a pullet, do his job and walk on to the

next one.

John was so proud of old Butch, he entered him in the Renfrew County Fair

and he became an overnight sensation among the judges.

The result...The judges not only awarded old Butch the No Bell Piece Prize

but they also awarded him the Pulletsurprise as well.