John the farmer was in the fertilized egg business. He had several hundred young (hens) layers called pullets and eight or ten roosters, whose job was to fertilize the eggs. 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 farmers favorite rooster was old Red, a very fine specimen he was too. But on this particular morning John noticed old Red’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, Red had his bell in his beak, so it couldn’t ring. He’d sneak up on a pullet, do his job and walk on to the next one.
John was so proud of Red, he entered him in the county fair and Red became an overnight sensation among the judges.
The Result
The judges not only awarded Red the “No Bell Piece Prize” but they also awarded him the “Pulletsurprise” as well.
via email from Duane McDowell, Tue, 21 Jun 2005 11:51:36 -0500