Here at the Compound it’s been a week, the storms have done a number on the grounds, and we’ve been busy with preparations for a new endeavor: Chicken Racing.
Yes, Chicken Racing, a noble sport that has been popularized in England. The annual World Hen Racing World championship takes place in the first weekend of August every year, giving us a few months to train and prepare.
Since our chickens are doing a terrible job of picking matches this season (editor’s note: it’s your own fucking fault for not understanding them) we wanted to try and use their superior breeding and heritage to dominate this new endeavor. The record to run the 30 foot course is a shockingly fast 3 seconds. In researching the event the biggest difficulty is getting the chickens to understand they are competing and how to follow the course.
So we built one.
After running them multiple times it is unsurprising The Colonel did so well considering his prodigious size and general attitude of being first at everything from feeding, to pooping, or to pecking other chickens mercilessly at any sign of weakness.
Unfortunately, we ran him too much.
It was when he slowly walked through the course, clearly breathing heavy, sweating through his feathers, and letting every other chicken in his heat pass him that he looked at me with his beady little eyes, clucked twice, turned and I realized it was a sign. Rest matters for everyone, especially in cardio based activities whether they be chicken racing or soccer and when in doubt or feeling the sides are equal, go with the one that is fresh and didn’t play mid-week.
Austin FC 1 – Nebraska Furniture Mart’s Neighbors 2