Old Podgy - Prize Rooster
Thomas was a chicken farmer; his farm was dedicated to the fertilized egg business. In his farmyard, Thomas had 450 young hens to lay the eggs. Incidentally, at this stage the female hens are called 'pullets'. Now to fertilise the eggs, which the pullets laid, Thomas had 12 male birds called roosters.
The farmer kept careful records, and any rooster that didn't perform went straight into the cooking pot and a replacement introduced. Thomas found this task time consuming, so he bought a dozen tiny bells and attached one to each of his roosters. Cunningly, each bell had a different ring tone so Thomas could tell from from the comfort of his porch, which rooster was performing.
So now Thomas could sit on his rocking chair and tick the boxes on his efficiency report simply by listening to the bells. The farmer's favourite rooster was Old Podgy, a very fine specimen he was, too. But on this particular morning Thomas noticed Old Podgy's bell hadn't rung at all! Thomas went to investigate.
The other roosters were chasing pullets, their bells-a-ringing. The pullets, hearing the roosters coming, would run for cover. But to Farmer Thomas's amazement, Old Podgy 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.
Thomas was so proud of Old Podgy, he entered him in the Worcester County Fair and he became an overnight sensation among the judges. The result... The judges not only awarded Old Podgy the No Bell Piece Prize, but also they awarded him the Pulletsurprise!