Poultry came to terms with the total solar eclipse

A Leghorn rooster is not easily humbled.  But when a total solar eclipse turns his outdoor pen to darkness, a rooster may take a pause.  At Clemson’s Morgan Poultry Center Monday, a young rooster whiled away the morning in typical crowing banter with his counterparts.  The Leghorn took little notice of the dimming light as the eclipse started.  But then darkness, and the rooster’s incessant crowing gave way to the sound of cicadas erupting from the adjacent forest.  None of the birds’ reaction surprised Carol Mosley, manager of the poultry research facility.  She was more surprised by the cicadas.  When a sliver of sun spread light across the chicken farm again, the Leghorn rooster stared silently, as if trying to gauge whether the light would remain.  Two minutes passed.  He decided the light was back to stay.