There is an octagon barn about seven miles from my house. It's a large, beautiful building that sits on land that has reverted back to the state of Michigan. When I was younger, it was in disrepair, and was falling apart.

About the time I was graduating high school, and moving away to college, a group formed to save the barn. They raised some money, and restoration began.

When the project was at a certain point of completion, the Octagon Barn Society began inviting the public in to view the barn, and raise additional funds. The original "Fall Family Days" was held the weekend after Labor Day, and this past weekend marked the 18th annual Fall Family Days at the Octagon Barn.

During the past 18 years, the barn and house have been fully restored, and other features have been added such as a saw mill, blacksmith shop, one-room school house, a grain elevator, and other things. During Fall Family Days, there is an antique tractor parade, a patriotic program performed by children in the school house, a flea market, and other events. Fall Family Days typically attracts 10-15,000 people over the two days at $5 per person.

Our family attended both days this weekend. We were busy on Saturday, as my girls took part in the patriotic program at the one-room school house. I returned with the four kids on Sunday, and DW stayed home to can some vegetables.

I stayed with the boys, and our girls hung around with friends, with instruction to check in once per hour. I waited until near the end of the afternoon to take the boys to the petting zoo, because I knew they would resist ever leaving the petting zoo. The people who ran the petting zoo had your typical horse, calves, miniature ponies, ducks, geese, rabbits, chickens, etc. Some of the smaller animals were for sale, including two bantam (small) roosters. The price had been $14 per bird, but had been marked down to $3, because it was near the end of the last day of the event.

You may remember that we have chickens at our house, and you may remember that DD1 shows poultry. I called DW, and asked if we should buy a bantam rooster for $3. She said that it would be nice for DD1 to have another show bird. (DW had walked through the petting zoo the previous day, and had seen the roosters marked for $14 each).

I had the girls meet me at the petting zoo, so DD1 could inspect the birds, and decide which one to buy. When the decision was made, I gave the owner $3 for the rooster. He told me we could buy both of them for $5. I told him, no we're just interested in the one. We would be back at the end of the event, in about an hour, to pick up the bird.

At some point during that hour, I asked DD2 if she would like the other rooster. She thought about it a bit, and answered yes. When it was all said and done, we left Fall Family Days with two bantam roosters for $5.

I'm really not sure of the value of the birds. If they were sold at an event full of poultry enthusiasts, maybe they would have fetched the original $14 asking price. My guess is that this guy has a bunch of bantam poultry at home, and only needs a couple of roosters. Obviously, we'll be getting no eggs from the rooster. And if they breed with our hens, we'll have really weird looking medium sized chicks. But, the girls each have a new show bird, and our menagerie of small livestock just became a bit more interesting.