In the making of a new traditional Luo Home, among the animals carried along is the African Cock. Little attention has previously been paid to the inclusion of the cock in the set of animals that must be available before a son makes a new home.
We believe that the cock had a more scientific than traditional role to play in the process of making of the new home. Given that the new home is often made away from the other homes in a place that had not been habited before, the cock plays the major role of an alarm clock to wake up the new home owners to the many work chores that obviously come with the setting up of a new premise.
The traditional African cock also has some unique instinct and will often make some shrimpish nice in the night whenever there is any creature or human being passing near the house it is located at night. This is significant in that at a new home, there area is often bushy with different creatures of the night often paying a visit. The new home owner needed to be alerted on any intruders either human beings, wild cats and snakes. This role the cock played very well.
The significance of the cock is thus not just as a traditional requirement but can be seen more as a time telling device,( crows at regular intervals during the day) as an alarm clock to wake up the new home owners when it first crows early in the morning, and as an early danger warning device when it makes the noises in the night whenever strangers and other wild animals, reptiles and snakes approached the new home. This goes further to emphasize the deep link between the Luo culture and science.
