All the players sit in a circle, the leader begins by saying, "My father had a rooster!" The player to his left says: "A what?" The leader answers: "A rooster!" Each player repeats this in turn to his left-hand neighbor who asks the question, until it is the leader's turn again.

He then repeats the first part and asks the player next to him, "Could he crow?" The player answers, "Crow he could." This is repeated by each player with the previous questions. The next time the leader says "How could he crow?" The player on the left answers "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" This goes around the circle again and when the last one has taken part, all together say "Cock-a-doodle-doo," as a finish.

No one is supposed to laugh during the whole game, whoever does, may either pay a forfeit or is out of the game. It is best to have a person who knows the game sit next to the leader, so they can start the game correctly. The complete statements are these,

"My father had a rooster!"
"A what?"
"A rooster!"
"Could he crow?"
"Crow he could!"
"How could he crow?"
"Cock-a-doodle-doo!"