Hello from Chicken Paradise — blue skies again today.
Meet Opal
Opal was born at a breeder’s, a happy accident: a Japanese Chabo and a Serama got mixed up. The breeder didn’t want her, so I took her. She’s palm-sized, the smallest chicken we have, and her tail spread out is about twice the size of her body.
She lays proper eggs — very small blue ones. Small chickens don’t usually lay blue eggs, so I think that’s quite rare. I named her Opal because her feathers shine green in the sun and the lacy pattern on her chest is so pretty. But she chatters so much that she gets called Obachan, “auntie.” She also has a bald spot on her head all year round.
A rooster found by the road
Now a sad story. A few days ago, on my way home, I found this rooster lying weak by the road. One eye was crushed by an injury, he held one foot up, and a toe seemed broken. I can only guess what happened.
One: he got sick and weak and was attacked by wild roosters. Two: a cat or another animal attacked him. Three, the saddest: cockfighting is common in Hawaii, and some people put a wild rooster where it can’t escape and let a strong fighting rooster beat it, to build the fighter’s confidence. In the wild, roosters don’t fight to the death; they run away. I’m not saying all cockfighting is bad; it’s part of the culture. But I don’t think it’s good that wild roosters are sacrificed like this.
First aid
My plan was a twig splint wrapped with a bandage, plus an antibiotic ointment for small cuts — made for people, but well regarded for chickens too. Chickens are very sensitive to stress: hens stop laying, and roosters scream and cry.
I wiped his dirty face; a healthy chicken would shake off food stuck to its beak, so he must be tired. His feet were in bad shape: sores on the soles, and the nails discolored blue, purple and red. He didn’t seem to feel pain, and it didn’t look broken after all, so I changed course: moisturizing and disinfecting came first, and I put ointment on. His legs were trembling. For now, we’ll watch him.
Today’s Dolly
When I cut cucumbers, Dolly comes over to sniff. I’ve heard sheep don’t digest anything but grass well, and Dolly is elderly, so I avoid giving her other food. She still sneaks a bite now and then, which makes me nervous.
Thank you for watching Chicken Paradise Hawaii. See you in the next video!