It’s me and Ilima, under blue skies.
Our rooster gets a name
The rooster we found by the side of the road — probably one that had been used for fighting — is getting much stronger, so I gave him a name. And the name is… Kirin, as in Kirin Beer. Makes no sense, right?
Here’s how it happened. A wild rooster that used to live near us had coloring like this, and we called him Mugi (“barley”). Mugi… no, not quite. Barley is what beer is made from… Kirin Beer! A random chain of ideas, and he became Kirin — the mythical kirin, not the giraffe. Doesn’t he look a bit like the kirin on the beer label?
His broken leg seems to have healed, but some of his toes have started to die off (necrosis) and look like they might come off. Scary, though he doesn’t seem to mind at all. He’s not back to full strength, and I’ve never heard him crow. I’d love to hear a cock-a-doodle-doo soon. He doesn’t seem to like people much. Hang in there, Kirin.
Today’s Dolly
Dolly, are you sulking because I haven’t given you any grass? OK, OK — wait a moment while I pick some. Here you go: the grass you wanted. Happy now?
Poppy 2’s mystery move
Poppy 2, what are you doing in the feed container? There’s nothing in there. Are you going to lay an egg in there again? You have nest boxes! A mystery.
Meet Tsuki
Tsuki is squawking because she wants to sit on eggs. She’s a rescued chicken. Someone told me a tiny chick was lying on the ground, but it was covered in ants and bugs and probably wouldn’t make it. I rushed over, sprayed her with an insecticide made for birds, and gave her sugar water while shouting, “Don’t you die!” She recovered. I honestly don’t know how she survived.
While spraying her I checked her all over, including her belly — and her umbilical cord was still attached. That convinced me she had hatched prematurely. After that she grew up without much trouble, together with her older sister Taiyo, who had been lost with her.
As a chick Tsuki was solid black, without a single marking. Now look at her pattern — golden! A beautiful golden chicken. A slightly angry one, but beautiful.
Thank you for watching Chicken Paradise Hawaii! See you in the next video.