Good morning from Chicken Paradise — it’s me and Dolly, as greedy as ever. A little cloudy today, with a bit of blue sky.
Melon check
Take a look at the melons. This one is now a little over 3 cm. This other one is in a wobbly spot, so I don’t want to fuss with it, but I think it’s about 5 or 6 cm. They’re getting pretty big. The plant is a bit of a tangle, so it’s hard to see, but the fruit are definitely forming. Ha-chan, look — melons! Are you looking forward to them? Are you even listening?
Meet Marshmallow
Today’s chicken is Marshmallow, a Buff Orpington — our blonde beauty. Look how glossy her face is! The back of her neck is supposed to be glossy too, though today it’s a bit dirty. She lays fairly round eggs, brown with a pale pinkish tint.
Buff Orpingtons are a different kind from the birds I usually introduce. Websites and books describe them as calm, a bit dreamy, and fine with being handled. For some reason, ours is fierce. When she sees another chicken she goes over to kick it, when she spots a treat she rips it away, and when a person tries to catch her she screams, yells, kicks and pecks. She put up a huge fight just now. Why are you so wild?
The breed is meant to become meat once its laying days are over, so she has a very big body and chunky, really thick legs.
Marshmallow wasn’t bought at a store. I happened to be there when something bad was going on. She was in a group of about 30 chicks, and about 5 of them suddenly toppled over — alive, but down. In case it was a disease, the store was about to cull them. Right before it happened, I said, “Wait! If you’re going to put them down, please give them to me,” and I took those five home.
Later we learned that the chicks had happened to go without water overnight, then drank too much too fast and nearly choked. In the end only Marshmallow survived, but I’m so glad I could save her. Today she lives with no problems at all.
Thank you for watching Chicken Paradise! See you in the next episode.