Good morning! Basil is running the wrong way again, and today so is Niji. Brownie has her five chicks with her, and a wild team about the same color as Brownie is hanging around near her. Did they join up? Good for you.
Sonata’s missing tail
Sonata, food’s here! Here he is: the number one of the room where the big hens live, and number two in the whole coop.
Sonata hasn’t had a tail for a long time. That’s not his breed — when he was young, the hens pecked at his tail so much that it stopped growing. Then, just recently, it finally started growing back. But every time the hens walked past, they plucked at the pin feathers (the new feathers coming in, which still have blood inside them) and drank the blood. Sonata lost so much blood that he collapsed, and I rescued him.
So for about two weeks, Sonata has been half-retired. He’s in a cage for now. His tail is growing back little by little, and I’ll let him out when it’s fully back. Eat lots, okay? You always give your food to the hens, so you’ve gotten thin.
Why hens peck pin feathers
The blood inside pin feathers is very nourishing, so for hens who are tired from laying lots of eggs, it’s like a treat. When they spot new feathers, they just can’t help pecking. When hens peck each other, the other hen can shout “No, stop!” and that usually ends it. But a rooster like Sonata is in an odd position: he can’t say no to a hen. All he could do was let out a little squeak and try to walk away, so he just kept getting pecked. A rooster has to be gentle with the hens to be popular, so he puts up with strange things.
Sonata turns four in September, which is fairly old for a chicken. I’ll let him rest a bit longer and bring him back once he’s well. Hang in there, Sonata.
Parsley opens the doors
While our leader is on break, Parsley the duck has been opening the rooster cages one after another — I have no idea why. Flute came out first, and since things went fine, I left it. Then one day Taro’s door opened and out came Taro, who is now relaxing over there. Finally, Yuhi came out — that one was my mistake; I left his door open while putting in food. They’re all getting along somehow, so I’ve ended up releasing three weak roosters. Sonata will probably be furious when he gets back.
Thanks for watching Chicken Paradise! See you next time.