I messed up coloring my hair at home and it got a bit fried. Lesson learned: when you dye your hair, wait a day in between — never do it twice in a row! So just for today I’m matching Star, and tomorrow I’ll be back to purple.
A prince and a princess
I haven’t introduced these two much: Prince and Princess. The smaller one is Prince and the bigger one is Princess.
Prince’s neck feathers are a gorgeous gold, and when he stretches his neck they spring out like curly hair, like the fancy collar a prince would wear. So we named him Prince. His sibling came with him and seemed to be a girl, so she became Princess. They were the two smallest of their group.
The rest of the court
These chickens came from a chicken-trapping site and were originally completely wild. Now they’re far too friendly — zero sense of danger! They were about two months old when they arrived, and they hadn’t been well fed before that. There were six in the group, but one was very weak and died, so now there are five.
Here they come. This one has a lot of silvery blue, so he’s Knight, like the ones who ride horses — more of a job title than a name. There’s one more knight, too, and there were two retainers, a red one and a brown one. The red one is gone now, so we have a brown retainer. Those aren’t really names, are they?
By now they should be past six months old, so they’re adults by age, but they still look like little kids and haven’t grown much. Niji, who came from the same site, hasn’t grown at all either. Is there something about birds from that place that keeps them small? I have no idea. But they seem healthy.
Pigeon nest updates
Day four for Happy’s babies, and she’s working hard at raising them. Maybe her husband is in charge of feeding? Pigeons are monogamous and are said to stay with the same partner for life. On day five I got to see a chick’s face. The white pigeons’ babies had moved from their usual spot by themselves. The next day they were snuggled together, and their feather shafts were getting clearer. All going well!
Jack and Poppy 2
Jack, what kind of sunbathing pose is that? He’s flipped over! And Poppy 2, with her lovely new feathers — ouch, ouch! You’re making me bleed! She doesn’t seem to know how to peel off her old leg scales herself, so I help with that. Earlier I spilled food on her back, and apparently leg care isn’t enough of an apology. I’m sorry!