Good morning, Peanut Butter! We have quite a few new chickens lately, so it’s time for a little tour. It’s a gloomy day and a bit chilly.
Sand-bath weather
These four little roosters are Karaage’s chicks. Karaage has finished raising them and is back to normal life, so they’re managing on their own now. After yesterday’s rain the sand is nicely damp — perfect for a dust bath — and Hachimitsu, Okki-chan and Luna are bathing in a little triangle.
In the big birds’ room, a cage of young ones is getting used to the playground. Gri-chan hasn’t been feeling great since the nights got cold. Purin hopped up on my shoulder, and Iruka really does look like his uncle, Pen-chan. This small, cute rooster is a rescue: he came to us as a young bird, grew a fine comb, but stayed bantam-sized (bantams are small chickens).
Meet Irumi and Shadow
Two new dogs have joined Chicken Paradise Hawaii: a pair of Border Collies. We thought it would be nice to have dogs to guard the farm, a bit like watchdogs. Their personalities are… bright, let’s say. Not very useful yet! The brown one is Irumi, about six or seven months old, and the black one is Shadow, a little younger. They’re still puppies, so they want to play all the time and destroy everything. Iroha, whom you all know, gets along with them, but Iroha is small and could get hurt, so we usually keep them apart.
Bananas and goats
Two or three papayas turn orange every day, so we pick them for everyone. Behind the pigeon house, a short banana plant yellows a little each day. We wait until they’re yellow — sweeter that way — but wait too long and wild birds and bugs get them. These are apple bananas, common locally in Hawaii: small, sweet and delicious. The goats got some too. The little one has grown a lot, and Mom has a big appetite.
Two busy mothers
This is Ishiko, named for her lovely marble-like pattern. She’s a rescued hen from fighting-bird stock, so her chicks have rather big feet. She has about ten. And this is Donut. About two years ago a hen named Azuki and her chicks were rescued from a friend’s place, and Donut is one of those chicks. This is her first time bringing out a big brood: eleven, three of them black. They’re smaller than Ishiko’s, but doing their best.
Finally, Udon from our Short! He’s a little rooster with big feet, about a month old and growing well. I can’t wait to see what a handsome rooster he becomes. Thanks for watching!