Good morning from Chicken Paradise — today I’m here with Dolly, under a very blue sky. Her head was really itchy, so she came out without asking for an appearance fee… then decided that was enough. This is her house: a shady spot with water. The water is dirty, so I’ll change it later.
A bride for Basil
Today I brought home a bride for Basil, our duck. Basil is two or three and has been with us a long time, but he has always been alone. He seems convinced he’s a chicken and has never met another duck. Basil is a Mallard; his bride is a Muscovy, a different kind — but a duck is a duck.
When I let her out of the box — whoa! — what a big, beautiful duck. She seemed surprised by how many chickens there are. Once the pool was ready I put her in, but she wasn’t really in the mood for a swim today.
Then the main event: letting Basil out to see how he’d react. “Basil, get in the pool, not the girl!” He took his usual dip. They seem a little scared of each other, but they’re watching each other from a distance. I’ll keep an eye on them and hope they slowly get closer.
The cultivator vs. the rocks
Next, the spot where I pulled roots yesterday, and the cultivator I bought yesterday. A rock came up right away — there are a lot of them, which worries me — but it moves forward better than I expected.
Pen-chan helped too. I removed a huge pile of stones and sifted the leftover gravel to collect the soil. This is only the beginning: it will take a few more days of digging deeper before it’s a proper garden.
Meet Oreo
Oreo is the first egg-laying hen I ever went to a store and bought myself. In America her breed is called the Plymouth Rock; in Japan I think it’s probably sold as the Okazaki Ohan.
A friend I went to elementary school with once kept a chicken of the same breed, named Oreo. That Oreo was killed by a dog before she could live out her life. It was a real shock, and I had wished she could live longer, so I bought the very same kind of chicken and gave her the very same name.
My Oreo is about three now and, just as I hoped, she has already outlived the first Oreo. She lays an egg every day. I bought two other laying hens along with her, and I’ll introduce them another day.
Thanks for watching Chicken Paradise Hawaii! Today Sonata joined me to say bye-bye.