Hello from Pen-chan and me under another blue sky. A zebra dove had wandered into the chickens’ dust-bathing spot by mistake. I think it’s still young. When I let it go, it showed no intention of flying at first, but it finally flew away. Bye-bye!
Taro’s shiny secret
Here’s Taro. Today he’s all soft and floppy, cuddling up to me like a baby. Once a rooster gets tame, he stays like a baby forever. A big rooster chased him a little while ago, so he got scared and wants some comfort. He doesn’t get angry no matter what I do. (He’s also scared of Dolly.)
You can see how glossy Taro’s feathers are. The secret is at the base of his tail, where there’s an oil gland. Chickens rub this funny little bump with their beak to get the oil out, then spread it all over their feathers. That makes them somewhat waterproof and gives them this shine. (Taro let me know he did not want it touched.)
Meet Black Tiger
Black Tiger used to have a face like a black tiger or a leopard — some strange kind of cat — so that became her name. A very odd name, I know.
She’s one of the twenty-something Easter Eggers I bought. Easter Eggers are crosses between Ameraucanas, which lay blue eggs, and chickens that lay ordinary eggs, so the egg color depends on the bird. Her father was probably an Ameraucana and her mother a brown-egg layer, so she lays olive-colored eggs. Egg color often comes out like a mix of the parents’ colors.
For a long time she had no tail. She kept pulling out her own feathers, and when she finally stopped, her sisters pulled them out instead. Then she got bumblefoot, a foot disease, and I brought her home to keep her apart from the others. Thanks to that, her tail grew back beautifully.
With bumblefoot, a small wound forms, often on the bottom of the foot, and a hard, callus-like lump builds up there. The traditional treatment was to cut the whole lump out, which is very painful. What I tried, based on what has been learned recently, is much simpler: gently peeling off the hardened part with tweezers, then moisturizing it again and again until it heals. So she got better without any pain.
She used to run away whenever I tried to touch her, but since the treatment she seems to have decided it’s not worth the fuss, and now she’s fairly tame.
Thank you for watching Chicken Paradise! See you next time.