Chickens experience REM (rapid eye movement) sleep… This means that they can dream.

One time on a message forum, someone started the thread, "What pets do you have, and what are their names?" Well, I spoke up and proudly started naming off all of my birds, describing the breeds and their gender, thinking how people would find it interesting, 'cause my chickens are cool!... but when someone responded to my post, I found they had remarked, "Twenty chickens, all with names… Right". I was really confused and upset over this, and it is part of my motivation here, to introduce my birds as the companion animals that they are, worthy of respect as individuals... and yes, they all have names. Most pets do, don't they?...

This is Midgie. (See photo at right). She is a Bantam hen, which means she is about 1/3 the size of a "normal" chicken. Hannah is her father, and Bernie is her mother. Midgie likes lettuce, raisins, and tiny bean sprouts. She is an escape artist, and along with her dad, will find any tiny hole in the fence to venture forth and explore, constantly thwarting my efforts to keep her in the yard with the others. I usually end up going out and picking her up and putting her back in, during which she makes little fussy noises at me, as if to say "aw, come on, I was just starting to have some fun."

At left, the proud Black English Bantam, Jeffe (Pronounced heffy). He is a young rooster, and one of the gentlest roosters I have, and most intelligent. He will do a little tap-dance for me, fussing and clucking, until I give out with the snacks. His favorite snack is Cheetos, although I'm not sure Cheetos are good for chickens, so I do encourage him to eat more raisins and lettuce...

Jeffe has a mate, a sweet buff Bantam hen he is very fond of. Her name is Dusty. The two are inseparable, and will even work as a team in scuffles, when conflicts with one of the other roosters arise, defending each other.

This is Dusty (far right). About a year and a half ago, I ordered half a dozen purebred buff Bantam hatching eggs online. When the parcel arrived, it was nearly demolished- bashed in on one side so badly, 5 of the 6 eggs were broken. In a definite show of optimism, I incubated the lone surviving egg- and Dusty was the result. She is fussy, smart, and gentle. When I was taking pictures of her, she was circling me curiously, getting closer and closer to the camera. Dusty's all time favorite snack is raisins… she'll jump up to get them from my hand. She likes lettuce and often hunts for small worms and grubs.

-: Please Boycott "The Colonel": KFC Cruelty :-       -: Email me :-       -: Sign Guestbook :-       -: Links :-