Mike the headless chicken
As Mr. Taloola was relieved of his head yesterday, he didn’t realise it for a couple of minutes. Perhaps he wanted to kiss his girlfirends (Daisy and Cornflower) goodbye before he went to the big chicken coop in the sky. We need our inner-ears to keep balance, maybe that’s why Taloola couldn’t walk straight…
I remembered reading a story once about a rooster who survived quite a while after being beheaded. Just how long?
1.5 years.
I kid you not. It’s name was Mike… Mike the chicken. He lived in the 40′s and has quite a following. Check out his website here: http://www.miketheheadlesschicken.org/.
The day Taloola crowed
I thought Taloola was a just a really big hen, until recently, when my son mentioned that he saw her ‘riding on the other hen’s backs’. And so, we realised that she was actually a ‘he’… and Taloola became Mr. Taloola.
Surprisingly, Taloola never crowed until today (perhaps his name confused him somewhat). He sealed his fate at 5.30am this morning, when his masculinity kicked in and for the first time he was the king of the roost. Unfortunately, keeping roosters is illegal in urban areas of NZ. Seeing that free-range chicken meat is very expensive and that Christmas is only a few days away, I decided that Mr. Taloola would give his life for a worthy cause…. Christmas lunch.
My brother, his wife and son are staying for a few days. This afternoon, as I dispatched Taloola (with my rather blunt garden-machette), little did I realise that my nephew was watching… in horror.
A scene from Napoleon Dynamite immediately came to mind… and although the situation was unfortunate, I can’t help but smile.
Chicken coop 2: Country Cottage
A couple of weeks ago Daisy (our Blue Australorp for those who care), became broody for the first time. So broody, in fact, that she started sitting on ‘pretend eggs’, and when she wasn’t doing that, she horded Buttercup and Cornflower’s eggs to sit on!
So, thanks to Trademe, I visited one of Northland’s top chicken breeders (nice Christian lady) and acquired 8 fertile eggs.
Daisy thought all her Christmas’s had come at once! But I reminded her not to count her chickens before they hatch.
A couple of hours ago, a day’s work and $50 later, I finished Riverside’s very first chicken maternity ward (with some help from ‘daddy’s little helper’). DW and I are going to transport Daisy and her eggs to their new accomodation very soon while she’s asleep (Daisy that is, not DW).
Photos below (I think Barney thinks he’s a chicken… You become like those you hang out with the most). Stay tuned as the continuing saga unfolds.

Chicken Coop 1: Upmarket Bungalow







