Comparative study: new chicken vs. Dos - are they the same bird??
I always had a feeling that the story of Dos wasn't finished. I can't explain why.
Something told me to keep checking with the animal shelter. Actually visiting is hard with three kids, even though it's very close to the house. There's enough chaos as it is at the shelter much less when you bring a pack of kids with you. So, I kept a virgil by calling in and listening to the recorded message of which animals had been turned in during the last 24-hours. I also kept an eye out at the big websites, petfinder.com and petharbor.com. In the meantime, we replaced Tres with a beautiful bird, a lone Easter Egger hen from Alameda. The Coast Guard family decided to reclaim their yard; a free-ranging chicken (read chicken poop everywhere) and a baby who was just about ready to walk were not a good match, so they gave her to us. Her introduction to Uno was dramatic for about a day after which Uno stopped chasing the bird I have named Nellie (she's a very friendly, but nervous Nellie) and started bonding with it. After nearly 4-weeks after Dos's last sighting, it seems the impossible happened. I was actually in the shelter returning a sweet Red Star bird named Lola who just wasn't going to fit into the flock. She'd been debeaked by her previous caretaker and couldn't defend herself against Uno's persistent pecking. Even though it was after adoption hours, I took a quick look into the bird kennels and couldn't believe my eyes! "I think that's my bird!" I told the lady at the door.
We couldn't take her out since adoption hours were over, but I was told to come back tomorrow to confirm and I could trade Lola for this one (SF shelters allow you to trade animals within 15-days of adoption).
So, today we went in and visited the hen I thought for SURE was Dos! However, after handling her, I'm not entirely convinced. She looks exactly alike, however, this bird is a lot more skittish and a bit heavier than Dos. Paul is sure both can be argued away as things that happen to a bird who's been gone a whole month. Perhaps he likes thinking it's the same bird (like the kids do). At first, I was convinced they were the same, but now I'm not sure. A big indicator is that Uno is not giving this bird a hard time at all! This makes me lean into thinking she is Dos as Uno has downright chased, chided and tortured both of the other birds we brought in. So, what do you think? There are pictures above of both birds...can you tell the difference? Well let the audience decide...
Something told me to keep checking with the animal shelter. Actually visiting is hard with three kids, even though it's very close to the house. There's enough chaos as it is at the shelter much less when you bring a pack of kids with you. So, I kept a virgil by calling in and listening to the recorded message of which animals had been turned in during the last 24-hours. I also kept an eye out at the big websites, petfinder.com and petharbor.com. In the meantime, we replaced Tres with a beautiful bird, a lone Easter Egger hen from Alameda. The Coast Guard family decided to reclaim their yard; a free-ranging chicken (read chicken poop everywhere) and a baby who was just about ready to walk were not a good match, so they gave her to us. Her introduction to Uno was dramatic for about a day after which Uno stopped chasing the bird I have named Nellie (she's a very friendly, but nervous Nellie) and started bonding with it. After nearly 4-weeks after Dos's last sighting, it seems the impossible happened. I was actually in the shelter returning a sweet Red Star bird named Lola who just wasn't going to fit into the flock. She'd been debeaked by her previous caretaker and couldn't defend herself against Uno's persistent pecking. Even though it was after adoption hours, I took a quick look into the bird kennels and couldn't believe my eyes! "I think that's my bird!" I told the lady at the door.
We couldn't take her out since adoption hours were over, but I was told to come back tomorrow to confirm and I could trade Lola for this one (SF shelters allow you to trade animals within 15-days of adoption).
So, today we went in and visited the hen I thought for SURE was Dos! However, after handling her, I'm not entirely convinced. She looks exactly alike, however, this bird is a lot more skittish and a bit heavier than Dos. Paul is sure both can be argued away as things that happen to a bird who's been gone a whole month. Perhaps he likes thinking it's the same bird (like the kids do). At first, I was convinced they were the same, but now I'm not sure. A big indicator is that Uno is not giving this bird a hard time at all! This makes me lean into thinking she is Dos as Uno has downright chased, chided and tortured both of the other birds we brought in. So, what do you think? There are pictures above of both birds...can you tell the difference? Well let the audience decide...
