Introducing...Crooky!

We have been finding it more and more difficult to name our animals.  The new chickens are especially tough to name since we can't really tell them apart.  We have three or four of each type of bird and they all behave exactly the same so differentiating between them is extremely tricky.  Sadly, we have resorted to addressing them by feather colour: "Here [insert feather colour + "ie" e.g. Blackie, Brownie, Goldie], that's a good chicken."  I sure hope they don't find this discriminatory.

There is one exception, an extra special little bird whom Ian named Crooky.

Crooky is a New Hampshire Red hen with a very crooked beak.  She began to show this abnormality called scissor beak several days after we brought her home and it got progressively worse for quite a while.  We think she has stabilized now with her bottom beak at a 90 degree angle from her top beak.

"Scissor beak, also called crossed beak, is a condition in which the top and bottom beaks do not align properly.  It can be caused by genetics, an injury or the inability to maintain the beak's length and shape by normal honing on rocks or other hard surfaces." (Source: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com)  We think Crooky's condition must be genetic.

While Crooky still manages to eat and drink independently, she does find eating challenging and time consuming.  She can only eat mashed up grain granules since she relies on her tongue to pick up the granules since she can't scoop the food up with her bottom beak like the others.

In spite (or perhaps because) of her unusual condition, Crooky is our friendliest chicken.  She is the first hen out in the morning and is ecstatic when we pour the grain into the food trough.  She is so excited to eat that she gets all tangled up in our feet when we try to feed her.

She is also the last hen in at night since she will peck away at the food until the wee hours - long after the others have gone to bed.  Even with all her efforts, she is still a bit smaller than the other hens.  She does get picked on a little bit but so far it isn't too bad.

Unique and resilient animals like crossed beak Crooky and our half blind duck Kate always seem to find a special place in our hearts.  They may be a bit unusual but we love them all the more for it.