Santa Chicken (or) Poor Zsa Zsa
Thanks to our friend Kelley, our Silike chicken Zsa Zsa got to try her beak at being Santa for a while. I promise…no chickens were harmed in the taking of these photos.
Zsa Zsa is the friendliest chicken we have ever owned. She loves to be around people and probably thinks she is a poodle. She is a Silkie chicken, a breed from China, that is very popular with show breeders for their friendly personality and unique appearance. She loves to be held and really enjoys being around us when we are outside.
My wife handled Zsa Zsa while I snapped these pics. Our friend Kelley picked up the puppy Santa suit at Family Dollar. Zsa Zsa didn’t seem to mind having the coat on at all. She was not a fan of the hat…so we didn’t use it.
We have had backyard chickens for close to 3 years now. I have really enjoyed having them. The girls really like working with them too. When people come over to the house they always want to go out back and see the chickens. I plan to write more about having backyard chickens in February when we will be getting some new chicks.
After being such a good sport, we let Zsa Zsa join our other chicken for some supervised roaming, scratching and foraging in the backyard. Our other chicken is an Americana and her name is Oreo. She was the lone survivor of a dog attack that killed our other 4 chickens. It was a sad day. (It is sad to have neighbors down the street who are irresponsible pet owners and took no responsibility for the actions of their animals nor will they even ‘man up’ to talk to me about it. Sorry…still bothers me.) But we have made sure our girls are securely protected now from the irresponsibility of others…and wild predators as well. More on that in February.
They are truly fascinating creatures to watch and chickens have been fun to learn about. One of the best received lessons I have ever preached started off with a lesson on how we get eggs. I have had more comments about that lesson than any other that I have ever preached.
Merry Christmas from my family (and Santa Chicken) to yours!