Birdlore: There Be Chickens!

At the World Bird Sanctuary, we share our home with eagles, hawks, falcons, cranes, pelicans, owls...you name it!

Perhaps, the fan favorite of little children and a bird most visitors might not realize we have onsite are the....CHICKENS!

At WBS the children are always fascinated by  the chickens (photo: Gay Schroer)

Why chickens?  That’s actually a pretty frequent question I get asked by visitors when I’m working on our public Display Line.  The very young children gravitate towards the chickens, because they can engage them, unlike the birds of prey.  They love feeding the corn to our chickens (hint: the Turkeys love it too!) and they can pet them when staff members take a chicken to a children’s program.

Chickens like the Bantam Cochin chickens are actually quite easy to train.  They provide a comedic element to the bird shows WBS presents at Zoos, theme parks and aquariums around the nation.  The chickens run like mad across the stage behind the show speaker.

A white Araucana chicken with tufts on either side of its face (photo: wikipedia)

The Araucana chickens are actually a pretty nifty breed.  They are characterized by three distinct traits; tufts on either side of the face, rumpless (no pygastyle, or bony structure that supports tail feathers), and they lay blue eggs.  Araucanas are a wild species that  originated from parts of Chile in South America, dating back before the arrival of the Spanish explorers.  They were bred from two distinct breeds of chicken kept by the Mapuche Indians, the Collonocas and the Queteros.

One of the WBS Araucana flock displaying the rumpless trait (photo: Gay Schroer)

The Collonocas breed carried the traits for laying blue eggs and being rumpless.  The Quetero were tufted and laid brown eggs.  Overtime, these breeds would mix bloodlines to create the Araucana breed of today.

This beautiful member of the WBS flock displays the odd tufted trait – the tufts take many forms (photo: Gay Schroer)

The Araucana tufted gene, in particular, is quite interesting.  Getting lightly into genetic terminology, when you have two alleles (a variant of a gene) of the tuft trait inherited from both parents, a lethal gene is created.  Meaning, the chick will never hatch if it gains two tufted genes from two parents.  So, living tufted Araucanas will only ever carry one tufted gene and have offspring that are both tufted and non-tufted.  Even with only the one tufted gene there is approximately 20% mortality in the developing embryo.

One short story from Greek mythology involves the secret love affair between the god and goddess, Ares and Aphrodite.  To protect their secret, a youth by the name of Alectyron, was tasked with keeping a watchful eye out.  Unfortunately, he fell asleep while on the job and Helios, the sun god, witnessed the scandalous affair and reported the event back to Aphrodite’s husband.  Angry, Ares turned the youth into a rooster to prevent him from failing ever again to signal the rising of the sun.

 

Submitted by Jessica Bunke, World Bird Sanctuary 

Here A Chick, There A Chick

The World Bird Sanctuary is known for our work with birds of prey, but we also have some cute, fluffy little friends running around the Lower Site.

A few of this year's crop of chicks (photo: Adam Triska)

Twenty-four Araucana and Cochin chicks have hatched within a 3-week period out of our incubators.  Just about every day there is a new little one peeping from the back hallway where the incubators are located.  The two species are unique in their own way and fascinating to work with.

Every morning when I come into work, I find myself going to the incubators in the ETC (Education Training Center) to look for another new hatchling.  Some chicks we find completely hatched, but others are slow to emerge from their shells.  We remove them from the top incubator racks that are designed to hold the eggs, then put them on the more secure bottom racks to dry for 24 hours.  After a full day of drying, the little chicks join the other hatchlings in our baby room.

Here you can see the rumpless characteristic of the Aruacana chickens (photo: Gay Schroer)

The Araucana chicken originated in Chile.  This fowl is actually a hybrid between two separate species of South American chickens.  The Colloncas are rumpless, meaning they have no tail or pygostyle (bony structure to support the tail), and are known for their brilliant blue colored eggs.

Here you can see the odd feather tufts sported by many individuals (photo: Gay Schroer)

Queteros are known for their loud, beautiful sounding males and tufted ears.  The Araucana is a delightful combination of these two exquisite species, bringing together some of their most distinguishing features.  Breed standards vary dependent upon region.  The North American standard for an Araucana calls for a rumpless chicken that lays blue eggs and has ear-tufts.

The Cochin Bantam chicken initially came to us from China.  There are two variations of the story about how this species gained popularity with the rest of the world.  One account tells that the private collection of the Emperor of Beijing was stolen by British soldiers.  The lighter version of the tale says that the Emperor gifted a flock to Queen Victoria.  Both versions convey that the Queen fell in love with her new feathered friends.

Bantam Cochin chickens look like they're wearing pantaloons (photo: Gay Schroer)

Bantams are known for their short, round shape and feathers that cover their feet.  The hens are very good egg sitters and have been used as surrogate mothers for raptor eggs.  Their friendly disposition and fluffy appearance have earned them a great reputation as kind, gentle pets!

It’s a refreshing change of pace to work with such cute, defenseless little fuzz balls.  I will never lose interest in tending to the babies and watching them grow up.  Before you know it, the males will start strutting and the females will lay eggs!

The next time you visit the World Bird Sanctuary see if you can spot these two distinctive chicken breeds.  The Aruacanas are the odd looking tailless chickens with the funny looking feather puffs on the sides of their faces.  The Cochins can be found in the Nature Center and in the Environmental Education Center (often running loose to greet visitors)—they are the little chickens that look like they’re wearing pantaloons!

Submitted by Adam Triska, World Bird Sanctuary Educational Training Center Superviso