Chubby Mealworms loves chickens. We all remember the day we decided to add these birds to our families – and wished we had done it sooner! Chickens are beautiful, fun, friendly and charming. They offer so much in a small, feathered package; you wonder how they do it. But they do. Here are a few stories of chickens doing what they do best!
The young hen and the sea
Seafarers are renowned for spinning some creative yarns. But this tale, or tail, is not painted from fiction. Monique the hen is truly unique. A few years ago, she set sail from her native Canary Islands with her sailing mate, Guirec Soudee. Soudee and his fluffy partner are on a quest to sail around the globe together.
Soudee had been searching for a partner to share in his adventurous plan. One look into those charismatic eyes and the red-headed Siren had him hooked. "I knew she was the one straight away," Guirec informed from their latest port in western Greenland. He told the Daily News, “She fears nothing, just like me!”
All of us chook folks know that chickens are anything BUT chicken!
Monique is a sex-link chook with sun-tinged, red plumage. She and Soudee set sail together, first across the Atlantic to the Caribbean and then north to western Greenland. Monique laid 25 eggs in 28 days as she rode the trade winds east to St. Barts. Soudee says the feisty hen enjoys fishing and catches the flying fish as they land on the deck.
You can follow the voyage of the pairs' vessel, the Yvinec, on their website:
“Guirec, 24 years old, is performing a world tour aboard his sailboat Yvinec. Monique, a red hen, is his very special teammate…They reached Greenland in August 2015. After touring the west coast of this fascinating country for 3 months Guirec and Monique began their wintering without means of communication. 130 days and 106 eggs later, they came back to the civilization and they are now preparing the boat to sail through the Arctic and down the Bering Strait toward Alaska this summer.”
Salt air in her feathers
The red hen made a splash in Greenland.
Of course, her charisma and courage garner fans wherever she sets port, but the folks in Greenland had never seen a chook in person, or… in the feather.
"Compared with people, she doesn't complain at all. She follows me everywhere, and doesn't create any problems. All I need to do is shout 'Monique!' and she will come to me, sit on me, give me company. She is amazing.”
Monique was hatched a sailor. Her love for water sports is boundless. Most people are unaware that chickens can swim (safety note: always supervise your chickens around water). Monique has dipped her toes in tropical waters, is a skilled paddle-boarder, surfer and wind-surfer – with Soudee’s assistance. She can ride her skateboard unassisted.
Like the rest of us chicken folks, the young sailor is attentive to the hen’s requirements. Sudee explains that his friend is a determined individual,“she’s very brave,” he stated in an interview with the BBC. But the sea is a risky spot, and Soudee keeps Monique’s safety at the forefront, placing her below deck during storms and high winds.
"Compared with people, she doesn't complain at all. She follows me everywhere, and doesn't create any problems. All I need to do is shout 'Monique!' and she will come to me, sit on me, give me company. She is amazing.”
Soudee is no stranger to uncommon ways. His family lived on an island in France’s Côtes-d’Armor, where the young man honed his sailing skills. This enchanted upbringing left Soudee with a desire for exploration. At 18, he stored €200 and headed east to Australia – with no job prospects or much English! The adventurer stresses that life is short and that dreams are there to be fulfilled. Monique seconds that.
Like the red hen in the children’s book, Monique has her own story, The Transatlantic Voyage of Monique. A filmed documentary is in the works as well.
As for the next port…
"We're not sure yet," Guirec says. "We haven't talked about it yet, but we will. We talk a lot, Monique and I."
Follow Monique and Soudee’s seafaring adventures as their story unfolds on Youtube and Facebook!
Chubby Mealworms Fun Fact: How does Monique handle the rocking boat? Sea legs, of course. Like other birds, chickens have a stabilizing mechanism (the vestibulosensory system) that keeps their heads steady while their bodies move.This is the adaptation that allows birds to maintain control while riding air currents…so, rolling with sea currents is a snap for Monique! Watch how this ability works.
It’s wild in Georgia
Not many folks would notice spells of crowing and cackling in a southern town. The sound of fowl brings us home again and reminds of warm and friendly times spent on porches while sipping iced tea.
All that chicken chatter from one town in Georgia isn’t coming from Foghorn Leghorn. It is coming from an extended family of feral fowl - just a few thousand at last guess. Quaint and delightful Fitzgerald is home to antebellum mansions, vibrant art scenes and Civil War heritage sites, this splendid city boasts a thriving community of Burmese chickens!
These remarkable feathered citizens are honored in a celebration that kicks off every year, usually on the 3 rd week in March. Visit the city's website to mark your calendar for the next Fitzgerald Wild Chicken Festival dates.
Folks, it all started on a warm, I say, WARM day...so hot you'd melt a flame
A breeding flock of Burmese fowl was introduced to the nearby Ocmulgee River. The birds, in typical chicken fashion, decided the river area was too slow for their liking. The flock re-established itself closer to the activity and shopping area in the historic center of Fitzgerald, obviously. Yup. These were town birds, and they have continued to inhabit the brick walks and downtown commotion for over 45 years.
“The chickens have the right of way in all circumstances,” informs Mayor Mark Massee. Chickens ALWAYS have the right of way.
Jan Gelders is the celebrity chickens’ caretaker. She fought to preserve the birds as icons and citizens of the town. Gelders is also a professional photographer, visit her website to view some majestic images of Georgia’s Burmese Jungle Fowl.
Fitzgeralds’ chicken festival is drawing in the crowds. 15,000 attendees enjoyed the fun and saluted the car bumper stickers Gelder’s husband designed “Love Dem Wild Chickens!”
Youngsters take visitors on a “Chicken Safari.” The children “described the city’s unusual history and pointed out the birds’ favorite haunts.” Spectators are here to see the chickens of course. Maps of favorite scratching grounds are handed out and people begin their search to find at least one elusive game fowl. The indignancy of the festivities usually find the chickens far from the action, but not that far…. “just before turning the corner to trundle back toward Main Street, the tractor eased past the synagogue that Gelders’s grandfather helped found a century ago.” At that spot stood a regal, “small and sleek Red Junglefowl with a magnificent long black tail.”
And, in quintessential chicken fashion, “around the building, the pine straw was a mess.”
Well don't just sit their brooding. News doesn't scratch up itself! Got a chicken story? We're waiting....