General Discussion

[quote name="DreamingReality" date="2021-04-01 15:06:18" ] This has probably been asked a hundred times already on this thread, but what's everybody's favorite bird? [/quote] It indeed it very hard to choose, but spontaneously I'd say red kites ([i]Milvus milvus[/i]). The actually are a common sight were I live. And a fairly impressive one too. [img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Milvus_milvus_%282011-04-17_Switzerland_Kanton_Schaffhausen_Gennersbrunn%29.jpg/428px-Milvus_milvus_%282011-04-17_Switzerland_Kanton_Schaffhausen_Gennersbrunn%29.jpg[/img] Also shoutout to black kites ([i]Milvus migrans[/i]), which I also frequently see. They are smaller and have less visually impressive plumage colour, but are also beauties. [img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Black_Kite_I2_IMG_0992.jpg[/img]

[quote name="DreamingReality" date="2021-04-01 15:06:18" ] This has probably been asked a hundred times already on this thread, but what's everybody's favorite bird? It's so tough to chose because they're all great, but if I had to chose one it'd be the Crested Satinbird. It's the floofiest little thing and I can't even. [/quote] Crows, Ravens, or Vultures cause theyre cool

I agree Turkey poults are the cutest thing on earth.

This thread looks so strange with these conversations when we all have rotated prof pics

Probably Peafowl, more specifically the peachicks because their so fluffy and cute (and from personal experience, very sweet if you raise them right)

I for one think this is a hilarious prank

[quote name="TheSoothsayer" date="2021-04-01 16:50:52" ] Probably Peafowl, more specifically the peachicks because their so fluffy and cute (and from personal experience, very sweet if you raise them right) [/quote] Peachicks are very cute, I've never seen one in person though.

@TheSoothsayer Yeeeeeeeee, thanks! ;v; Sorry for the late response, I've had a ton of appointments this week and have been super exhausted as a result, rip Yeah, apparently cancer in chickens is pretty common, but difficult to treat because they have lymphatic tissue spread throughout their bodies which makes things metastasize easily, and they don't tolerate chemo very well at all. The vet prescribed a steroid for her to try and stimulate her appetite, but he really didn't think she would survive long. The tumor was under her tongue, and she was extremely emaciated and could hardly stand at the time. We gave her the treatment, though, and fed her nightcrawlers (the only thing she would eat/could get down at the time), and slowly but surely, she gained back her weight & mobility (and appetite!), started laying eggs, and the tumor under her tongue vanished! That was over a year ago, and now she's as fit as a fiddle and living life to the fullest! We still don't know how it happened; we chock it up to being one of life's little miracles! One of our other chickens also got cancer more recently, and we were hoping for another miracle with her, but sadly, she passed away not long after she was diagnosed. ;~; Having Moony around has been a huge help in coping with all the losses I've experienced this year (I lost a lot of pets during 2020, as well as my grandfather and grandmother). She's just....such a dear, sweet, loving little bird, I don't know what I'd do without her [emoji=heart size=1] ;vvvv; Chickens (and birds in general, as you said!) really do have such amazing and unique personalities; they deserve so much more credit than people tend to give them! Awww, I'm really sorry to hear you lost one of your chickens. :'( May she rest in peace <3 As for what was ailing her and your other broody hen, I really couldn't say! They can apparently get various kinds of growths for a number of reasons. Our chicken who passed away from cancer--Fluffernutter, or Fluff for short--had a wart on her face this past summer, and we took her to the vet for that because I was afraid she might have cancer like Moony did. The vet wasn't concerned about the growth (and it did indeed resolve on its own), but at that point he was concerned about how thin she was. Unfortunately, her being underweight turned out to be an early sign of cancer. It's definitely a good idea to inspect your chickens regularly if possible to see if they feel underweight, as their poofy feathers tend to hide their true body condition, and being underweight is usually not a good sign (as we've learned the hard way). As long as your birds don't seem thin and are otherwise acting healthy, though, I wouldn't be too concerned! When in doubt, though, your best answer will always come from a (qualified) vet. It can be really hard to find vets that are qualified and willing to treat any kinds of birds, though, let alone chickens, so that's not always an option, unfortunately....We're really quite lucky to have found a great vet that treats birds of all kinds who isn't too far away, especially here in Maine where finding specialized services like that can be really hard or even impossible a lot of the time. Aaaaaaaahhhhh, thank you so much, I'm so glad you like them!!! ;v; Your pairs are really lovely, as well, I like them a lot!! It's a shame they're retired, but I definitely understand why. It's an awful lot to keep up with.....I just hope I can find it in me to get [i]started[/i] at some point. D'x Aww, Pearl is such a lovely name, and super fitting, to boot! They're really gorgeous and unique; I've never seen a piebald peacock before! And it sounds like Pearl is quite the character, as well. X'D Birds are so funny with their naughty birdy antics, hahah....They're pretty much endless entertainment, really! Just...busy bein' birbs, 24/7 Wow, seeing all the males molt out their tail feathers sounds really interesting :'0 Do you ever collect them and use them for decorations or crafts or anything like that? Me and my mom like to collect our ducks' and chickens' feathers and keep them in jars on the mantelpiece, and we're planning to use some for crafts eventually! We get especially excited when the ducks molt out their iridescent wing feathers and the drakes molt their curly tail feathers. I can only imagine how cool it must be to have a bunch of peacock tail feathers laying about all of a sudden, haha! I've always thought peacock noises were cool, tbh. I've only ever heard the sort of cat-like "yow" sounds they make, though; it sounds like they have quite the assortment of vocalizations! :0 Ahahah oh gosh, baby birds growing into their adult voices can be so funny sometimes! Idk how much you know about ringneck doves, but in addition to cooing, they also "laugh," and when my baby doves were learning to laugh, they all sounded like they were emitting this evil cackle every time they did it X'D It was really funny! I bet Pearl's fweets and screeches are hilarious (sorry Pearl), I wish I could hear them myself! Anyway, thanks for sharing your story about what it's like to raise peafowl, I really enjoyed it a lot! I'm definitely intrigued about them; it would be fun to meet and interact with an actual peafowl up close someday! Please tell Pearl I said hi & that they're a very very pretty bird :'D ----- As far as my favorite kind of bird goes, I really genuinely can't pick just one, or even just ten! It's like...trying to pick just [i]one[/i] favorite food or [i]one[/i] favorite song. They're all so amazing and quirky in their own way, and I have so many "favorites" (basically whatever bird is currently in front of me is my "favorite," tbh) I just never could choose between them all! If I [i]really[/i] had to choose, I would say chickens simply because I've bonded to them best, but then that still leaves out all the incredible wild species there are out there. So, I guess I just have to say...all birbs are best birbs.