I'm oven-ready already! The chick who still has no feathers

By Leon Watson


It was one of 2,000 chicks born on a remote farm... but this is the bird that caused a real flap.

Mr Feather, as he's been cruelly dubbed, won't feel cock-a-hoop though.

That's because the poor chicken was born completely bald - and has remained so ever since.

Freak with a beak: Mr Feather has become a local celebrity in China


Not only does Mr Feather look fowl, he must be a temptation to hungry humans - being oven-ready after all - and he's even had cats chasing him round.

But, so far, he's survived.

The bird of no feathers hatched in China's Shandong Province five months ago and since then he has become a local celebrity.

Tempting: Mr Feather, the five-month-old featherless chicken, being chased by a cat


Looks fowl: Mr Feather makes this cock and the farm's hens look hirsute


According to owner Lao Yin, people have been flocking to his farm restaurant in Laoshan to get a bird's eye view of him.

"Some customers are dedicated to coming to visit him,' Lao said.

Mr Feather, or Ha Mao in Chinese, has put on weight very slowly, weighing less than half a kilogram while its feathery friends weigh two to three kilograms.

Lao added: 'I started to notice it was different 10 days after its birth, as others were fluffy, while he is almost naked.'


source:dailymail

Cuckolded! The little red warblers fooled into feeding cuckoo chick THREE times their size

By Daily Mail Reporter


Open wide... not that wide: This tireless reed warbler tries to feed the enormous cuckoo chick


These gullible reed warblers had their work cut out when they were tricked in to thinking this enormous cuckoo chick was their own.

A cunning cuckoo had laid its egg in their nest and although the small birds must have been confused by their strange-looking offspring when it hatched, that didn't stop them from carrying out their parenting duties.

They worked tirelessly to bring the intruder chick food every few minutes and even tried to keep him warm - even though he was three times the size of them.

Please can I have some more: The cuckoo chick demands more food from the confused warbler


The cuckoo parent had managed to leave its egg in the nest unnoticed, as the breed have the ability to lay eggs that closely resemble the colouration of other birds.

The bizarre family was captured on camera by wildlife photographer David Tipling near Thetford, Norfolk.

Work cut out for them: The warbler even tries to keep the huge chick warm


Mr Tipling, 45, said this cuckoo chick scenario was rare as the birds aren't often successful in laying their eggs in another bird's nest, especially one that has been so well hidden in the reeds.

'Once this young cuckoo hatched he would have pushed the other eggs out of the nest and started demanding food,' he said.

'These reed warblers appeared to think the chick was their own, it was just their instinct to look feed it.

'The cuckoo was three times the size of them but they didn't seem to notice - they even tried to keep it warm by sitting on it and covering it with their wings.

'The chick will fledge the nest at around 18 to 19 days and will grow so big it will probably flatten the nest.

'But the warblers will just think they've raised a successful family.

'It was very exciting to see. I've been trying to photograph this for quite a while now.'



source:dailymail

Foster mutt: Rottweiler plays mother to orphaned bunnies, birds... and even kittens

By JAMES TOZER

Dave the rottweiler has helped bring up four ducks, three geese, five rabbits, 13 kittens and five puppies - plus countless new-born chicks


You probably wouldn’t pick a ten-stone rottweiler to nursemaid orphaned bunnies and birds. But even kittens are in no danger from Dave the Dog. All he wants to do is look after them.

Owner Amanda Collins discovered her six-year-old pet’s maternal nature when she brought home an unwanted French giant rabbit.

‘Dave just walked over to him and started licking him to clean him,’ said the 25-year-old, who runs a pet shop in Blackpool.

‘They bonded straight away. Now they sleep together, and I’ve even seen them sharing each other’s food.’

Miss Collins, who has looked after a menagerie of abandoned animals, soon found this wasn’t a one-off.

'When I brought home the ducklings, I thought he might not be the same as with the rabbits, but he just went over to them and licked them on the head,' she said..

'I filled a paddling pool with water so they could learn to swim in it, and Dave went and laid down in the water so they could clamber over him. He even lifted them out if they got into trouble.'

So far, Dave has helped bring up four ducks, three geese, five rabbits, 13 kittens and five puppies - not to mention countless new-born chicks.

Dave had a traumatic upbringing – his first owner docked his tail with a cleaver – but has remained amazingly good-natured and has now been voted Britain’s most inspirational dog in a contest sponsored by worming specialists Drontal.

The online contest attracted over 6,000 entries and 265,515 votes were cast.

And six-year-old Dave's owner hopes his success will help improve the breed's image.

'People see him coming and cross the road to the other side - it's so sad,' said Miss Collins.

'Most rottweilers aren't big vicious things - they can be very gentle and obedient if they're looked after and trained properly, and Dave is the perfect example of that.'

source: dailymail