遼寧 李愛清

When Aaron Chong and his sister Angelique take their pet out for walks around their neighborhood in Singapore,they receive friendly comments from strangers who mistake it for a small dog.Then,people realize that it isn't a furry dog but a fluffy（毛茸茸的）chicken.For the siblings（兄弟姐妹）though,they're almost the same thing.

“I think,generally,they are very well-natured and easy to take care of,and they bond quite well with humans,” said Aaron of his pet Silkie chickens.“It's enjoyable to be around them.”

Aaron,24,and Angelique,13,first got their Silkie chickens in November last year,after watching tons of farm videos on YouTube featuring the fluffy pets.They are now the proud owners of four Silkies.

Noel Tan,a 23-year-old student at the Singapore University of Technology and Design,was a Silkie chicken owner early on.When he first started raising chickens about four years ago,the Facebook community group for local chicken owners,Backyard Chickens Singapore,only had 500 to 600 members,he recalled.The group has since grown to comprise over 3,000 members,many of them Silkie owners.He co-founded a chicken supply company as well as Chicken Adoption Rescue SG,a local chicken shelter;since the shelter was set up last year,during Singapore's COVID-19 lock down,Tan said his team has rescued nearly 200 chickens around Singapore.

With more people working from home and having their social lives limited to a fraction of what it used to be,pets appeared to be attractive home companions to combat COVID-19 loneliness.

Ng,who works in the pet food industry,saw chicken keeping as a good way to educate his children about pet nutrition and ecosystems.For example,he demonstrated to his children how chicken manure（糞便）can be used as fertilizer,while fruits grown from the plant can then be fed to the chicken.

Reading Check

What makes Silkie chickens a new pet of people according to the text?

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