雞肉是中國人餐桌上最常見的食材之一，具有很好的滋補功效。用烏雞煲湯、做菜我們熟悉，但是把烏雞當寵物養(yǎng)還是比較少見。但如今在國外，烏雞卻成了一種新潮寵物。

When Aaron Chong and his sister Angelique take their offbeat pet out for walks around their neighborhood in Singapore， they receive friendly comments from strangers who mistake it for a small dog. Then， intrigued stares ensue when people realize that it isnt a furry dog but an ultra fluffy chicken. For the siblings though， theyre almost the same thing.

身在新加坡的亞倫和妹妹安吉麗帶著他們另類的寵物在他們居住的社區(qū)附近散步時，路人經常把他們的寵物誤認為小狗，然后送上贊美。當人們發(fā)現(xiàn)這不是一只毛茸茸的狗狗，而是一只毛茸茸的雞時，好奇的目光隨之而來。不過，對于這對兄妹來說，兩者沒什么差別。

“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. “They have a lot of charisma， and its enjoyable to be around them.”

談到寵物烏雞，亞倫說：“我認為它們一般都性格溫順，容易照顧，也很親近人類。它們的魅力爆棚，和它們在一起很開心?！?/p>

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

亞倫和安吉麗在油管上觀看了大量在農場拍攝的關于烏雞的視頻后，第一次擁有了自己的烏雞。他們已經養(yǎng)了四只烏雞，并為此感到驕傲。

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

隨著越來越多的人在家辦公，社交生活大幅縮減，寵物似乎成了受歡迎的家庭伴侶，幫助人們抵御新冠疫情帶來的孤獨感。

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 can be used as fertilizer， while fruits grown from plants can then be fed to the chicken.

從事寵物食品行業(yè)的Ng認為，養(yǎng)雞是教育孩子寵物營養(yǎng)和生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的好方式。例如，他向自己的孩子們演示了如何將雞糞用作肥料，而植物結的果實可以喂雞。

From how to handle roosters crowing to common illnesses like bumblefoot， Silkie owners often discuss and share tips for raising Silkies in online community groups. Experienced chicken owners are also generous in guiding newbies who are dealing with chicken-related issues.

從如何處理公雞的啼叫到常見的疾病，比如雞趾瘤癥，烏雞的主人經常在網(wǎng)絡論壇上討論和分享飼養(yǎng)烏雞的技巧。經驗豐富的養(yǎng)雞人也慷慨地指導新手處理與雞有關的問題。

Like other pets， Silkie chickens are a long-term commitment that many， enchanted by their fluffiness， may forget. With a life span of about nine years， Silkie chickens come with quirks and responsibilities that some may not be ready for.

和養(yǎng)其他寵物一樣，養(yǎng)烏雞也是一種長期的承諾。許多人被它們毛茸茸的樣子吸引，可能會忘記這點。烏雞的壽命約為9年，有些人可能還沒有準備好接受烏雞的怪癖和飼養(yǎng)的責任。

Having long been domesticated as ornamental pets， Silkies are prone to sickness if not taken care of properly. If abandoned recklessly， theyre basically defenseless against natural elements and predators like cats， snakes， and monkeys.

由于長期被當作觀賞性寵物馴養(yǎng)，如果不加以妥善照顧，烏雞很容易生病。如果隨意遺棄，它們基本上無法抵御自然因素和天敵，如貓、蛇和猴子。

Word Bank

intrigued /?n'tri?ɡd/ adj. 著迷；很感興趣；好奇

fluffly /'fl?fi/ adj. 絨毛般的；覆有絨毛的

newbie /'nju?bi/ n.（尤指使用電腦的）新手

enchant /?n't?ɑ?nt/ v. 使著迷；使陶醉

She was enchanted by the flowers you sent her.

domesticate /d?'mest?ke?t/ v. 馴養(yǎng)，馴化（動物）

We domesticated the dog to help us with hunting.

recklessly /'rekl?sl?/ adv. 魯莽地；不計后果地

predator /'pred?t?（r）/ n. 捕食性動物