Actress Chantalle Ng installs outdoor enclosure for new, 'egg-cellent' pets
Keeping chickens as pets isn’t exactly the norm, but for local actress and animal lover Chantalle Ng, it’s been a fascinating new experience.
Ng, 27, has been fostering cats and dogs since she was a teenager. Her two pet dogs, Pretty and Dasher, were adopted from animal shelter SOSD Singapore.
In an Instagram post, she told her followers she was welcoming two more feathered members into her family.
Speaking to 8days, Ng said she received the chicken from a friend.
"I've always wanted to live on a farm, surrounded by nature with animals and plants. I follow a few personalities on social media who rear chickens and saw how cute these little animals were,” she said.
"When I first got my dogs, there was more settling in required, but the chickens fit right in. They're just happy to be roaming around and snacking on whatever I give them.”
Indeed, her new pets seem to have settled in well, especially since Ng installed an outdoor enclosure just for them.
As an added incentive, Ng has been getting free eggs – ‘they’ve been egg-cellent pets’, quipped Ng – though that might not go on for much longer.
"My hens are 1 and 3 years old, and the older hen might stop producing eggs soon. (But), like Michelle Yeoh said, ‘Ladies, don't let anyone tell you you’re past your prime’,” she added, referencing a quote from the actress at the Oscars recently.
One dilemma, however, involves the naming of the chickens.
Ng wanted to go with ‘Shao Ji’ (roasted chicken) and ‘Bai Zhan Ji’ (white poached chicken) – but she was certain her mother, actress Lin Meijiao, wouldn’t be too pleased with that.
Lin’s own suggestion was Love + Ly, so together they're “Lovely”. Not surprisingly, Ng wasn’t a fan of that.
Names aside, one thing Ng and her mum have to look out for is how her dogs behave around the feathered ones.
Dasher, Ng explained, is 15 and “unable to see and hear very well”, so he isn’t really aware that he’s sharing the backyard with two chickens.
"I brought him to the Botanical Gardens a few years ago and he wanted to attack the swans,” she said.
Uhm, yeah, better keep an eye on that.
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