Meet Charley – the nappy-wearing peahen who enjoys trips through Dunfermline in a pram.
Charley lives with aviary volunteer Carlyn Cane at her home, where she steals her socks and fights with the cat.
And she has become such a valued member of the family that she even regularly eats toast with them.
Carlyn, 42, adopted the 10-month old peahen when she was a new-born after she endured the worst possible start in life.
And now she can’t imagine her home without her.
She said: “She’s amazing.
“I never thought I’d fall in love with a bird but she’s my baby.”
‘Egg failed to hatch so I hit it with a spoon’
Student nurse Carlyn works in her spare time with the Peacocks in Pittencrieff Park group.
The volunteers breed the birds in the park’s aviary and ensure they are looked after for the people of Dunfermline.
Charley failed to hatch last year and, assuming she was dead, workers decided to open the egg to find out what had gone wrong.
Carlyn said: “I hit it with a spoon and it cheeped at me.
“I got a massive fright and started screaming but I put it in the incubator and Charley hatched three days later.
“She spent 24 hours in the incubator and the following day I took her home.”
The intention was to look after Charley at home for 12 weeks, with the help of partner Alan and children Charlotte, 17, Daniel, 15, and 10-year-old Grace.
But Carlyn said: “Unfortunately Charley was only four-weeks-old when we realised there was something not quite right.”
Charley wouldn’t survive in the aviary
It turned out Charley the peahen had problems with her knees and hips and was in terrible pain.
A vet diagnosed her with splay leg which made it difficult to walk and her knees were dislocating.
Treatment helped but she is still on painkillers, including Gabapentin which is used to treat epilepsy and shingles in humans.
“The vet says she’s now doing amazingly well but that’s only because she lives with me,” said Carlyn.
“She wouldn’t survive in the aviary. She wouldn’t get to the food.
“While she doesn’t have a normal life, she does have a quality of life.
“When I shout her name, she comes running. She’s spoilt rotten.”
Charley the peahen wears a nappy in the house
Charley is free-range in the house but wears a chicken nappy indoors to keep it free of droppings.
And aside from toast and butter, she eats fish sticks, celery, grapes and cheese.
“It’s getting to the stage where we’re sitting having dinner and she’s right there beside us looking up at us,” said Carlyn.
“She’s got her own wee pram and I take her out for walks. She loves going out and about.”
The family also has two cats – Lucy, who ignores Charley, and Willow, with whom she has a love-hate relationship.
“Charley will clean Willow’s tail but sometimes she just tries to peck her in the face,” said Carlyn.
The family also bought her a chicken to keep her company but the union proved unsuccessful.
“Lola started being nasty to Charley so she went to live on a farm,” Carlyn added.
‘We don’t know how long we’ve got with her’
It costs around £100-a-month for Charley the peahen’s medication and looking after her takes a lot of work.
But Carlyn doesn’t do it alone. She has help from other volunteers at the aviary, which relies entirely on public donations to keep going.
“We’re a self-funded group so we have to pay for it all,” she said.
“She goes back to the vet in April for a review. She’s still very small for her age – her brothers Blu and Rory are twice her size.
“That’s why she’s so spoilt, because we don’t know how long we’ve got with her.”
Further adventures of Charley the peahen and other Pittencrieff Park peacocks can be viewed on TikTok.
Conversation