So glad he is improving andfor tomorrow's appointment.
I love crested birds -- had Polish when I was younger, they were "exotic" for where we lived so I always did very well with them at the fair, lol. I keep bringing up crested breeds and neither DH nor DS are enthusiasts......I thought for sure DH would like their "hairdo's"
Well, then, sounds like he may have found his special skill -- given how much you loathe kitchen duty and the mixed reception some of your efforts get from those choosy buggars you live with I'd say let him start venturing in there more often.
They should be great for that -- maybe they were smoked to hot/fast to give them the time to really reach perfection?
I'd love to have some. Actually was what I wanted cause I like funky looking things. I wanted a mixed flock. Actually I only came home with one type I planned for. Some chicken lady talked my ear off at the store for almost an hour and that's how I ended up with Australorps lol The others I was just adding to so I could get 6. Instead the what if's hit me and I left with 10 chicks
He gets along well with our other dogs and warmed up to us immediatly, but there's one little snag....he tried to murder our one barn cat. 
So yeah, we won't be fostering him. We knew that he had ate cats previously, but we didn't know his "predator drive" would be this bad! Poor little Spyder put his head under the barn door and just about got decapitated by the dog. I had to lock Spyder up in his hut so the dog wouldn't get him. The dog just about ripped the goats 8 foot livestock gate out of the wall when he jumped through it trying to get the cat. 
Good thing the older more slower barn cat wasn't there, he surely would've lost a limb! 
He goes right up to our dogs and rubs against their faces. 
