My wife is afraid of birds (and rats and mice ...etc) and will instinctively protect her face whenever the chickens hop up on something near her. She freaks if there is flapping.
I know a lady deathly afraid of Chickens and freely admits to it.
I asked her why, and she doesn't know as nothing unusual ever happened, she just is scared. I guess it's like some people are afraid of MICE... I have no idea why. But they are.
But I have to hand it to Teresa .. she still went on the field trip with the kindergarten class, to a farm with free roaming chickens. She was scared and hid behind people to separate herself from the chickens.
(quite comical as she was a large lady ... close to 6 feet tall, hiding behind me ...lol 5 feet tall)
I have a co-worker who is deathly afraid of chickens and she has two stories about the trama she's suffered at the beak of a chicken to back up her phobia.
This lady is around 60 years old. She says that when she was a child, that her grandmother had chickens...and an outhouse. She said the only bathroom facility was that outhouse. This is where she wrinkled her nose and said in almost a whisper. "those chickens used to hang out in the outhouse...down in the hole"....well once I went out to use the outhouse and didn't know there was a chicken in "the hole"...and when I sat down, that chicken started squawking and flapping it's wings and hitting my butt with it's wings trying to get out of "the hole" and I ran screaming afraid for my life all the way back to grandma !!
And then there was the time that one of those chickens pecked off a mole that was on her arm.
I gotta tell you that if I hadn't seen the picture of your chicken and I walked out on my porch I might back up and close the door and go through the back. I think it is the hairdo for sure. What a great looking bird. Never seen one before. I might have to get one just to freak people out.
Kinda looks like one of the charactors from "The Fox and the Hound." One of those birds that goes after the worm that turns into a butterfly. (Voice of Tigger)
Out of kindness and respect for those truly afraid of chickens, I will not cue the JAWS music ..........................da da.....dada......dadadadadadadada