Fowl-friendly salon is definitely for the birds

By Bambang Tiong

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Beauty parlors are not only the domain of people to spruce themselves up. Makeovers for dogs and cats have become commonplace but this town boasts a special place to tend to the needs of birds, particularly roosters.

Surachman, 59, has run his clinic-cum-beauty parlor in Terban, Yogyakarta, since 1965. He can care for damaged feathers or change their color. If, in the case of a fancy rooster, for example, the owner does not like the bird's comb, Surachman can sculpt it into the desired shape.

Apart from being able to make fashion plates of fowl, Surachman can also ease the soreness in roosters' legs. Surachman acts like a physician in diagnosing what ails the animals, his practice a bamboo house which highlights the traditional orientation of his services.

In doing his job, Surachman relies on simple instruments and traditional herbal medicine concoctions. Surachman, usually assisted by his younger brother, Paijo, can easily find the medicinal herbs near his house. Manding leaves, the sap of the stem and midrib of banana leaves and papaya leaves, for example, are as good as antibiotics in fighting infection and also to heal wounds, he said.

His instruments are scissors, razors, the sharp-pointed spokes of a motorcycle and glue. To perform surgery, he needs cotton wool, needles and threads.

To replace feathers is easy as he only has to find a similar feather of the desired color. The feathers must be taken from the same side of the wing and can be obtained from chicken slaughterhouses in the areas of Kalasan or Sleman. When the new feathers are ready, the feathers to be replaced will be cut off at the base with great care to ensure the flesh is not cut as well. Then the remaining roots of the feathers will be removed using the sharpened spoke.

When this is completed, the new feathers will be put in place to determine whether they are suitable. Certain parts of the new feathers will be cut to ensure that they match the original. Then the base of the replacement feathers will be cleaned with a razor to ensure that the outer layer of the feather's cartilage is removed and the glue can really stick to the body of the chicken. When this is ready, the new feathers will be placed using glue.

Ponijo said only feathers on the wing and tail sections of a bird can be replaced. "The feathers in these two parts have relatively big holes, not like the other parts of the chicken."

To replace feathers, Surachman and Ponijo take about 60 minutes and earn Rp 15,000 per chicken in return. These replacement feathers, Surachman said, will come off when new feathers eventually grow in.

Budi Kemin, 37, from Besi, Pakem, Sleman, Yogyakarta, is a regular at Surachman's.

"I often had the feathers of my chicken repaired at Surachman's place. The result is very good. The replacement is neatly done and also very strong."

To "redo" a cock's comb, the first thing is to determine the model and the direction required. Customers can take their pick from jengger telon (with three lines at the tip of the comb) and jengger sumpel (small size and the model is like a knob). Once the model has been picked, Surachman will work with his razor on the comb. To prevent infection, his instruments are sterilized by burning them first. If the comb needs to be cut, it will be put in place again through stitches.

When the process is completed, the sap of the midrib of banana leaves will be put on the wound. Then mlanding leaves which have been pressed and squeezed will also be spread on the wound. This work on the comb takes five minutes at a cost of Rp 25,000.

As for bubul (soreness in the leg), Surachman will perform more or less the same method used in operating on a cock's comb. For this ailment, he must take out the sore parts and then sew the incisions up. He said the wounds should not be exposed to water for 10 days, which is how long it takes to heal.

Surachman said he earned enough because every day he could treat five patients, most of them with complaints concerning feathers. He said that his clients are fowl collectors and cockfight fans, the latter being the bigger number.

"So, if the authorities frequently conduct cockfight raids, the number of my patients will be reduced as a result," he said.

His clients come from Yogyakarta and Central Java towns like Surakarta and Semarang, and also Jakarta.

Surachman said that his skills developed after he took pity on the his own roosters. At one time his rooster, a good fighter, had many of its feathers broken. So young Surachman thought of a way to repair the feathers. He cut off the broken feathers and replaced them with good ones, in the same way bamboo pieces are connected in houses in his area.

"It is this connection method that I have applied in connecting chicken feathers," he added.