Chicken Puzzle

There are many wooden animal puzzles around. Most notably from the Japanese Kumiki puzzles genre as well as the Karakuri Creation Group. All sorts of animals abound including lions, pigs, cats, elephants, owls and even the skunk.

Then there are some from European craftsmen like Alfons Eyckmans which are more conventional burrs but containing within the puzzle an animal-shaped piece, like his Gobi and Free The Monkey 2. Once in a while, someone comes along and designs a burr puzzle but deliberately fashions it in the shape of an animal. The Chicken is one such puzzle.

A really cute puzzle I might add. the Chicken was designed by Olexandre Kapkan and made by Eric Fuller. Excellent craftsmanship as always and the woods used here are Yellowheart and Cherry; no doubt to reflect the colours of a real chicken as far as possible.
The puzzle is about the right size for comfortable handling, measuring about 10.5cm x 6cm x 5cm. It's actually the size of a large chick. This puzzle was the first to sell out after Eric announced his site update. I was lucky to get the last copy.

According to Eric's Facebook post, there is suppose to be a surprise hidden inside the puzzle (eg Egg?) but I didn't find anything as I played with it. Although it is Level 10.2 with only four pieces and the body, its not an easy puzzle to solve at all. After like moving 5 or 6 steps, I got stuck. Took me the good half an hour to find the correct move and then finally got one drum (I mean leg) of the Chicken out. The rest of the other limbs came out easily after that. Putting it back together was about just as hard as I had to do everything in reverse. I couldn't quite remember all the steps and was forced to do some trial and error before I assembled the lot together. Burr Tools not needed here (at least not for me).

The Chicken is really a great puzzle, not only in terms of the design and look (displays very well and attracts comments) but it also offers a good level of challenge from the puzzling perspective. I only wish those beautiful and superb quality Karakuri animal puzzles can be designed with this level of difficulty, then they will really be outstanding puzzles.