Dancing chicken sequence at end of Werner Herzog’s Stroszek

Now reading Herzog on Herzog. When asked whether he’s obsessed with chickens, filmmaker Werner answers yes, that for him “They are the most horrifying, cannibalistic and nightmarish creatures in the world.” He goes on to share the following story…

Years ago I was searching for the biggest rooster I could find and heard about a guy in Petaluma, California, who had owned a rooster called Weirdo that weighed thirty pounds. Sadly Weirdo had passed away, but his offspring were alive, and guess what? They were even bigger. I went out there and found Ralph, son of Weirdo, who weighed an amazing thirty-two pounds! Then I found Frank, a special breed of miniature horse that stood less than two feet high. I told Frank’s owner I wanted to film Ralph chasing Frank — with a midget riding him — around the biggest sequoia tree in the world, thirty metres in circumference. It would have been amazing because the horse and the midget together were still smaller than Ralph, the rooster. But unfortunately Frank’s owner refused. He said it would make Frank look stupid.