A stylish coop that would make any hen proud.
Our friend Sara playing the pied piper to her flock of chickens.
A typical variety of home-flock chickens.
Watering systems vary from home to home.
You are correct. There is a goat in the picture.
Guess that every third home in the valley keeps a flock of chickens and you would be close. If you were to take a casual drive around they might seem even more common, darting across the road for reasons of their own or scratching in front yards.
In addition to chickens you will see guinea fowl, ducks, turkeys (wild and domestic), geese, and the occasional peafowl.
A typical set-up for those who still fight cocks for sport.
A neat and well organized chicken run.
Our Speckled Sussex rooster.
Some flocks are composed, as ours is, of only one breed. But most are varied collections, freely allowed to breed and mix at will. The vast majority raise the birds to supply household eggs. A few have signs on the road indicating eggs for sale, with a standard price of $2-3 on average.
Many raise chickens for the table and the pot. A few, like Heidi over the hill, offer sanctuary to the birds for their natural lives or until a fox intervenes.
And there are some dozens of homes South of the River with the tell-tale pitched roof housing fighting cocks in the front yard or out back.
One of our hens setting on a clutch of eggs.
But there are no commercial egg or broiler operations in this region of self-sufficiency.
The birds are housed in traditional coops, makeshift pens or no enclosure at all. But most are let out for the day to peck and live as their ancestors have done for thousands of years. A true partner in the lives of our species.
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Reading this weekend: a fascinating work on sustainable agriculture, dealing with depleted soils and combating poor farming practices that threaten the stability of the country and the government. Of course I’m speaking of the 2000 year-old, 12 volume study of Roman agriculture by Columella.
