All we need now are the chickens

[RabbitRabbit]

My husband made an adorable chicken coop this afternoon. We call it le Chalet du Poulet.

Admittedly it's a little rough around the edges, but I love it.

Hopefully we'll get our chickens within the next couple days and I'll be able to paint it next weekend. The top comes off, so we can easily remove it to paint it one day.

More photos on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/15217562@N00/tags/chickens/

Stephanie

 

[YumaJohnny]

Great little nesting coop! What kind of chickens are ya'll going to get?

 

[Cheryl]

Will it stay that open? I hope nothing will get in and get your chickens!

 

[Poultra]

Wow, I haven't seen anyone here post from Burundi before. I used to know someone from Burundi, don't recall whereabouts in Burundi he was from exactly, but he had to seek asylum here in the US because he and his family would have been killed if he went back home. This was about 10 years or so ago, hope the political situation has calmed since then.

That's a pretty nifty coop. I'm guessing from the bamboo growing in the background that it can get pretty warm there? So open air design is a good thing.

What breeds of chickens do you have available to you over there? Please post pics when you acquire yours, I would love to see them!

Thanks for sharing!
Katie

 

[RabbitRabbit]

The security and political situation in Burundi is not great, but much improved than during the civil war in the 1990s. They still have a ways to go and we're anxiously watching the run-up to the 2010 elections.

We love it here. It's warm all the time; we're in Bujumbura, the capital city on Lake Tanganyika, about 3 degrees south of the equator. The rainy season isn't too bad. And we chose a shady spot to keep the chickens cool during the dry season.

We will have to see how open it stays. We may put wire on the open sides. We're aware of the risks of having it open. Our yard is walled, which will keep dogs out. The stray cats are pretty scrawny and are no match for roosters. We don't know about snakes. We haven't seen any in our yard but that may change if eggs or chicks are around. There's a band of neighborhood monkeys that's been known to harass chickens, although we've never had them in our yard and only saw them on our street once in the 8 months we've been here. They go into peoples' yards to eat mangos and harassing the chickens is just for fun. Since we don't have a fruitful mango tree, I don't think the monkeys will come in just for the chickens.

We'll only be living here for another year and we're aware that chickens aren't really kept as pets. Whatever we have left when we leave, they'll be somebody's dinner when we leave. That's life and we accept it.

I don't know what specific breeds, or official breeds, are here. The most common is called Mutoyi, named after the town where there's a large mission that raises chickens and supplies most of the poultry meat for the city of Bujumbura. They are large, golden brown chickens; I think they're gorgeous (and tasty!). The two we'd like to get from our friends are mutts; their father is a Mutoyi and their mother is black in color.

The rooster in the foreground and the dark hen right next to him are the two we want. They're still young, but I'm not certain of their age. The rooster will grow quite a bit more. The golden brown hens are Mutoyi. I couldn't get a picture of the Mutoyi rooster. He's truly magnificent but dislikes the paparazzi.

Local chickens are large, aggressive, and territorial. "Life on the streets" as it were has been bred into them so they are survivors. They know to seek cover when a hawk flies overhead. Many people keep the roosters as yard guards to keep snakes away.

Stephanie

 

[RabbitRabbit]

We got our chickens today. We got the rooster pictured above and the smaller golden brown hen, not one of the darker ones. They did fine out in the yard during the day. But as soon as the sun started to go down, our night guards (yep, we've got guards here; a cook and a gardener too; c'est la vie ici) took one look at our chalet and said, "Serpents." So the two guards, DH, and I rounded up the chickens from among the small patch of bamboo (in the near dark--I was so afraid they'd get stepped on!) and they are spending the night in a large cardboard box in the basement.

I'm glad the guards cared enough to help us. We plan to give our domestic staff extra eggs and chickens and I'm sure the guards were motivated by future chicken dinners.

We need to figure out walls and a door ASAP.

Stephanie