Thomas of Myr
In the Brooder
So past March I was in Marrakech and
started to look around town at the local chickens and it occurred to me that wherever I have been around the world there always is some local variety of chickens, either landrace/feral or specifically selected for its local conditions. So I started to wonder what would happen if I would take some of the eggs home from my travels. Of course this would probably result in a flock of interesting looking birds with no specific purpose... But still the idea for my little global feral chicken project was born. Talking to a old lady just outside of the city resulted in me buying 12 eggs. Sadly enough 10 eggs didn't survive the long journey home and only one of the remaining eggs turned out to be fertilized and so my little rooster was born. But without any females my little project was at a standstill
Fast forward a couple of months to Christmas last year. When spending my family holiday in the mountains of Norway I started to talk about my little project with a local show bird breeder. He told me about a farm nearby that had been abandoned for the past 8/10 years. The only thing remaining there was a group of feral chickens that had managed to live out there without the influence or help of humans. So I when looking for this farm and found it there was a small group of chickens living there (30/35 birds) most of them where black and way to feral to get close enough to make a couple of pictures. So I went in to the old farm house and found a couple of old nesting spots. And two new ones so I took 6 of their eggs and brought them home. This time I was in luck because al the eggs survived the journey. And all 6 of them turned out to be fertile. They are do to hatch out next week.
Hope to keep you all updated and included in the projected and I would love to hear your thoughts about it
started to look around town at the local chickens and it occurred to me that wherever I have been around the world there always is some local variety of chickens, either landrace/feral or specifically selected for its local conditions. So I started to wonder what would happen if I would take some of the eggs home from my travels. Of course this would probably result in a flock of interesting looking birds with no specific purpose... But still the idea for my little global feral chicken project was born. Talking to a old lady just outside of the city resulted in me buying 12 eggs. Sadly enough 10 eggs didn't survive the long journey home and only one of the remaining eggs turned out to be fertilized and so my little rooster was born. But without any females my little project was at a standstill
Fast forward a couple of months to Christmas last year. When spending my family holiday in the mountains of Norway I started to talk about my little project with a local show bird breeder. He told me about a farm nearby that had been abandoned for the past 8/10 years. The only thing remaining there was a group of feral chickens that had managed to live out there without the influence or help of humans. So I when looking for this farm and found it there was a small group of chickens living there (30/35 birds) most of them where black and way to feral to get close enough to make a couple of pictures. So I went in to the old farm house and found a couple of old nesting spots. And two new ones so I took 6 of their eggs and brought them home. This time I was in luck because al the eggs survived the journey. And all 6 of them turned out to be fertile. They are do to hatch out next week.
Hope to keep you all updated and included in the projected and I would love to hear your thoughts about it
