Not a Chickenblog!

With deference and acknowledgements to the real Chickenblogger, I post this blog about the beauties that we have here. I'm not known as a chicken-fancier (if that is the right term - seems to work for pigeons) but los abuelos have a number of hens and cockerels pecking and strutting about the place, and some of them are really rather gorgeous.
There have been hens here since we arrived and we've been eating the delicious eggs most days - the children often go and collect them when they're not at school. The cockerels came back from Valdepolo with los abuelos in October. When we visited during the summer, they were cute little things, fluffy and chirpy.
Well just look at them now!

In the past two weeks, they have discovered their 'crowing' voices and to start with, they sensibly didn't start practicing until about 8 in the morning. However, as their confidence and skill has increased, they start earlier and earlier and this morning, it was about 6.30am.

I suspect they may not be around much longer. It won't be long before a neighbour makes a complaint - it has happened before and then, curtains for these poor creatures. It's a real shame because they are so handsome and none of us really like to eat them. Not for sentimental reasons; I'm not one to be sentimental over a chicken; but because the meat is actually quite strong, quite hard to eat. They are birds full of energy from sunlight, freedom and exercise and they have a taste so unlike the chickens I have eaten all my life, it's difficult to equate the two. It does make me think more about the chickens I have eaten though....and whilst in recent years, we have always bought and eaten free-range, I suspect they were not quite free-range enough!

Anyway, whether we eat them or not is another story but for now, you have to admit, they are a handsome group! And this one is definitely the most handsome, the most photogenic, the most proud and the most noisy of them all. I really do fancy him!