One of the good things about living in Sierra Leone is that I can keep Chickens, something I am sure I would not be able to do living in a flat in London, without breaching my tenancy agreement anyway!
I started about two months ago with 1 cockerel, Buddy and 5 hens. Then hens have no names, I was under strict instructions that the chickens are for eating so not to get too attached so they are nameless. Our compound is perfect for keeping chickens, we have a large area at the back of the house for them to forage and as the compound is fenced people cannot steal them, as they would if they got half the chance! We had a little chicken house made for them which they all go into of their own accord at 6.30pm every night.
Our little chicken colony has now expanded and until yesterday morning we had 22 chickens in total but unfortunately the hawk swooped down and stole one of the chicks! We plan to make a trap to catch the hawk but judging by our failure to catch the ground pig I don't know how successful that will be. Further I don't know what we would do with the hawk should we catch it. Everyone here will say eat it, eat it, but it just wouldn't seem right. I suppose in the UK hawks and such birds of prey are so rare it would seem like a crime to eat one. The other option would be to keep the bird as a pet, but even then tying up a bird feels so very wrong!
It is quite therapeutic to watch the chickens. They have very distinct personalities and you can really see where the expression 'pecking order' comes from. There is a definite hierarchy.
This is Buddy, our cockerel. He is neurotic and you will often hear his high pitched warning calls which makes all the other chickens freeze, it's like chicken musical statues!
This is my least favorite hen, she has a hold over Buddy though, he loves her and follows her everywhere. She even led them into the house the other day sqwarking and flapping their wings, Thea got very excited! I have voted we eat her, she leads Buddy astray and is clearly at the top of the pecking order, she pecks at the other hens and chicks!
This is my favoruite hen, when we got the chickens this one wasn't old enough to lay but even up to today she hasn't! I couldn't understand why, I asked Mama (Winston's mum) so she showed me. We caught the hen and on her back, near her tail she had a spike (sorry no photo) almost like a feather that didn't grow properly. This had prevented Buddy from mounting her. We removed the spike but it must have really put him off, he won't go near her.
This was the latest hen to lay, she hatched five but only has four, it was her chick that the hawk took.
These two hens came together and are very close, the white one has two chicks and the grey speckled hen has four. They seem to help each other in looking after their chicks. The grey one refused to sit on her egges once they had begun to hatch so Hadja (Winston's sister, who lives with us) put her under an upturned basket with the eggs, showed her the kitchen knife and told her in Mende (their Tribal language) that if she didn't sit on the eggs she would be killed with that knife and eaten, she put the knife next to the hen. I don't know if these chickens understand Mende but the hen sat down on the eggs until they all hatched!
These are the teenagers, they make the most noise. There are four cockerels and two hens, the children from the 'bad' hen.
I feed the chickens rice twice a day, anything left over is eaten by these lovely and tiny little birds. Hadja says she wishes she could catch them all - they come at least a hundred at a time - so she could roast them, she says they're very sweet! I say no!
Thea feeding the chickens.
We have great fun with the chickens and I have to admit that sometimes they keep me sane in this crazy place. They help me keep perspective.
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