The hens and poultry
on the farm were usually the domain of the women of the house,
providing not only food in the form of eggs and meat, but
also an added source of income. The hens normally just roamed
around the farmyard and surrounding fields, scratching for grubs,
insects or seeds, to protect them from the ever present danger
of foxes the would have been brought in at night, although if
left out their instinct prompted them to roost in trees.
Free range hens tend to look for a secluded
place to lay their eggs, bramble thickets and the haggard 'hay
yard' were popular with them. It was the duty of the children
to watch where the hens layed and to collect the eggs, in order
not to dishearten the hen, egg shaped stones were often left in
the nest, one or two were sufficient, the hen not being particularly
good at arithmetic. In later years it was possible to buy crockery
eggs for this purpose.
Every farmyard had its resident rooster
who proudly patrolled his domain, watching over his harem, some
of the eggs would be kept for hatching. Wise farmers kept only
eggs from hens that were large and good layers. The selected eggs
would be set under a clocking hen sometimes called a broody hen
(One that had decided it had laid enough eggs an it was time to
hatch them.)
After 21 days the eggs hatched, the chicks
following mum about learning life's  skills, and will
be diligently looked after by her. When they had grown the cockerel's
(males) were either killed and eaten or sold, the pullets (females)
if not needed to replace old hens were also sold, at the local
market or fair.
A hen's productivity generally begins to
decline by the time it is two years old, although it will continue
to produce eggs up to the age of five years but as time progresses
her production rate declines. Traditionally culled hens would
be killed and eaten, their soft feathers would be kept and used
to stuff pillows and bed covers.
Today there is something of a resurgence
in hen keeping many families are keeping a few fens in a hen ark
or coop, these can be fed on household scraps.
The coop on the right would accommodate
about three hens which may produce about 18 eggs a week. It is
easily moved about the garden, allowing the hens to forage and
in effect be free range, while under control, so you have the
twin advantages of converting toy household scraps to eggs while
the hens deposit their droppings on the ground enriching your
garden. |
