Fancy fowl
Although they may look pretty much the same, not all eggs are created equal. And since eggs are a crucial element of Easter, it's worth noting that egg "creators" are also very different and sometimes even beautiful.
In celebration of the Easter holiday, last week unusually fancy hens and roosters went on display at the Warsaw Zoo. The exhibition was co-organized by the Gallus Club of Fancy Hen and Rooster Breeders and ran from April 17-24.
Ewa Stefanska brought her 5-year-old son Rafal to show him the magnificent birds.
"It's a great attraction before Easter," Stefanska said. "This is also a great variation on the (regular) zoo display."
Her son was also impressed. "I liked one hen especially," Rafal said. "She was black and white."
While Rafal was delighted by the fancy hens, he didn't like the taste of the scrambled ostrich eggs prepared by the organizers. All visitors to the opening of the temporary hen-house had a chance to taste the ostrich delicacy.
"The scrambled eggs were delicious because they were very light," said Andrzej Kruszewicz, head of the bird department at the Warsaw Zoo.
The exhibit and scrambled ostrich eggs weren't the zoo's only fowl attractions. Kruszewicz also shared his knowledge on the subject of poultry. During his typical work day, he said he deals with precisely 814 birds. And although last week's selection of fancy hens and roosters were not permanent zoo residents, Kruszewicz seemed to have no problems fielding questions about them.
"Cocks are very jealous about their hens," he said. "But hens decide which cock they want to live with."
Kruszewicz said that if a hen finds a cock an attractive partner, she'll join his harem even if she's its 15th member. The number of the cock's mistresses doesn't matter to her. A question about what makes a cock enticing was also answered quickly.
"The longer the cock's tail, the cuter he is," he said.
The Gallus Club was in charge of selecting the most attractive birds at the show. Included in its top 100 were about 25 species of hens. Some of them, such as the Bojowe Angielskie (English fighters), had long legs and were used for cockfights. Others, like the Brahma hens, were almost as large as turkeys.
Hens, even fancy ones, are not very demanding about their living conditions. But some require more care than others. For example, the long-tailed Feniks hen prefers a larger space to roam in.
"Feniks demand a four-meter high cage," said Monika Lukasiewcz, a secretary at Gallus. "And also a stick that they can rest on." Feniks have very long tails, which makes them special. Lukasiewicz said that they are one of the rarest species in all of Europe.
Szabo hens like higher temperatures, a minimum of 10 degrees Celsius. "It's because of their combs," Lukasiewicz said. "Combs are the most sensitive parts of their bodies."
Leon Tarasewicz had the largest number of hens at the exhibition. A well-known painter and the president of Gallus, Tarasewicz lives in the village of Walily near Bialystok, where he paints and breeds birds. Specifically, he breeds hens, which he said are able to handle the colder Bialystok climate. In addition to several hen species, his private "zoo" includes pigeons, peacocks, ducks and geese.
"I was always interested in ornithology, but I devoted most of my time to painting," Tarasewicz said. "So breeding hens and other birds is my way of indulging in some backyard ornithology."
