RECIPES

Sunday 5 July 2020

Roadside Chickens

Several years ago a mysterious person or group began distributing chickens at various rest-stops around New Zealand.  Their colourful cheeky presence brightened many a traveller’s day.


The chickens thrived in their wild condition, helped along by a public who generally adored them.


The chickens were colourful and friendly, and great for feeding picnic scraps to.
But obviously they became a problematic issue once they began breeding prolifically.


Quietly and methodically, officialdom has slowly removed all these birds.  I can think of only one lay-by now where there are still chickens and that is actually on private land.


These photos were taken of chickens that were living at a country picnic spot near to our house.  They would wander through every day on their search for food.  We used to provide water for them.


We always enjoyed their daily visit J
Margaret.



19 comments:

  1. Hello,

    I enjoyed the chicken photos and their story. We have some wild chickens in different USA cities, like Key West Florida. Have a great day!

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  2. How unusual and interesting!

    I always enjoyed the free range chickens my grandparents had. The eggs were so fresh and tasty too.

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  3. It's too bad the chickens became a problem because they must have been a pleasure to watch. At least they still find a home on that private land. They certainly looked well fed. It was nice of you to put out water for them.

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  4. What a strange thing to do, but I guess the chickens are thriving. - Margy

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  5. What a funny thing! I'd like to have such nice visitors too!

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  6. It really is too bad that some bureaucrat decided that the chickens had become a problem, when people obviously enjoyed them so much. A problem in whose eyes? It seems to me that as soon as any animal other than ourselves becomes successful we resent it. Yet here we are, wise and all-knowing humans, overbreeding ourselves into oblivion and nudging the world population ever closer to ten billion. Human arrogance makes me sick.

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    1. I think they knew the public would complain, that is why they have done it over a period of time and very quietly. Human wisdom can leave a lot to be desired sometimes.

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  7. I love chickens...I think they are so photogenic!

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  8. Nice to see all of your chicken photographs.

    All the best Jan

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  9. There were some at a picnic spot when we drove from Awanui to Kerikeri. Not sure if they are still there.

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  10. Were these the ones in Te Atatu that you are talking about. Yes as per Susan's comment above we have some here in Kerikeri that wander around.

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    1. These ones were in the King Country, south of Hamilton.

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  11. Chicken. A sad story over here with their meat being so cheap, only few are allowed to roam "free".
    Nice to see yours!

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  12. I saw a group of what looked to be 'wild' chickens yesterday between Te Kuiti and Tokoroa yesterday, on the back roads. Can't recall exactly where now, as I think I was driving at the time.
    Stay safe
    Blessings
    Maxine

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    1. Yay! I'm happy to hear there are still some around the place. I think they are lovely :)

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  13. Hello,
    I just love the cute chickens, they are all cute photos. Thank you for linking up your post. Enjoy your day, have a great new week! PS, thanks for the visit and comment.

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  14. I remember seeing chickens at the side of the road when I visited New Zealand. I was amazed that they survived, but I was told it was because there are no predators. I suppose the only predators are the human kind.

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  15. Now I recall chooks living in the bush beside a remote road on Otago Peninsula - we simply assumed they had 'escaped' from somewhere.

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  16. There were some at a lay-by outside Whangerei too. They were well fed by people who stopped.

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Thank-you for visiting my blog. I love it when you leave a comment so please feel free to have your say. Have a great day! Margaret xx