My Greek Vacation Neighbours: Free Range Chicken :)

The guy is very talkative. “Vociferous” experts would say. Day and night, he means, he has an important message to give to the world: to his small world consisting of hens, chicks and other roosters and to the broader world, one or two square kilometers away.

My big brown noisy friend

He crows several times during the day and every two hours during the night. Our night, the human night.

His poultry night seems to start right after dinner, which is at 6:30 -7 o’ clock. Short before the sun even sets down, my friend has ordered his flock up to the benches of a fig tree and he shuts his mouth up until one o’clock n the morning.

And there he goes again at one in the morning. A sharp “Kukuriku”, a short dash of feathers… My big brown friend starts with his hoarse voice: “Kukurikuuuu! Kukurikuuu!”

Another rooster from the North would answer him “Kukurikuu!”,  another from the East. Within seconds all roosters of the area have something to say and comment to the stimilus of my brown friend. The little feather guy next door, lord of hens and chicks, and several younger – I suppose- roosters of the coop.

Chicken at Dinner

The roosters’ party lasts several minutes, while other animals join the chorus. Some cows mooh, some goats beh, some dogs bark. Only the cats of the area seem to be indifferent to the pandemonium in the middle of the night.

Here and there, the cackle of a hen, who felt disturbed in her sleep by the boys having a great Kukuriku-time.

The party is short and sound, silence returns. Two hours later, at three o’ clock in the morning. There goes the party again, with my big brown friend.

My new neighbours: Free-Range Chicken

The guy next door and his harem are free range poultry living protected in a fenced land plot full of fig trees.  

During the day they hide under the thick  leaves but late afternoon, right before dinner, they gather all together close to the plot door. From there comes the food. A big basket carried by their owner.

I’ve been listening to them since last Friday. But for the first time yesterday, I saw what do they do after dinner. They climb on one of the fig trees for roosting.

Chicken roosting on the tree

 I don’t know if my friend with his “Kukuriku” crows for food, calls his hens, defends his territory or shows the other roosters who’s the real boss. He crows several times during the day and night. The only time I don’t hear him is when he certainly crows right before the dawn.

To tell you the truth I don’t feel annoyed by his crowing. Even if it’s the middle of the night. I think, he is just part of the rural scenery. And helps the hens supply me with fresh eggs from free range chicken 🙂

Kukuriku and GkAk

Mybrown friends’ favorite with the hoarse voice is “Kukuriku-Kukuriku!” Hoever I’ve even caught him making just “Kukuuu! Kukuuu!” but never “Rikuuu! Rikouuu!” The other roosters of the flock are no hoarse. And in the night, the one in the east has a crystal clear voice.

A Greek rooster would always “Kukuriku”, while an English would “cock-a-doodle-doo”, a Dutch would “Kukeleku”, a Finnish would “Κukkokiekuu”, a French would “Cocorico”, a Gaelic would “Cuc-a-dudal-du” and a German would “Kickeriki”.

A Greek hen would “Kokoko” or “GGkAAk!” as I hear from my friends’ coop. I guess “Kokoko” means “food” and  “Gkak!” says “here’s my egg!” Foreign hens would  “cackle”and “cluck “, I hear 🙂

PS Recently the hens of my brown friends’ flock had a huge dispute with the hens of the flock of their next door. It went like that “Kokoko-GKAk! Kokoko-GKAk!Kokoko-GKAk!”

The argument was solved through successful “Kokoko-Gkak!”-negotiations after 15 to 20 minutes.