A feathery fiasco

• By Natalie Pitfield

I was walking down our race one day when two chickens came running up to me. They weren’t mine and were very friendly. I asked around, and no one was missing any. So, I put them in with my chooks, and after a brief settling-in period, everyone was getting along nicely.

Then one morning, one of them crowed. I realised the ‘chickens’ I’d adopted were actually roosters that had been dumped. This really made me mad. I can understand that not everyone wants a rooster. But there are better ways to deal with them than just dumping them somewhere. I named them Rupert and Rufus and hoped they wouldn’t be too noisy.

I’d been told by more than one person that having two roosters could be problematic. So I managed to rehome Rufus. I was really choosy as I didn’t want him ending up in a pot somewhere. The boys were extremely tame and loved a cuddle.

In order to transport Rufus easily, I grabbed him and popped him in a pillowcase. This may sound a bit barbaric, but birds like dark, quiet places. He settled down and travelled well.

But me grabbing his brother and basically putting him in a sack really upset Rupert. He flew off into our forest and refused to come home for a day. When he did come home, he was nervous and wouldn’t let me touch him. I was devastated. But I respected his boundaries.

Rupert was an amazing protector of our flock. He even took on a stoat once and ended up covered in blood from a decapitated chicken. The girls always had to go in the coop first, and he’d find tasty morsels for them and call them to come and have a treat. He was such a gentleman.

The years went by, and he still wouldn’t let me touch him. Then he got sick. I wasn’t sure what was wrong. But he was so lethargic that when I gave him a pat, he accepted it.

Thankfully, he recovered and still lets me pat him. Sometimes you just have to be patient.

RECIPE: GINGER CRUNCH

For the base
115g sugar
200g flour
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp baking powder
115g butter
For the icing
110g butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
4 tsp ground ginger
110g icing sugar, sifted

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line a shallow 30x21cm tin with baking paper.
2. Put the dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse them briefly to mix. Then drop in the butter and process until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
3. Pour the crumb mix into the pan and press down firmly with your fingers to compress it slightly. They’ll stick together as they bake.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the base is a pale golden brown.
5. While the base is cooking, put the butter, golden syrup and ginger into a saucepan and heat gently, stirring. When everything is melted and combined, tip in the icing sugar and whisk to combine. It will be fairly runny.
6. Remove the base from the oven and pour on the topping, spreading with a spatula to evenly coat the base. Cut the mixture into fingers and leave to cool – this step is crucial!
7. Break apart and store in an airtight container.