The domestic hen (Gallus gallus) has evolved from

the wild or bankiva hen, a bird native to the forests

and bamboo stands of India and southeast Asia.
This species was first domesticated in its place of
origin and later extended throughout China and the
Middle East. The oldest remains are located in China, dating back 5500 years, while references to the
domestic hen appear in Babylonian texts as early as
2300 BC. The Assyrians brought the hen to Greece
and from there they spread to the rest of the Mediterranean (Bernis, 2001).

Decades ago, a Recovero was a person who

would go from house to house buying and selling eggs, hens and chickens or exchanging
them for other products.
Depending on the breed, the eggshell can be
white, brown, pink and even black, blue or
green in exotic breeds. The color of the yolk,
however, is solely determined by the feed.
Corn-fed hens produce yolks of a more intense
color, while some farmers put paprika in the
feed so that yolks are an intensive orange.

Figure 1: Spanish Black Hen

Ethnobiology
Traditionally, the domestic chicken coop stands in
the yard adjacent to the house, and it is the housewife who is in charge of raising the birds, collecting
eggs, and obtaining meat. More or less, the typical
size of a backyard henhouse in Spain is twelve to
fourteen chickens and one rooster.
Eggs
This product is widely appreciated and valued (it
was said in Spanish when you are a father, you will
be important enough to eat eggs)

Figure 2: Different colors eggs

Eggs are also used in folk medicine. In the

Province of Albacete, to cure the whitlows, the
patient would put his fingers inside a raw egg.
Eggs laid on Good Friday were kept in a cabinet
all
year
as
an
amulet
against
"Paralis (paralysis). In the Province of Guadalajara a restorative punch is made with whole
raw eggs, lemon juice and sugar, then beaten
and left to macerate until acquiring a slurry appearance. The mixture is given to children and
tired people as a tonic. Beaten egg whites
are used for burns. (Verde et al, 2008)

Nowadays, eggs sold in Spain are marked with

a numeric code where the first number indicates the type of animal husbandry:
0. Hens raised outdoors with organic food.
1. Hens with access to the outdoors.
2. Chickens raised in closed warehouses without access to the outside. Density: up to 12
hens per m2.
3. Caged hens. Each hen has a space equivalent to an A4 sheet of paper.
Source: www.somostriodos.com
Hens and chickens
Chickens, previous to intensive and industrial
farming, were a luxury saved for special occasions (weddings, pig slaughtering etc.). A freerange chicken requires between 6 and 9
months to reach a size suitable for slaughter
(while in intensive livestock they are slaughtered at 45 days).
A capon is a castrated chicken, between one
and three months old. These animals become
larger than normal chickens in less time
(reaching up to 6-7 kilos and with fattier, juicier and more flavorful meat).
There are heavy breeds in which the roosters
can weigh up to 6 kg, while dwarfs weigh just
half a kilo (Bernis, 2001).
Old hens were killed for meat, usually in winter.
When a woman gave birth, her family would kill
a hen to provide broth for her recovery. A black
hen was usually preferred, as it was said to
make the best broth.

Figure 3: Free range hen

Hen manure
Manure produced by hens is highly prized for
fertilizing orchards, vegetable gardens and
fields, although it should be used sparingly due
to its high concentration.

Feathers
Rooster feathers from very specific breeds such
as the Indio de Len and the Pardo de Len are
excellent for fishing flies. Kidney feathers are
used for wet fly while neck feathers are used
for dry fly (Fernndez et al, 2009).

Fat
Hen fat has been used in traditional medicine in
the elaboration of different medicinal preparations, using it to extract the active ingredients
from plants.

Management
Coop. The domestic hen does not need much
space. It does need a dry, covered place for
protection from rain, a nest to lay eggs (usually
in dark corners), containers for food and water,
and an elevated area for sleeping. It should
also receive sunlight. No loose strings or cords
should be left on the ground as they can get
tangled around legs, producing finger amputations.

Free hens appreciate grasshoppers and other

insects such as grubs and earthworms. Traditionally, hens were fed stale bread soaked in
water and mixed with middlings. On cold winter
days, this was prepared with hot water.
Nowadays, flour compounds are sold in crumbled or in pellet form for both laying hens and
broilers.

Hens which roam free outdoors can be attacked

by dogs or wild animals, making it necessary to
close the coops at night. In cottages and isolated villages, animals such as foxes, genets,
martens, etc. can wreak havoc on poultry.
There have even been cases of Iberian lynxes
entering coops in the Alcaraz mountains. When
a hen has a wound, it must be isolated from
the other hens since they will peck at it.
Feeding. Hens are quite hardy and undemanding in terms of feeding. Due to their restless
nature, they like to be outdoors, scratching the
ground, searching for grain, insects, etc. Freeranging hens used to be common in Spanish
villages and hamlets. To distinguish them, each
housewife would tie a colored thread around
her hens legs. After threshing, people would
sweep up the leftover grains from the threshing
ground to feed their poultry.
Hens consume household waste in addition to
wild plants such as poppies, chickweeds, sow
thistles, etc. There is even a Spanish quote
which says la pamplina para la gallina which
translates to chickweed is for hens

Figure 4: Group of hens

Egg production. Hens usually lay their eggs at

noon. Egg laying is not uniform throughout the
year. In autumn and early winter, it is at a minimum (it is said that the hen that lays at grape harvest time is the queen of hens). As the days
lengthen after the winter solstice, they start laying
more intensely until reaching a maximum in the
springtime.
When chickens start laying after winter, their crest
takes on a more intense red color which is maintained while the hens are laying. Hence, when
someone has a very red face, people will say that it
looks like you are going to lay an egg".

Apart from normal eggs, eggs can be dwarfs

(without a yolk), or without the external shell (in
lgara in Spanish) or with two yolks. It's said that
when a hen lays two eggs yolks , is interpreted as
will soon stop putting

Depending on the breed, annual egg production

is between 120 and 325 eggs per animal
(Bernis, 2001, Orozco, 1989, Fernandez et al,
2009).
On occasion a hen will eat her eggs, which may
be due to a lack of space or some deficiency in
the diet, a problem that is usually solved by
correcting these factors. Traditionally, hens
which eat eggs are sacrificed.
Chicken and hen meat. Meat from chickens
and hens is highly regarded for many recipes,
especially stews. In homes the animals are
slaughtered with the aid of a broomstick, which
was used to press the neck to the floor while
the legs were pulled up, thus breaking the animals neck. Another way is to bleed the animal
by making a small cut at the base of the previously plucked crest (this method is used to obtain blood for some specific recipes).
Once the animal dies, it is submerged in hot
water for five to ten minutes and then plucked.
The gizzards and liver are used in addition to
the white and dark meat.
Formerly the intestines were carefully cleaned
and fried in hot olive oil to give them a crunchy
texture.
Reproduction. Traditionally, to obtain new
animals, housewives use broody hens. In
spring, when the days lengthen and temperatures are good, the hens which stop laying and
remain in the nest are called broody hens. The
dwarf hens, very appreciated for breeding
(prone to broodiness) are called "American" or
"English hens in Spain.

When you decide to breed chickens, the broody

hen is changed to another nest where it will be
quiet and alone (its better to change it at
night). The number of eggs placed in her new
nest, depending on the size of the hen, are
usually odd (7, 9, 11, 13, etc) and better if laid
on a Friday!
This tradition of casting broody hens on Friday,
although of unknown origin, dates back at least
to Roman times, when Friday was the dies veneris (Venus day), a day favorable to fertilityrelated matters.
To prevent hen lice (which causes the hen to
stop laying), horehound branches are placed in
the nest. Also, it is believed that thunder on
stormy days interrupts the incubation process,
killing the embryo inside the eggs.
The broody hen turns and moves the eggs
every day with her beak. She rarely leaves the
nest and eats very little, although at sundown
the hens do get up to eat sparingly.
After three weeks the chicks are born, usually
in stages, so some people remove the first
chickens born (when they are already dry) so
that the hen does not get off the nest until the
last chicks hatch. The unhatched eggs which
remain in the nest are infertile, and can be recognized by the noise they make when shaken.
The chick is born with a tooth on the end of its
beak that enables it to peck a little hole in the
shell, then it turns so as to break the shell into
two separate halves. Exhausted by the effort
and very wet, the newborn chick will stay beneath the hen until it dries.
Some people give the newborn chicks a peppercorn to liven them up.

The color of the chick depends on the breed of

the hen, and can be yellow, black, gray,
painted, etc.
If the hen is broody but the owner does not
want to breed chickens, the broodiness is
ended by covering the hen with a basket for
one day, leaving the hen in the dark. Another
way is to dunk the hen in a bucket of water.
Eggs kept warm by a broody hen are not suitable as a food and broody hens do not lay
eggs.
Currently, many people use incubators, sometimes crafted manually, to obtain new animals.
These incubators imitate what the broody hen
does with the eggs: turning them to prevent
the embryo from sticking to the shell, maintaining constant incubation temperature and a suitable degree of humidity.

Breeds. There are ornamental breeds, selected

for aesthetic features; others are bred for fighting (like the Spanish fighter) and others for reproduction.
There are breeder associations
which focus on a particular breed of hen. These
associations organize morphological competitions and contribute greatly to the selection
and improvement of breeds.
Apart from sexual dimorphism between roosters and hens, races are distinguished by different features: plumage color, color of the legs
(which can be yellow, black, pink or blue),
feathered or bare legs, type of ridges, body
size, color of the eggshell, egg production, behavior, etc. (Orozco, 1989).
In general, two groups of native breeds exist in
Spain (Orozco, 1989):
Atlantic breeds. Heavy hens with red ears, including:

Euskal oiloa

Galia de Mos

Mediterranean breeds. Light, with white ears,

the best known being:

Figure 5: Broody hen with her chicks

Andaluza azul

Castellana negra

Catalana Prat

Cuellipava

Empordanesa

Extremea azul

As chicks begin to grow the males and females can

be told apart. The females develop their tails sooner
but have a smaller crest whereas the males take
longer to form the tail but have a bigger crest. The
females start laying eggs when about 6 months old.

Figure 6: Native breeds hens: 1.- Andaluza azul. 2.- Andaluza franciscana o molinera. 3.- Andaluza perdiz. 4.- Castellana negra. 5.- Cuellipels. 6.- Americanas.
Source: www.granjasantaisabel.com

Franciscana, also know as zarara or

molinera. (One of the most widespread
breeds in Southern Spain.)

Gallina del Sobrarbe

Mallorquina

Menorquina

Murciana

Utrerana

In Spain, depending on the region, dwarf hens

are called "American" or "English" and are
highly appreciated for breeding.

Domestic poultry raising usually involves different breeds. Normally, people have hens with
various plumages, the result of crosses and the
exchange of eggs or animals between
neighbors. These hens, bred on farms and in
villages, are hardy animals, well adapted to local conditions.

Nowadays, local native breeds are vanishing

due to the popularity of selected egg-laying
breeds, such as the RI (red laying) or Leghorn
(white laying). Many domestic chicken coops
with hens living in freedom have been replaced
by cages where the hens are locked in and
greatly stressed.

Intensive poultry vs. organic, domestic poultry

References:

The industrial production of eggs and chickens is

based on very intensive systems in which hens are
confined in cages throughout their lives.

Ballesteros, C. y Cordero, R. 2006. Agricultura

y ganadera ecolgica en Castilla-La Mancha. UPA.

Given this model, there are other alternatives that are

based on animal welfare and organic food. The market
for organic products is an alternative for family farms
oriented to organic egg production and compatible
with other holdings such as fruit trees. It is therefore
advisable to use local breeds, one of the most productive being the black Castilian.

Bernis, F. 2001. Rutas de la Zooarqueologa.

Ed. Complutense.

A small domestic chicken

coop allows us to obtain,
with very little expense and
effort, natural and high quality eggs from healthy and
well treated animals.

Fajardo, J. 2008. Estudio etnobiolgico de los

alimentos locales de la Serrana de Cuenca.
Tesis doctoral, Universidad de Castilla-La
Mancha.
Fernndez, M., Gmez, M., Delgado, J. V.,
Adn, S. y Jimnez, M. 2009. Gua de campo de las razas autctonas espaolas. Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y
Marino.
Orozco, F. 1989. Razas de gallinas espaolas.
Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentacin. Ed. Mundi-Prensa.
Verde, A., Rivera, D., Fajardo, J., Obn, C., y
Cebrin, F. 2008. Gua de las plantas medicinales de Castilla-La Mancha (y otros recursos medicinales de uso tradicional). Altabn
Albacete. 528 pp.
www.granjasantaisabel.com

Texts: Jos Fajardo y Alonso Verde

Photos: Rockrose Ecotourism and Granja Santa Isabel
Design: Miguel R. Brotons