In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Went today with our 'farmer' neighbours. Had a great time - plenty to see as mentioned above.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I'm pleased you enjoyed it Skichi. Was the parking horrendous? I went on Friday and got within about 800m...(we thought we had done extremely well)!
This year (as a great fan of this show) I found the sheep disappointing (not enough), and very little obscure wine-making equipment, but the swans were a novelty (I was with a newbie Brit who couldn't believe all the swans in the world didn't belong to HM The Queen of England, and questioned me on whether it was indeed legal to sell swans!)
Did you see the Black and Chrome Kubota tractor? To die for as a fashion accessory....eat your hearts out Harley owners.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Hi Charles,
We parked about 500 yds from the North entrance so not too bad I guess. Yes, not many sheep but the Swans were indeed a surprise - as were Avocets! Also noticed the largest Donkey I'd ever seen! The Kubota tractor was amusing - very American! I got to sit in a £70K John Deere model that was bought by the neighbours family to add to their collection. I think I could quite enjoy driving one of those around the fields - aircon, floating seat, computer-controlled everything, CD player etc etc :) Bought some hard-to-find herbs and enjoyed tasting various cheeses, olive oils, salami etc. The car drive back was amusing as we had 5 goslings, 2 ducklngs and 10 chicks in the back - all of which churped noisily all the way home.
Unusual breeds of chickens
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 03/31/2009 - 13:56In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=Skichi;114763]Hi Charles,
We parked about 500 yds from the North entrance so not too bad I guess. Yes, not many sheep but the Swans were indeed a surprise - as were Avocets! Also noticed the largest Donkey I'd ever seen! The Kubota tractor was amusing - very American! I got to sit in a £70K John Deere model that was bought by the neighbours family to add to their collection. I think I could quite enjoy driving one of those around the fields - aircon, floating seat, computer-controlled everything, CD player etc etc :) Bought some hard-to-find herbs and enjoyed tasting various cheeses, olive oils, salami etc. The car drive back was amusing as we had 5 goslings, 2 ducklngs and 10 chicks in the back - all of which churped noisily all the way home.[/quote]
Hi there,
You wouldn't happen to know if there's anywhere in Umbria where you can get rare chicken breeds? I keep hens and guinea fowl (as a coltivatore diretto, they help keep my hours up!), and I'd really like to find some of the unusual old varieties (such as ones with ruffs on their heads), but I only seem to be able to find the standard brown Umbrian hens.
Any pointers greatly appreciated....
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I don't know of anywhere personally since we don't have anything ourselves and the neighbours keep standard stuff. However, you could have purchased dozens of different varieties of chickens at the show from the breeders there - including all the unusual ones you mention. I looked at the fair's website but it's appalling and doesn't offer any clues as to who the breeders are or where they're from.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
The site is horrible - but I have trawled up this list of exhibitors of exotic poultry. I can't remember which one did the punk chickens, but they also did pavoni. They come from all over Italy.
[url=http://www.umbriafiere.it/agriumbria/defaultcatalogo.htm]calendario[/url]
(Sorry that link only gets you half way there. Enter pavoni in the search box, then click on a very small 'more' link in the page which opens, and you get a list)
Here is a list. I thnik the widest selection of fancy chickens came from the first or the second supplier - the others are in Umbria
AZIENDA AGRICOLA FENATI PAOLO
Via Bastia, 218 – 48021 Lavezzola (RA)
Tel. 0545 80755 – cell. 335 6569946
Oche, anatre, conigli, colombi, polli, tacchini, pavoni
ALLEVAMENTO PINTON
Via XX Settembre, 13 – 35010 Vigonza (PD)
Tel. 049 8932264
E_mail: [email]info@fattoriadidatticapinton.it[/email] – [url]www.fattoriadidatticapinton.it[/url]
Polli, pavoni, colombi, fagiani, anatre, oche, tacchini, faraone
AGRICOLA PAPARELLI S.S.
Voc. Pian Maluccio, 1 – 06029 Valfabbrica (PG)
Tel. 075 901204 – cell. 347 5829169
Polli, anatre, oche, quaglie, germani
AZ. AGR. GIOVANNINI VALERIO
Via Vio Viscioloso, 9 – 06132 Boneggio (PG)
Tel. 075 774438 – Fax 075 5140709 – cell. 348 3383231
e_mail: [email]valerio6969@hotmail.it[/email]
Pulcini, ochette, anatre, germani, tacchini, faraone e quaglie
AZ. AGR. MARCHETTI PERARI
Frazione, Montignano – 06056 Massa Martana (PG)
cell. 348 1636036
Pulcini, faraone, tacchini, oche, anatre
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In Comunanza we have a bird fair each year but it is not until November - there are quite a few rare breeds for sale (amongst all the usual market tat) and we did see the 'punk' chickens there last year, also pavone and (to our horror) thrushes and blackbirds!
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Good homework Charles!
SarahandMark (can we abbreviate that to S&M???) - yes thrushes & blackbirds go against the grain don't they. The stand at Agriumbria that had them was a 'hunters' stall and the birds are sold for the purpose of 'recalling' others of the same species back to where they can be easily shot/trapped. Hmm. It's not even sport when that happens eh. An Italian lady-friend even told us that they sometimes nail their wings to a plank so they shriek. That kind of stuff is very 'under the radar' so it's not something anyone's going to admit to doing but she'd seen it and was horrified.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=Skichi;115351]
...yes thrushes & blackbirds go against the grain don't they. The stand at Agriumbria that had them was a 'hunters' stall and the birds are sold for the purpose of 'recalling' others of the same species back to where they can be easily shot/trapped. That kind of stuff is very 'under the radar' so it's not something anyone's going to admit to doing but she'd seen it and was horrified.[/quote]
I'm not going to disagree that using call birds is pretty difficult to accept, but it is not 'under the radar': viz the exhibitor who openly showed 'call birds' at Agriumbria. I didn't include his details, not because he was selling these stoolies which marginally offended me, but because he wasn't offering ruffed chickens!
Having seen these caged call birds implemented locally, and seeing how often the 'investment' by the moron who had positioned them gets zeroed by other locals letting the lures out of their cages, I cannot understand how this market persists. And - on an upbeat note - I didn't see a single person admiring or expressing interest in the call birds at the show.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I agree Charles. When I said 'under the radar' I was merely referring to the more horrific forms of treatment of these recall birds that had been brought to our attention. The stand in question was also extremely quiet on the day we visited - an encouraging sight.
This year, 2009, the dates for this show are 27,28 and 29 March.
[url=http://www.umbriafiere.it/default.asp?active_page_id=33]Umbriafiere[/url] (this page also tells you about the other shows at this venue.)
Apart from the features mentioned in the previous post, there are many exhibitors of straw/wood/whatever boilers, and a fair number of garden plant stands. Almost certainly a good selection of solar/photovoltaic offerings, too.