It has been a long time since the Curry chicken was seen scratching around in village gardens but the Curry Rivel News is pleased to be able to reveal that this once thought extinct variety of domestic fowl has responded successfully to a re-introduction programme which has been up until now kept secret

The breed of chicken known as Gallus Domestica Rivelensis or more commonly the ‘Curry’ was a prodigious egg layer to rival the Ancona, Leghorn and Minorca which fell out of favour when villagers started to keep more exotic exhibition breeds such as the Cochin, Sebright and Silkie. However a renewed interest in chicken raising and the rearing of old breeds has led to the reintroduction of this free roaming chicken in the village.

Our very own village breed is a good layer producing about twenty dozen eggs in its first year. At 18 months it stops laying and goes into a moult.  Once the new feathers arrive around the first week in April, the chicken starts to lay its characteristic small brown eggs again. These are nest laid or sometimes craftily found round trees. The Curry Rivel News wants to hear from anyone who finds an egg or spots the chickens in their back garden. For more information on this versatile chicken please log onto the village website at www.curryrivel.org.uk where there is a photo gallery showing the eggs.

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