The question, ‘which came first, the chicken or the egg?’, was a metaphorical device employed by ancient philosophers to postulate over lofty questions about origin and the beginning of the world. Scientists have since provided us with a more grounded explanation. Thanks to Darwin’s theory of evolution, we can now smugly assert that the egg got there first – though chickens, as we recognise them today, would bear little resemblance to their early ancestors.
A couple of years back I took the plunge and joined that now not-so-rare breed of organically minded health-of-the-planet conscientious foodies and adopted a little family of chickens. That’s how my nine-year-old daughter described them at the time. A more technical description might be one large rooster and four hens.
We called the rooster Obi, named after Obi-Wan Kenobi, the character from the classic because Obi has the same fatherly air to him. He takes his patriarchal duties seriously. In the few years we have been together he has never failed once to wake me, with the precision of a Swiss watch, at the crack of dawn. I’m a stickler for routine, but Obithe family has expanded (as they do). Along with Obi, here are now nine hens, four ducks and two chicks. I’m not sure how the ducks got there… I guess it has something to do with Darwin’s ideas around the evolution of the species. The latest addition to the brood (photo above right) was hatched, or born, on the 5th of December 2023. I’ve named him Obi Jnr, after his father. He’s the first male to be born here, the next generation of Jedi.
