the hen that flew the coop

i was browsing at queen victoria market in melbourne, when i came across cages of chicks, ducklings, ducks, quails and hens. it makes me wonder if australians are immune to bird flu. in singapore, a quail farm at lim chu kang lane 6, which was very popular with school-children and other visitors, had to quickly close its door, or rather its gate, when the bird flu hit. these days, in singapore, you do not get to see any live poultry at wet markets or any other market.

poultry reminds me of my kampong days. we used to keep free ranging - as the australians call them - or kampong chickens and ducks, just outside the compound of our house. my mother would go to the vicinity of the now defunct kallang gaswork to buy the baby chicks and ducklings. to protect the young poultry and to keep them warm, an oil lamp would be kept burning in the cage throughout the night.

those days, the baby chicks and ducks cost a few cents each. i do not recall the ducklings being noisy but the chicks would be chirping away throughout the day and intermittently, at night. the chicks and ducklings were reared to be sacrificed, when they became adults, to the gods on the many festivities that are celebrated throughout the year.

however, some were spared. the egg-laying hens and ducks did not end up on the altar table. i recall having to go around collecting the eggs laid by the hens and ducks that we kept. the newly-laid eggs were warm to the touch. the hens' eggs were smaller than the ducks'. sometimes, the birds strayed to the neighbours' compound to lay their eggs. the taking away the egg became atricky and sensitive issue.

once, i remember, one of the hens flew to the top of our zinc-roofed house. we tried to coax it down but to no avail. finally, i had to climb to the top of the roof, via the guava tree, to shoo it down. it was also something of a realisation for me..that chicken can fly and fly quite high.

some chickens were destined for a higher purpose. these were the cockerels that were castrated. the caponised rooster would grow very big but when the time came, they would be offered to the heavenly god (tii kong) on the 9th day of the lunar new year.

today, in singapore, if you want to see chickens, you will have to visit some of the big commercial poultry farms at lim chu kang, sungei tengah or jalan murai. ever since the bird flu scare, the authorities have banned all forms of small-scale rearing of poultry, so you do not see chickens or ducks in somebody's backyard, not even in rural pulau ubin.