Yumoto-san introduced me to the farmer that day, but I didn’t go to the farm since it would be impolite to show up so suddenly. After all, I didn’t know if there was anything I needed to prepare for the visit. To be honest, I wasn’t too interested in the chicken farm itself, but since Yumoto-san connected me with the farmer, I didn’t want to be rude.
Two days later in the afternoon, I headed over to a house on the mountain in the eastern corner of the village. There were four long buildings—livestock sheds—next to the house, and something that looked like a tank on top of them.
What’s that?
The farm specialized in broilers (chickens raised for meat) and didn’t deal in eggs. The broilers took about seven weeks to reach slaughter weight, apparently.
“Hello, nice to meet you. I believe Yumoto-san told you about me. My name is Sano.”
My purpose in coming here was to ask about chickens, so I’d only brought Yuma with me.
“Yumoto-chan’s relative? You live on Brook Mountain, right? I’m Matsuyama—nice to meet you.”
“Oh, Yumoto-san is a friend of a relative. We’re not related.”
“I see.”
Matsuyama-san seemed like a nice, affable old man. He looked at Yuma, and his eyes widened.
“That’s...quite the big chicken you’ve got there. Is it really a chicken...?”
“Huh? Is it not a chicken?”
True, they’re a lot bigger than your regular chicken, but I’ve always just assumed they were chickens. I unwittingly stared at Yuma. Yeah, they’re big... Yeah, they have weird tails... But other than that, they just look like chickens to me.
Yuma cocked her neck with a confused look on her face. Cute.
“Hmm... I’ve never seen a chicken this big. I reckon it could be a jungle fowl, but then, those aren’t supposed to be white like your friend...”
Matsuyama-san observed Yuma with a quizzical expression. Well, yeah, I think it’s fair to be confused at a meter-tall chicken. Incidentally, the jungle fowl that Matsuyama-san mentioned is a bird from the pheasant family that’s said to be the ancestor of the modern domestic chicken. I know they can fly a little bit, but I don’t think they’re supposed to grow this big either.
“So, um, your friend here seems pretty docile. Is she always like this? Or is she usually more aggressive?”
“Uh, she does catch vipers and other prey, but she’s mostly docile.”
“She catches vipers?!”
Matsuyama-san seemed even more confused. On behalf of my chickens, I apologize for the trouble.
“Well, anyway... Please come in.”
“Thank you.”
“Vipers... The bigger ones can swallow chickens whole, can’t they...?” Matsuyama-san muttered to himself, tilting his head.
Sorry...
Yuma had also tagged along, so I had her stay in the earthen-floor room. Matsuyama-san asked what she ate, and I told him she liked vegetable scraps. “There’s some over there in the corner—feel free to feed them to her.”
“You can eat that, Yuma.”
Yuma nodded, or rather, tilted her neck forward.
Matsuyama-san seemed impressed. “She seems to understand you. She’s pretty smart, huh?”
I’d brought him the usual rice crackers as a gift. Yes, same as always. I don’t have any other good ideas, unfortunately.
“Oh, you didn’t have to. Thank you.” His wife took the crackers and went into the room in the back, probably to set them on the Buddhist altar as an offering.
“She really is huge, huh?” Matsuyama-san remarked. “She seems really full of vim and vigor... Uh, you wanted to ask about vaccines?”
I nodded. “Yes. She’s healthy now, but who knows what might happen in the future?”
“True, true...” Matsuyama-san seemed to be deep in thought. “Well, it depends on the vaccine, but we usually administer them via spray or mix them in the water. Sano-kun, if your chickens are okay with that, I recommend the four-in-one injection.”
“An injection...”
Not a problem for Yuma, I think, but as for the other two...
“Other than that, nasal drops are also an option,” he said. “Do you let them roam free?”
“Yes.”
“In that case, I think mixing them in some water won’t be very effective.”
Matsuyama-san said that if I wanted to get them vaccinated, I should bring them here next time a veterinarian came over, and he’d ask the vet to administer the vaccine. It would cost a pretty penny, sure, but I didn’t really have another option.
I also learned that there were different types of vaccines for chickens: live vaccines—which could be administered via eye drops, nasal drops, spray, or in drinking water—and inactivated vaccines—which could be administered via injection. I want the chickens to stay as healthy as possible.
I originally hadn’t intended to stay long, but he ended up giving me a guided tour of the farm. Yuma stayed outside, of course. I was disinfected from top to bottom, put on protective clothes, changed my shoes, and had them disinfected again. Sanitary conditions are pretty important for farming, huh? Looks like my instincts were right, and this is a place you should only visit with an appointment.
A picture is worth a thousand words, as they say. I could tell they took the utmost care to ensure proper conditions for the chickens. Maybe I should be nicer to my chickens too.
I wasn’t expecting much, but since we were on the topic of chickens anyway, I decided to also ask him about the dyed chicks from the festival stall. As expected, he just apologized and said he didn’t know anything about that—he said that the stall owner had procured them on their own. He did mention that usually, those stalls sell male chicks unfit for meat, though. That doesn’t explain Tama and Yuma.
He said he’d let the veterinarian know about me and that I should come here again next time they visited. Thank you.
I wonder how Katsuragi-san’s and Aikawa-san’s animals are faring. I doubt they’ve shown them to a veterinarian.
“You came all the way here, so why not eat something before you go?” Matsuyama-san offered.
“Can I?!”
I felt like Yuma was glaring angrily at me, but the chicken meat was delicious. I love chicken! I also love fried chicken! Matsuyama-san also gave me a bunch of frozen meat he’d butchered himself. What should I give him in return next time? I’d better up my gift game for Yumoto-san’s sake as well.