visiting - Aviculture Europe

VISITING . . . .
DENISE MOSS and RINKE BERKENBOSCH
IN GELLI, ZUIDWEST WALES
By: Sjaak & Nicolien van der Salm (NL)
So many!! This was our first reaction when were arrived at Denise Moss’ and
Rinke Berkenbosch’s place in Gelli, in the south-west of Wales.
During this year’s summer holidays in England and Wales we spent a few days
with Rinke and Denise. Rinke and I used to visit many poultry shows and sales in
Germany and England. I also frequently visited him at his home in Poortugaal
(NL). There too he kept many geese, ducks, and chickens in a very large
paddock near his home.
About eight years ago Rinke migrated to Wales in order to keep even more
animals. When he moved he took many geese and ducks with him, a truckload
full in fact.
In Gelli they have approximately 4 hectares for their
animals. Their house is on a
hill with a view of a beautiful
valley and the town of Gelli.
Behind their house are a few
sheds which house many of
their animals among which
beautiful Shamos in a number
of colours but also standard
Modern Game.
Left to right: Denise, Rinke
and Sjaak v.d. Salm.
The paddocks are divided into a number of enclosures of about 100 m² where
pairs or trios of domesticated geese are housed. For the undomesticated goose
breeds larger enclosures area available. At the moment (now the breeding
season has finished) a large number of both old and young geese and ducks are
living together in three large paddocks. The whole area is fenced off with electric
fences to keep the foxes out. In total more than 400 geese and 100 ducks live in
these paddocks. It takes Rinke and Denise hours every day to look after these
animals.
When we arrived with our caravan Denise and Rinke came outside to welcome
us. Denise had booked a spot for us on a camping site near by and the four of us
drove the caravan to the camping. Once
everything was organised we agreed to
meet up for dinner in a bistro (pub/
restaurant) in the area.
Over dinner we reminisced about the
good old days. Denise understands Dutch
but doesn’t speak it. After a delicious
dinner we went to our caravan for a good
night’s sleep.
Right: Nicolien feeding the Chinese
Geese.
Below: Canada geese with gosling.
The next day we took photos of the
animals at Denise and Rinke’s place, and
of course Rinke explained about the
breeds that are currently there. Among
which African Geese, Chinese Geese in
three
colours,
Pomeranian
Geese,
Sebastopol Geese, Czechian Geese.
Brecon Buff Geese, Canada Geese and a
number of its sub species, Swan Geese,
Barnacle Geese, Ross’ Geese, Snow
Geese, Lesser White-Fronted Geese,
Emperor Geese, Red-Breasted Geese,
Muscovy ducks in many colour varieties,
Runner Ducks, Pekin Ducks and many
more.
In addition there are many chicken
breeds such as Naked-Necks, Modern
Game in a variety of colours and
Shamos.
There are also a number of cats, and
they breed ‘Lurcher dogs’ – they are a
poacher's dog - someone who goes onto
other peoples land to catch rabbits etc
with his dog, which is often brindle colour
and therefore well camouflaged.
They are usually a cross between a 'longdog' - a greyhound or whippet or
deerhound or saluki - with a collie or a
Bedlington terrier or similar.
Above: Barnacle Geese.
Above, left, in the back: Swan Geese.
In the front: Ross geese.
Left: Bar-headed Geese.
Below: Nicolien feeding the Muscovy
ducks, the white geese with the small
‘top knop’ are Emporda geese.
Above: A pair of Snow geese, whitephase female (l) and blue-phase
gander (r).
Right: Lesser White-Fronted Geese.
Below: Brecon Buff geese.
Above: Chinese geese.
Above: Rinke’s pride: Pied Muscovy ducks.
Left: Denise with the Czechian Goose.
On our last day we rose at 7 am. After breakfast we
went by car to the Pembrokeshire Country Show in
Haverfordwest. An incredibly big show with many
animals and a wide variety of stands and stalls.
Among the animals there were many cow breeds
such as Hereford, Welsh-blacks, Longhorns and
miniature Dexter cows. The horses too varied from
the very big to the very small: Shire horses and miniature horses. Fantastic!
Everything was clean and well organised.
The show grounds also had many stands with tractors, cars and even beds.
There was also a food hall where string beans, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, home
made cakes and bread, were judged and exhibited, as well as flowers such as
dahlias, fuchsias, and marigolds as well as flower displays. Too much to mention.
There were also many food stalls. Of course we bought fish and chips as is
customary when visiting England. Many other ‘rich’ snacks were also available
and many people appeared to enjoy eating these.
In the ‘Poultry Hall’ we met Allen Davies, the
Secretary of the poultry club of which Denise is also
a committee member. About 900 birds were on
display, 250 ducks and geese (of which 150 Call
ducks) and 650 chickens. I’ve been breeding Dutch
Bantams for 20 years and hence I was interested in
and took a close look at these; a couple of
beautifully coloured partridge pullets stood out.
This was confirmed during the award ceremony as
one of the partridge pullets was awarded a prize.
The organisation of the show was
different from what we are used to in
the Netherlands where all the
varieties of a particular breed are
shown together and in order of
colour, here this was not the case.
What was very noticeable was the
variation in the travel boxes some
were beautiful others wobbly plastic
crates. Great to see!
The egg judging competition too had
many entries, more than a hundred
dishes with eggs were exhibited.
We had a great time and spent most of the day
walking around the extensive show grounds
during which we watched a parade of horses
and cattle. All the champions were on show; a
sight to behold.
The show lasted three days
and the sheep, goats and pigs
would be judged on the
following days. However our
travel schedule meant that we
could only spend one day at
the Show.
That evening we said farewell to Denise
and Rinke. We had a great time in which
we saw lots of animals reminisced, and
discussed our mutual hobby.
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