It had just rained when we arrived a little late to the Bantam Swap. Maybe many years ago it was a sweet bantam swap but no longer. The fairgrounds were heaving with the most curious and slightly terrifying mixture of peoples and animals. Hundreds of animals, birds and people. Cages piled up everywhere you looked. 
It really was a market, a flash back to an old way. Everything was for sale. People were wandering about with turkeys and geese and ducks under their arms, literally under their arms. They would buy them, and pick them up and walk away. 
They sloshed through the mud dragging their cages on trolleys filled with little pigs, or baby chicks. There were even a few bantams. Llamas, horses, a sweet jersey cow. All tethered or caged. This llama watched me and kept turning and posing for the camera. I don’t have enough money for you I whispered to him. I am so sorry. He turned his head silently and looked away. 
Goats, sheep. The massively ugly and heart wrenchingly beautiful. 
The animals and birds were wet and terrified. They were for sale. They waited in tiny cages. Anyone could have them for money. I cannot find a word to describe how we stepped into another world from another time. This was the dirty end of the basic desire to grow your own food. The incredible idea that you can have power over your own food. As we walked about we became quiet, over come by the myriad of caged animals and birds. All watching. This wee goat was incongruous in his little jersey. He did not belong in this filthy place.
All the farmers had driven their vehicles into the grounds and lined them up in rows and heaved their animals out into the pathways. This fair could have been staged 100 years ago and only the hemlines and trucks would have been different. As we walked, it became obvious that here were the real people who grew their own food. And there were the people buying these animals to raise for food. These people were not pretty, or well dressed. Their lifestyles were muddy and gutsy and visceral. They did not have hobby farms or read designer magazines or have good hair. They were selling animals for the money they needed to feed their other animals. Many languages, many hard tired faces. Much laughter and ribbing across the aisles. Tough. Dirty boots and trousers held up with string. I felt the oldness of it. The struggle. The realness of this market compared to the pretty pictures we see. The pretty pictures I take. 
And then I saw Kupa. He was in a cage with three other male peacocks. And he watched me watch him and ducked with my every movement as I circled his cage taking photos of him. He and his men stood amidst the baying of goats and screaming of pigs, the clucking and squawking and screeching of chickens, the shouting of men, the wild laughing of children, the squelch of mud, the honking of ducks and the gobble of turkeys. This cacophony of hysteria. A man walked past carrying a screaming piglet. Screaming at the top of his lungs. The peacocks just stood and watched. Still.
I said to John I think we will take this one home. Our John, who has said NO we are Not ever getting a peacock, about a hundred times in the past, quickly agreed. Happy to bring something bright and live out of this fierce market.
The man who had brought these peacocks all the way from Michigan was happy to barter with me and so a deal was struck. Kupa was carefully transferred to my dog box and set in the car. This man was gentle with his birds and had a wide laugh. We are hoping that next time he will bring some hens so Kupa can have a mate.
This morning Kupa is sitting in isolated splendour in the large enclosure which has been waiting for the turkeys. Last night when we finally released him into his finished enclosure in the barn, a cat came to look at him and he turned and honked at it. He sounded like a mournful foghorn, a sound from my child hood days. Hmm, John said, thats unfortunate. Well, they do get a wee bit noisy I confessed, but mostly I remember the screeching from the farms at home. What screech, said John. Um, reluctantly, it sounds like this and opened my mouth and at the top of my voice I screeched long and high like a terrified child. Kupa snapped his head to me. The cat turned tail and scarpered. The guineas peered down from their roosts. John said, Hmm. Still not convinced that anything that beautiful and that regal and that serene could make such a dreadful noise. And we went to pick the asparagus.
Good morning. All good here on this spring morning. Back home on our quiet little property. Far from those madding crowds. It feels like a little oasis after yesterday’s market. Kupa will stay in his house for a month until he knows the barn is his home, then he also will be set free. To roam the grounds. And get up to no good. Him and his mate when we find her, the man only had males yesterday.
He is a jewel of a bird, as beautiful as you can imagine.
Now I had better get out there and do all the chores I did not get to yesterday. The Matriarch and I worked furiously yesterday afternoon to get the turkey run finished while Kupa watched us from his big dog crate. So I am behind!
Good morning!
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
113 responses to “Finding Kupa”
YAY, YIPPEE, I am so excited that you have your peacock C and even more thrilled that you are going to get him a lady friend. I do hope Kupa settles in nicely on the farmy.
Not sure I would have coped seeing all those animals in cages – I know they were only put in for market day but I really have issues seeing animals in cages – I could never have birds – it would kill me to see them locked up like that!
Have a beautiful day.
🙂 Mandy
I have the same problem and began to feel oppressed by them all staring out at me, but we did find Kupa and we know where to find him a mate, so it was well worth it. c
Too bad you could not bring the beautiful llama home — that’s a striking photo and any animal would have a good life with you and John. I hope that Kupa settles in well with the rest.
I feel badly about the llama, next time I go I shall sit down with the llama people and have a chat. Of course John has said, no way! No llama. But if I went further down this therapy animal road and was able to raise and train one as a retirement home visitor, then he or she could probably pay for his own hay. Isn’t it interesting how our lives take these twists and turns without us even realising we have taken a major turn in the road.. But at the moment I know next to nothing about the animals and it would be irresponsible to buy one on a whim.. Morning Sharyn c
You found beauty!
Oh i did jess.. c
C, If I could find a way to get her to you I have the perfect llama to be your therapy animal. I would donate her to your cause, she would also be a fantastic protector of your sheep. I will be thinking on this today. …
Jess
Jess, wouldn’t that be amazing. She could come to the homes with me and have her own flock of sheep to live with. But where are you? I am in Illinois. Could we meet you half way or something? But you may be too far for her to travel without harm. What a fantastic idea and even if we are too far apart to make it happen, I thank you so much for such a perfect thought. Just imagine the smiles..c
If we eat them we need to see what we are killing and we need to know the killing. Plants are so much easier to do away with.
Vibrant description which shook me by the scruff-of-the-neck.
made me laugh about the plants!! c
C.
She would be fine to travel; sometimes shows are cross country! Her name is Breezy, you have seen pictures of her before. She is sweet, easy to handle and has silky soft fiber if you ever have a moment to spin. We live near the Southern Vermont border. How far are you from the Indiana Border? If we met in Ohio…near Pennsylvania…would that work. Ooh, I should let me husband in on this. I am such a fan of therapy animals, you have no idea, they can bring such joy and offer a bit of peace to many.
Jess
I have to look at a map, my US geography is shaky in that direction. Oh no and now you have told me her name! now what am I to do. I shall go to your site and look at her and then i will be sunk i just know it! I shall look at a map. Our stock trailer is a pretty local affair but I could borrow one. Well I am getting ahead of myself. First check the map, I have one under the stairs i shall drag it out! jess you are such a wonderful person. c
This so reminds me of one swelteringly hot and miserably humid day in Hong Kong, when I became totally disoriented and ended up lost in a “live market” in Chai Wan. Chickens stuffed 20-30 per cage, rotating head over back over feet in a constant rotating motion, pigs strapped in cages squealing, fish trying to escape tanks where the water overheated in the sun, butchery right before your eyes, blood sticking to the bottom of your shoes as it coagulated …. me with my little camera, passed out cold in a faint face down on the bloody, damp concrete…. Living in Hong Kong is a lesson in the separation of food from pets. I’m happy for the peacock.
That sounds absolutely awful and also what an extraordinary experience in awfulness. Just that little paragraph of yours made me stumble.. thankfully the version we saw on saturday was sweet in comparison! c
It’s not awful, c, it’s just the way it is. Food is food there, and food is fresh. As my friend, Pinky, always said, “When was the last time that you gave a frozen chicken a cuddle?”. 🙂
Pinky is pretty hilarious!! c
Oh Celi – you are the only person I know (‘know’) who would ever buy a peacock without setting out to do so. Also I really hope you find a way to get Breezy even though it seems impossible. If anyone can, you can!
Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could find a way for Breezy to find her way here carol anne. She could join Celi’s Travelling Farmey! What a magnificent offer of Jess’// we will have to think on it! c
You picked the gem from the soil…..I hope he transitions to your place easily 🙂
he is still sitting quietly and watching but they are good strong birds so i am feeling positive! c
There is a once-a-year beast fair near here, La Foire de Lessay, which is reputedly the oldest in Europe. We went once, and found it as distressing as you seem to have done. We haven’t been since.
I’m glad you found your peacock, but can I suggest you get some earplugs for John?
Morning Viv, it is so OLD though isn’t it. i mean people years for the old fashioned life until they see something like that then it is OK, plastic wrapped and in a box is fine thank you!! c
Sounds like it was quite a place, Celi, and I’ve no need to go there despite what I said yesterday. I’m familiar with that kind of environment, although not nearly on so grand a scale. Still, I’ve no need for a refresher. Kupa was a great find and I hope you can get him a couple hens. I’d offer to pick them up for you, on a return trip from Zia’s, but I’m already traveling with a dog and parrot. Add another animal and I would need some sort of traveling zoo license, not to mention a bigger car and a heavy-duty air freshener. Have a great day!
He will be back next month, so I might brave the crowds and go early and hopefully get a hen..The inside pavilion had many many caged birds of the parakeet and canary and budgie variety. I poked myhead in the door and that was enough, it bothered me more than the horses and goats outside!! c
Peacocks I know about, Celi! 🙂 I’m delighted that Kupa is at your home now. What a wonderful addition and I’ll look forward to pictures, hoping he integrates well with the other animals. We live close to an Arboretum and Botanical Garden…the peacocks roam neighborhoods, and although we are a good maybe five miles from the garden, we have had peahens in our neighborhood. They lived on my roof and in a tree for quite a time. They were destructive and wonderful all at the same time! I have mixed feelings looking at the beautiful animals in these bartering cages…but I get it…I like to pretend our food is dropped from the heavesn…manna! Good day to you! Debra
Morning Debra, we had a roaming peacock, a white one, visit us in Kent (UK) every now and then, he was quite timid as they are, but looked profoundly heavenly.. I get a lot of dreadful scraping up in my gardens just from these wandering roosters and their hens! but it is all part and parcel of keeping the bugs under control! I love that you have visitors. I cannot wait for Kupa to sit in a tree! c
Perfect addition to the family! I loved visiting stately homes in England which frequently are inhabited by peacocks screeching from the tops of towers and at Syon House I think they sit on the glass house. One of my first jokes as a small child was
How many eggs does a peacock lay?
Answer: None, only a peahen lays eggs. I do hope Kupa has a wife to hang out with soon 🙂
I also loved the peacocks dragging their trains across the vast lawns of the stately homes! perfect match.. c
Your photos never cease to amaze me! You certainly came home with a jewel.
he is a jewel, sparkling and winking in the barn! c
Celi, that beautiful looking peacock has fallen on his feet this time! What a beautiful story. Has Kupa got a good pair of lungs on him?
Not so far, he is very quiet so far, but he has a whole flock of chickens lined up on the gate opposite his enclosure watching him waiting! c
😀 I can just imagine the scene…