A pilot project ran in Belgium in March 2016 in collaboration with Ghent University (2016, Coopman and Debersaques), Hendrix Genetics and local organisation “De Hoev”.

 

The first PCC chicken was a crossing between the 19th generation CCP, the Mechelse Sulmtaler and the commercial egg-laying hen, the ISA Brown. Their offspring hatched at the De Hoev organic farm in Zonhoven, a local community project. In this project, MOUTH's partner organisation “Werkende Handen” (Working Hands) promotes sustainable agriculture in an urban environment, and provides job opportunities for those who struggle to find work through the regular job market.

 

As part of an art installation, the first generation of PCC was raised in a disused building on the Grote Markt, the central square of Sint-Truiden. Locals came into contact with the young chicks as a living work of art, and were able to follow their progress until the chicks were mature enough to move on. Fifty-one CCP crossings have now been distributed across Belgium and the Netherlands, and are being evaluated and compared with commercial breeds in integrated plant-animal production systems in a project led by Ghent University.

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In December 2017, the conversation continues in the Cosmocafe, located on the exact place where the first PCC chicks hatched before moving into the world. Join the conversation in our Cosmocafe.   

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