Medieval Poultry and Rabbits

Poultry were the most common animal kept by the poor, even in cities. In Anglo-Saxon times, England had more chickens than geese, but geese and ducks became the primary poultry of the later Middle Ages. Many manors also kept doves as producers of manure.

The primary value of poultry was in egg production. Chickens and geese were only eaten for special occasions, since their eggs had more food value than their meat. A hen could lay on average one egg every two days, and some peasants paid rent in eggs.

Wild hares were native to Northern Europe, but the smaller, fatter domesticated rabbit was an medieval invader from the Mediterranean region and North Africa. Monasteries kept rabbits, since baby rabbits were declared fish by the church and could be eaten on fast days. That’s such a gross idea I wrestle with wanting to delete it from the paragraph, but fact it is.

As monasteries made progress in raising rabbits on their farms, aristocrats introduced them back into the wild in new areas so they would reproduce for sport hunting. The rabbit came as far north as England around 1176, and, at the same time, aristocrats introduced partridges, pheasants, peafowl, and fallow deer. Domestic and wild rabbits interbred, and rabbits easily went wild if they escaped. Although they were rare during most of the Middle Ages, by the Renaissance rabbits were a common nuisance and had displaced the native hare.

Rabbits were not only wild or farm animals. Like people today, medieval people noticed that rabbits made good pets. They were easy to feed and did not take up much space. They made good pets for the middle class as they became more common, since they reproduced so fast.

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