Erbil embraces fifth best hen and rooster festival

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The fifth festival to showcase the beauty of more than 25 types of Kurdish and other chickens was held in Erbil on Friday.

The animals included the prettiest hen and the most handsome rooster. The beauty element is just part of the event. Organisers want to show how better treatment and feeding also make the animals healthier.

One of their aims is to get the Kurdish breeds of chickens recognized by the Kurdistan Regional Government, according to Rizgar Gharib, organiser of the festival.

"We hold this festival every year. This is the fifth version of the festival, the largest of its kind in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq. We have many poultry lovers in Kurdistan. We hold such a festival to help showcase their fowls and make them pay better attention to raising their poultry," Gharib told Rudaw on Friday. 

"More than 25 types of fowls have taken part in this festival," he added.