The clearing sheepfold from Crăciunivca hamlet, Putila District, starts the construction of Huţuşcena ethnographic area, which is included in the museum development plan.
The main activity, in a Hutsuls household, was animal breeding, especially sheep. For a long period of time, this was the main means of existence of the mountain people and greatly influenced their lifestyle. Taking the animals out for grazing usually took place in May. In order to look after the sheep while grazing, the community would hire shepherds. Among the shepherds, the most experiences was “baciul”, the one which organized all the works during grazing: he kept track of the milk given by the hosts’ sheep, secured food for the other shepherds, organized the process of making cheese and other products. Moreover, he arranged the contractual agreements with the community. Before going up the mountain, “baciul”, together with two shepherds, was getting to the grazing place were he was setting the sheepfold.
The construction you have in front of your eyes is a combination between a dwelling and a household, which served as a shelter for the shepherds, where they ate, produced and stored the cheese. The two-room construction, with five walls and a shingle two sloping roof, did not have windows and had a single entrance situated on the side wall. The first room was the “hearth” room. The name comes from the hearth which was on the right to the entrance door. The second, was the larder, where cheese and other tools (different types of barrels) used for milking the sheep, as well as the food were kept. Next to the sheepfold, there was a place for cutting the wood. The first room had a plank floor, with a cutting around the hearth. This cutting was protected by flat stones, and above the hearth, a chimney was built. Also above the hearth, there was a device called „berfela”, used to hang the cast-iron pot above the fire. Further, on the side wall, wooden hooks are pinned to drain the yew from the cheese. On the left of the entrance, there was a table and benches. On the table, there was the necessary kitchenware: plates, spoons, paddles, stirrer etc. Above the table, there was the ladle and a wooden pail. Along the side wall, there was a wooden bed, covered with a woolen blanket. Above the bed, there was a wooden rod, for hanging the clothes: shirts, girdles, overcoats, vests and caps. On the floor, next to the bed, the peasants’ shoes were kept. The room furnishing was not sophisticated, but very practical. Besides the actual sheepfold, the temporary household included a crib to store the cereals – a place for the sheep to sleep, a place for milking the sheep and „zavatra”- a temporary shelter for the shepherds who guarded the flock at night and the cages for the shepherd dogs.