It didn't seem like long until it was time to start a new 4H year. My mom got volunteered to run the cooking club, (Staci did it) so she put me in charge of making the sign for the sign-up table. I also made an arrangement out of fake flowers, chicken feathers, and a whisk. It looked good. We also brought supplies to make trail mix. We got lots of compliments on our table. (This was when we met Baas & Her Minions, BTW.) At our first meeting, we decided to have a proper kitchen staff instead of club officers. We would have a chef, sous chef, and maitre'd. My mom would be chef the first month and then the sous chef would take over, and the maitre'd would become sous chef and we would elect a new maitre'd. Each semester the staff would rotate up and we would elect a new maitre'd. I was elected maitre'd, and was also on the apron committee. We made two dozen aprons for the club. We had lots of fun, and enjoyed many months of learning to cook great meals.
Our county 4H holds and annual pet show to help us learn ring etiquette. I entered Angus' chicken hat trick and won second place for best pet trick. I also entered Adam in the ugliest pet division and Adam got first place. I had to admit Adam was pretty ugly, even though he is beautiful to me. I won other categories, too. When we got home I gave Angus her favorite treat, crushed pecans. She gulped them down. Then Angus decided it would be a good idea to choke on her treats. She started gagging and rolling around. I was scared, but I knew what to do. I gave her the Heimlich maneuver. After a little while the pecan came flying out of Angus's beak! She coughed a little, but soon started breathing like normal. She didn't like pecans too much after that.
Soon it was time to raise 4H animals for the livestock show. Once again, I raised chickens, but wouldn't be showing a goat. When it was time to pick up our animals, i was ready. I had done research on how to keep my chicks healthy and make them grow bigger. When we got home I put my chicks in the brooder house and made a mix of pecans, chick starter, Calf Manna, and peanuts paced on a banana. When the chicks would peck off the mix the would get banana with it. It was the best way I could think of to get the chicks to eat fat and potassium. I also gave them goats milk and Rooster Booster every day. My chicks got big fast.
When it was time for the show, I weighed my chicks and picked my three best, and then I gave them a bath. While I was waiting for my division to be called at the show, I had fun judging the other animals. I was surprised how similar my placings were to that of the judge. When they finally called out chickens I was so happy,. Showing chickens sure beats sitting around staring at smelly pigs! I led my chickens into the arena. I had been in this arena many times and I remembered all the fun that I had in other contests. Since I had three chickens and only two hands, my dad helped me hold them all. I had given him a quick briefing on showmanship before the judging had started and hoped that he had remembered most of it. The judge walked down the line and judged each kid's chickens and then moved us into place. When the contest was over, I had won 3rd place. I was very excited!! For the record, the 1st and 2nd place winners were a brother and sister, and they took the top spots every year. If those kids were showing chickens, everyone automatically knew who the winners would be. Therefore, when Ellie took 3rd, we considered it a first place win.
About a month after the livestock contest, one of our hens was badly injured. She had and "L" shaped gash on her breast that was a good eight inches long. When I showed my mom she said that we ought to put the hen, Cherry, out of her misery, but I thought I could save her. I asked mom for a suture, clorhexadine and scissors. Then I began to stitch up the wound. I had never done this before, or even seen it done, but it didn't take long to get it all stitched up. After that I put Underwood Horse Medicine and baking powder on it. Then I put her in a cage in our laundry room so the other chickens wouldn't peck on her and ants couldn't get to her and eat the wound. Every day I sprayed fresh medicine on her and changed her food and water. In two weeks she was ready to go back with the other chickens. They didn't remember her at first, but soon welcomed her back into the flock. She limped around the first month after her stitches, because the wound was right over her leg. But after six weeks she started laying again and it was hard to tell her apart from the other Rhode Island Reds.
The funny thing about all that is the girl HATES to sew. But she did a lovely job, very small, neat stitches, and even did a great job on the corner. It was so sweet, when she was getting ready to start the stitching, she was hesitant, and her hand was shaking. I was started singing a song that we used to sing together when she was a little bitty thing, and she calmed and got started. By the time she was finishing up, she was quietly singing along with me, and working with absolute confidence. It was a beautiful thing to witness.
We found a baby bunny this spring, and Ellie May put her skills to work again. Jethro took these pictures for us. Unfortunately, Bun Buns was too far gone by the time we got to him, he was only with us for about 12 hours after surgery, but it was a valiant effort.
Speaking of rabbits....i have been looking for a place to throw this story in for quite a while. Looks like as good a place as any. Jethro was raising rabbits, and had a doe that rejected the babies, but we found one that was still alive. The day before, the barn cat, Kitty Girl, had a litter. Ellie May spent all day out in the doe barn working with the critters, and at the end of the day, Kitty Girl had accepted Stewy, the rabbit, and Stewy was nursing along side all the kittens. Stewy was thriving and growing, getting fur and the whole nine yards. Sadly, Stewy was so much smaller than the kittens, that he got smothered under the pile one nite. It was a heart breaker, but had been an amazing thing to see a cat raising a rabbit.
Next time on Ellie May's Poultry Story: Ellie births babies
1 comment:
You should see Ellie May fix a broken leg on a chicken!!! I am thrilled to say she is our personal chicken vet.
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