Rex Oil Portrait Private collectionI have been a volunteer with 4H for many years and I must say that it provides me with a great deal of happiness. I enjoy the enthusiasm of the kids and count many of the parents as friends. I love being able to encourage young people to raise animals and learn about them as well as where they stand in the food chain. A Friend of mine who is an educator at the local Agricultural College told me recent statistics have our population as being 3rd generation from the farm. An alarming ratio when you think about the future and how we plan to feed an ever increasing population of people.
Last night my poultry members gathered for a meeting on judging conformational qualities of a chicken. For all you non farm folk, yes this important. It is a living breathing reproductively viable creature before it becomes a scrumptious meal upon your dinner plate.
In order to show where certain body parts are on a chicken I enlisted the help of my sons rooster Rex. Rex is a mature 4 year old Ameracauna rooster with 2 inch spurs capable of causing great damage should he desire to leave. Rex was my sons first foray into the world of chickens.
His real name is Nervous Wreck as he was originally too high spirited and nervous to make a good show rooster for a 9 year old. Connor worked with that rooster all summer. Rex was introduced to all sorts of things, horses, cats lawnmowers and televisions! By summers end he was what horse people call "bomb proof". It is something he has never lost.
So last night as parents gathered in a circle chatting about kids and watching them interact with a fully grown rooster on my living room floor I never once considered the scene strange. Everyone took turns picking up Rex and he was literally hugged like a teddy bear on more than one occasion. When the kids thought I wasn't looking a few of my freshly baked chocolate chip cookies were fed to the gentle bird.
Later that night when the kids and Rex were safely tucked in their respective beds my husband asked me if anything strange happened today.
I thought about it and replied an honest..." no".
"You don't think having a very large rooster walking about your living room being hugged like a doll by 10 year olds and being fed chocolate chip cookies is a bit strange?"
I considered his question, interpreted his underlying meaning and once again said ..."no."
How else am I going to prove to people that animals have feelings and are capable and deserving of kindness if I can not show it first hand? I have worked in the agriculture industry for over 2 decades and while I have the greatest amount of respect and admiration for people who make the business of raising livestock their career, I believe there is more than one way to keep animals.
With our civilization becoming more and more removed from the land I will take any opportunity to highlight the beauty and ability of raising animals, however small the scale, to people both young and old. If that means having a rooster in my house eating my cookies to prove there is nothing to fear about raising livestock, I guess I better start on my next batch of cookies. I wonder if Rex likes gingerbread?
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