This year's poultry contest and exhibit at the fair saw interesting birds that had the crowds talking. More than once I heard a fair goer remark, "Well would you look at that? Have you ever seen something like that?" or a "chicken like that?"
I love the poultry show. I remember back in my first few months as a 4-H agent... that's been more years than I'll admit to at this point. I went to the South East Florida Regional Fair to look at the various shows in an effort to see how to improve our own fair.
While exploring the poultry show I had a moment to pause and as Joe Walter, my former livestock agent would say....have a teaching moment. However I was the one receiving the teaching. I still laugh thinking about it. I saw a bird there. It was very sad, I thought. I had to call Mr. Joe and the conversation went something like this.
"Joe, can you believe it....? This poor kids put his bird in the fair and it looks like something tore it up. I don't know what happened? Do you think something got at it at the fair? I can't believe they would bring it to the fair looking like this?"
The bird had absolutely no feathers on it's neck. Some animal or something had plucked that think naked. Or so I thought.
Joe answered me with as much serious chagrin as he could muster although I am sure he busted a gut laughing at me when I hung up the phone.
"Renee', look at the exhibit tag."
"Yeah Joe but you know this things looks bad. I mean really buzzard bad. I'm just not sure about it....."
"Renee', Renee'!!! look at the fair tag."
He knows me when I get on a roll.... and..... well.....he managed to get me to read the fair tag.
"What does it say as the breed?"
I read it and it said something like Turken? which I read off to him, barely pausing before again suggesting that maybe we get it medical aid.
"Renee...Renee!!! you know another name for that Turken chicken?"
"No Joe I don't know about all these different breeds of chickens. Growin up we had banty's, white ones, brown ones and speckled ones but that's it." He knew I was basically a horse girl learning to be more diverse in my livestock sophistication.
A big sigh came through the phone. I am sure it was his best defense to keep from rolling on the floor.
"Another name for the Turken is.....
....Naked Necked Chicken."
"Oh...well, ok then." I rang off with some excuse about the noise of the ferris wheel and I'm sure Joe had to hang his head shaking it about the 'bone headed' thing his 4-H agent just said.
