With winter in full force, we are looking forward to spring. That’s when we get geared up for 4H. Ysabela loves to see 4H season roll around. She enjoys showing poultry (and sometimes her horse, Oreo). I like watching her learn and grow. Bela knows a lot about her birds.

Her chicken wrangling began in Mexico when she was about eight years old. Our neighbor, Marta, had a few hens and roosters in her back yard, so Bela would go over and help Marta and her children get them penned up every evening. Marta had always wanted some of the “pelones.” In the U. S., we call them Turkens or Naked Necks. Nobody in our village would share eggs for hatching from that type. They wanted to keep that breed for themselves. I found out another neighbor had a few of the Naked Necks, and I had fallen in love with the breed. Why? I have no idea! Anyway, I approached Luisa to ask if I could buy a few eggs to hatch. We were all overjoyed when our first Naked Necks hatched! Finally! After that, Bela insisted on having her own flock. Before long, we built our own hen house. We were once told that our hen house was big enough for a small family to live in.

Marta also had a “mulata,” which is a chicken with curly feathers. We ended up crossing the two breeds and came up with something new—a curly Naked Neck chicken.

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2014/03/clever-chicks-blog-hop-77-with.html