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Lucky the chicken
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Dogs are man's best friend. That is what many of us learned growing up, however it is not always true. This is a story about a boy and his pet chicken, Lucky.
"It's amazing how he and the chicken interact," said Jennifer Thomas, Dalton Thomas's mother.
Dalton Thomas is a sophomore at Nevada High School and a member of Crossroads 4-H. In the past, Dalton has shown everything but sheep, but except for the cat and the dog, everything in his grandmother's back yard now has feathers.
The Thomas family flock has been an ongoing three-year project since Dalton's grandfather died. They now have 34 chickens, five turkeys, one duck, and one yet-to-be cooked goose.
Among the flock, is one very special Golden Comet pullet named Lucky.
"We had a blood bath in our garage," said Dalton's mother, Jennifer Thomas. "Lucky somehow survived the massacre."
"We came back from a chicken swap and a dog had killed a lot of the chickens and turkeys," Dalton said.
Almost a week later, they found Lucky, hungry and afraid. Dalton nursed her back to health and worked with her to restore her trust in people.
"He holds them everyday," Jennifer said.
She said Lucky became the mother figure to their new flock.
When it came time to register for the 2016 Vernon County Youth Fair, in addition to the turkeys destined for sale, and the duck, Jennifer told Dalton to pick out a couple chickens to take.
"Mom, I'm taking Lucky," Dalton said.
"Lucky got to show," Jennifer said. "It makes it more special that she won." Despite a few missing feathers and a scar or two, Lucky brought home Best in Breed and overall Reserve Grand Champion.
There is something else that makes this story out of the ordinary; Dalton was diagnosed at a young age with Autism Spectrum Disorder. This is part of the reason for the Thomas' flock.
"Chickens can be therapy pets for kids with autism," Jennifer said. "The chickens are always moving. They have a calming affect on Dalton."
Jennifer Thomas went on to say Dalton is very attached to his chickens.
"He has a calming effect on them," she said as Dalton sits across the room holding Lucky, talking to her like someone would a dog or cat.
Lucky, ever the pet, even has a diaper for when she is inside and Dalton wants a stroller so he can take her on walks. And yes, Lucky and the rest of the chickens get regular baths. Dalton said he dips them in a bucket of soapy water, scrubs them clean, rinses, and dries them. If it is cool outside, the chickens get blow-dried.
"Its a lot of work you know," Thomas said.
She praised all of Dalton's fellow 4-H members and their parents.
"Everyone will do everything they can to help you," she said, describing unloading at the fair earlier this summer. When they backed up to the barn, other 4-H members and their parents came over to help them unload and get the birds into their cages.
"Everybody has accepted him for who he is," she said.
Dalton's talents are not limited to livestock; he earned a blue ribbon for peanut butter fudge made to his grandfather's recipe.