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| Fourteen |
Ok, I probably should start by repeating the old adage "Never say never."
This evening I went to the regional library system annual dinner. Each year they feature a well-known speaker, usually an author, or an American Library Association big-wig (past or present) or some such notable person. This year, it was Will Weaver, who wrote one of my favorite books ever, "Red Earth, White Earth."
Will talked at length about his new commitment to young adult literature, specifically materials that are aimed at that difficult-to-reach teenage boy audience. He talked about his book about dirt track racing "Saturday Night Dirt." Weaver discussed the problem, and the tragedy, surrounding the reading drop-out rate among teenage boys. This is a matter of some discussion in the library world, where many librarians find it very difficult to reach that young male audience.
I have my own feelings about the matter, and they are not particularly politically correct. I think most librarians working with kids are women, and that they are particularly geared toward finding books that work for girls or for both boys and girls, but that they don't know beans about what young boys want to read. Furthermore, a recommendation by a female librarian just plain kills most books for young boys. What boys want is a book that is manly, and that a man tells them they might like, and that he's right about.
Weaver talked about how his publisher, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, went for his suggestion to market the book by sponsoring a short track stock car in northern Minnesota. Then Weaver went the extra step to go back to high school in Bemidji, specifically to learn how the kids in the advanced auto classes built racing vehicles for the dirt track. While there, Weaver pitched the idea of building a car with a student in the class, one who was specifically not making the grade, and unlikely to graduate. He found his muse in the son of the shop teacher. He made Skylar promise to stay in school, and if he graduated, he could drive the car.
It worked. Skylar graduated, and drove the car around northern Minnesota in numerous races. He also took the car to various schools to do programs about reading, racing, and the things that are happening in his life.
I'm sure it's one of the most successful book promotions any publisher has undertaken in recent years.
Just this week, Weaver released his second of three books in the series, this one titled "Super Stock Rookie." In this book, the main character graduates to the next level of racing. To mirror the change, Weaver and his publisher built a super-stock car for Skylar to drive. Along with the young driver's promotion, a young lady from the Red Earth reservation was selected to drive the old car, thus tapping another potential market of young readers for the book. (I hope it doesn't kill interest in the book for the boys - it's a risk.)
Anyway, it was a wonderful presentation, with video of Skylar driving the car in races, taking it on tour to schools around Minnesota, and showing just how he was able to evolve as a driver, eventually winning races and making a mark. How wonderful for Weaver to show this level of commitment to reaching an audience that is so often overlooked.
ANYWAY, the dinner didn't begin until 5:30, so I had a little time to kill. It was held in another town, about 25 miles from where I normally do business, so I decided to go take a look at what the stores had over there. Of course, the first store on the way into town is - the FARM STORE, and I pulled in.
I found a couple items I need - a metal feeder for the chickens once they get into the coop, a nice waterer I can suspend from the screen of the cage I intend to build for the turkeys, some hinges, latches, etc.
Then I rounded the corner, and saw all the water tanks filled with baby chicks. This store had twice as many as the farm store I normally go to. And they had a bunch of other breeds I hadn't seen in the other store.
There were 4 White Crested Black Polish straight run chicks (undifferentiated as to sex) in a pen with no price. The attendant told me $1.89, so I took all of them. Then there were a few Brown Leghorn pullets, and I'd been wanting a couple, so I took 2 of them. Brown Leghorns are unusual in that they are a brown bird that lays white eggs. If you note the white earlobes in the picture you can see - the color of the ear is how you tell what color eggs the chicken will lay.
Then the lady caught me looking into the exotic breeds pen, with Japanese Bantams and various feather footed birds. The exotic breeds are usually more expensive, but there was no price posted, so I asked how much they are. "Well, they vary," she vaguely replied. "But if you take the bigger feather footed birds, I'll give you two for the price of one!"
I told her I would take as many as she cared to box up.
Eight birds later, I walked out of the store with 14 more chickens to add to my burgeoning flock.
It's okay. I simply moved the New Hampshire Reds over to the pen with the bigger birds, and put the little birds into the pen I am now calling "the nursery." By the end of the weekend, the bigger birds should be able to be housed in the coop - fingers crossed - and I can further divide the remaining birds between the boxes if necessary.
These little feather footed birds are very interesting. There are a couple dark ones, that I think might be Cochin, or more likely Cochin Bantam. There are a couple that look like they might be blues, and one that looks like it might be black. As the birds get bigger, it will become more apparent if they will remain single colored or if they start to sprout colored feathers. There are a couple others she called Mille Fleur D'Uccles. There is one that appears to be a Barred Cochin Bantam, and a little grey chick that might be a Porcelain D'Uccle or a Self Blue D'Uccle. There's one other bird that is black with a light chest that might be a Japanese Bantam, either a Black or a Gray.
Regardless, I am about to have the most diverse flock of chickens in northern Minnesota! I wonder what happens if all these birds start to interbreed? It will be a veritable rainbow of chicken energy to light the forest. Hopefully that doesn't serve as a guide to bring the varmints in!
So, this time, I'm not saying I'm not getting more chickens. That seems to be the bait that sets the trap for me to get sucker punched by a pen full of chirping babies. Honestly, I think I have as many as our coop will be able to handle, though my "chickeny" friends seem to think I could have even more birds without trouble.
We'll see.
That's the news from the chicken ranch at Blueberry Hill.
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Posted by Bearville on 2009-05-15 00:18:35 | Rating: | Views: 52
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