Chickens, it seems, have been getting a bad rap. I'm convinced of it after meeting Eve Reinarz, self-proclaimed chicken lover, friend and care-giver to Medium, a twelve year old Barred Rock Chicken.
"She"s courageous, loving, communicative and very much interested in living life to the fullest,” says Eve. “Her health has been failing and she requires 'hands on’ care these days but she is determined to make the best of her days.”
Medium has helped the neighbourhood kids understand more about chickens through hands on learning and she’s also a source of inspiration for Eve’s artistic work.
The average lifespan for a chicken, as far as Eve has been able to determine, is about 7 years. The oldest living chicken in Canada, according to the Guiness Book of World’s Records is Mathilda. She’s fourteen and living somewhere in the United States. It’s possible that Medium holds the title of oldest living chicken in Canada and she holds on just a couple more years…who knows what title she might hold!
Medium has outlived her two sisters, Small and Large, and now lives happily amongst the other pets of Eve’s household - Lucky Duck, Curly the dog, three cats, two goats and two pigs, whose names now escape me.
“People think chickens are dumb but they’re very smart in their own chicken kind of way,” Eve says. “They find worms where we couldn’t find worms and they run and scratch. Medium used to meet me at the door when I’d come from home work. Of course it was all from the stomach though. She wanted to get fed.”
How long Medium will live is any body’s guess but Eve is convinced that the reason for her longevity is quality and purpose in life.
“I don’t think many people realize what wonderful creatures they are.”
Published in the Nanaimo Daily News on Thursday, January 13, 2005. Copyright (c) Kait Light, kaitsquirks.com, Nanaimo, BC, Canada. All Rights Reserved.
