Gundog and chicken best of friends
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HAVE you heard the tale about an award-winning chicken and a top puppy gundog who are the best of friends?
As remarkable as it sounds, Snowy the eight-month-old white Araucana cockerel and Mia, a 16-month-old German shorthaired pointer (GSP), are best buddies – and Scottish champions.
Snowy and Mia have grown up together, and over consecutive weekends made owner Katie Lindridge so proud when they won top titles.
Snowy was crowned champion Araucana and best large fowl soft feather in show at the Scottish National Poultry Show in Lanark at the end of January.
The following weekend it was Mia’s turn for success when she was declared the top puppy in Scotland at the Scottish Kennel Club Show at Alva.
Katie was over the moon with her double success, and admitted it took a while to sink in.
"I took four Araucana birds with me," she said. "Two of them won their respective classes. Snowy went on to win champion large fowl Araucana, then winning overall champion Araucana.
"This alone was a fantastic win, particularly as it was my first time competing at that level. So it was amazing when Snowy was then selected as best large fowl soft feather in show.
"I don’t think that win had quite sunk in the following weekend when we travelled to Alva to compete in the Scottish Kennel Club Open Show Top Puppy finals."
Mia, whose posh name is Amidala Fast and Furious JW, has had a short but so far successful show career.
She is home bred and was a very special singleton puppy after her mother lost the rest of the litter during pregnancy.
The top puppy competition runs on a knock-out style with two dogs going head to head in each round until the final three go head to head and the winner is selected.
Added Katie: "Mia was in top form and certainly didn’t let me down, showing her socks off in every round until she took top honours."
Mia is something of a miracle pup after Katie originally thought she and all her litter-mates had died when their mother miscarried.
"She had a scan at 28 days and the vet said she was miscarrying and there was nothing we could do to stop it, and she was scanned again at five weeks and it looked as if she was empty and there were no puppies left.
"It was around her due date and I looked at her again and thought she still looked in pup. I whisked her back to the vet and there was one little puppy, Mia."
The average size of a puppy is 500g but Mia was just 375g, but with a little love and attention she survived and is now a bundle of joy. Mia will compete for the first time at Crufts next month.
Katie, who grew up on a farm surrounded by chickens, stumbled into poultry showing after keeping a couple of chickens for a supply of eggs.
"There was a local poultry club, Moray and Nairn Fur and Feather, and they hold two shows a year in Elgin, so I started showing them," she said.
"Araucana are a unique breed and lay green eggs. I have about 30 hens."
While the gundog instincts of Katie’s five other GSP dogs – she has Mia’s mother, sister (from another mating), grandmother, uncle and great-uncle – would
see them kill the chickens, Mia has an entirely different relationship with her feathered housemates.
"Mia arrived after the chickens so she has grown up with them, and sometimes they chase her and she will pretend to pounce on them," said Katie.
Katie, a community nurse in Keith, and partner Andrew Murray, who works offshore, have recently established Amidala Country and Canine Supplies at their home just outside Keith.
Mia and Snowy posed quite happily this week with Katie for Banffshire Herald photographer Becky Saunderson, Mia even giving the cockerel a doggie kiss at one point.
