BY BONNIE BRECHBILL
Franklin Co. Correspondent
GREENCASTLE (Franklin
Co.) Ashley, Whitney, and
Grant Meyers love animals. Like
many farm children, they have
calves, dogs and chickens, but
some rather unusual animals live
at Tidy-Brook Farm also. Chukats
(wild partridges) live in a pen in
the yard. And there have even
been ducklings swimming in the
bathtub!
That came about like this: The
children’s father, Alan, accidently
destroyed the cover of a duck nest
while he was making hay. (The
mother duck won’t return to her
nest if the cover is ruined.) He
brought the eggs into the house
and put them under a heat lamp in
the kitchen. Every day, the child
ren sprinkled water on them and
turned them, just as the mother
duck would have, and they
hatched! When the ducklings were
a couple days old, the children put
them in the bathtub so they could
swim. After that, they were kept in
the barn until they were old
enough to fend for themselves.
Then the family set them free in a
nature preserve that has a large
pond. They mingled right in with
the other ducks.
Grant, I'A , loves the chukars.
“He thinks they’re special,” his
mother, Kendra, said. His great
uncle gave them to the family after
he had hatched them out in an
incubator.
G) bi
Ashley, Whitney and Grant love to feed the calvesl
Grant keeps his chukars In a pen in the backyan
Lots Of Animals Make Life Fun
daily egg. The eggs must be kept
at room temperature for several
days before being incubated, so
they are stored in the cellar and the
girls turn them every day. Then
their great-uncle will put them in
his incubator.
Ashley and Whitney feed the
calves from the dairy operation
that their parents and grandfather,
Mark Meyers, run.
The dogs, Taffy and Tootsie,
are an important part of the farm.
They are Jack Russell terriers, and
are ferocious when it comes to
killing groundhogs. The rest of the
time, they are gentle family pets.
They stay close to the farmhouse
most of the time. If the children go
to their grandmother’s house near
by, Taffy and Tootsie follow and
stay outside her door until the
children go home.
Ashley, 7, collects bugs. Last
fall, she found three cocoons and
kept them in a container all winter.
(Her mother found them in the
garage and wanted her to throw
them away, but she didn’t) This
spring, butterflies came out of the
cocoons and laid some eggs in the
container. Ashley took them to
school to show to her first-grade
class at Shalom Christian
Academy.
Whitney, 5, along with her sis
ter, feeds, waters and gathers the
eggs from the family’s flock of 12
chickens. She is very excited
about entering kindergarten this
fall. Some of the preparations
have already been made she
hukai
A favorite ac y
grandfather made for them.
passed her kindergarten test and “I 1
got my shots!” she announced.
One activity that Ashley, Whit
ney and Grant enjoy together is
the “train” their grandfather made
for them. He made it from apple
juice concentrate tubs after seeing
a photo of one in a magazine. The
train, which has padded seats, is
pulled by the 4-wheeler.
Having lots of animals around
makes life a lot of fun for Ashley,
Whitney and Grant!
jrah . ..ey 0i... irg took this picture. It shows Dennis Bower,
right, head teacher at upper Bern Elementary School, explaining how mules were
used tor farming during the pre-Revolutlonary period. Sarah's class spent a year
learning about the history of Shartlesvllle. Bob Adam’s, left, a sixth grade teacher,
keeps an eye on the mules.
.*niey 4. jy
Here, their father is the
r* < *
/ < f *
issell terrier, are great friends.
i n their