With more than 240 feathery friends in her Central Queensland chicken coops, loneliness during social isolation is not an issue for 17-year-old Shikira Stehbens.

Her passion for chickens first grew out of the need for companionship when she broke her arm as a child.

“I couldn’t play with the horses as much and our backyard chickens became my new best friends,” Shikira said.

And 10 years later, that connection has become a lifeline for the teen, helping to ward off any COVID-19 blues.

Shikira said looking after chickens not only kept her busy but also provided endless entertainment.

“They have very funny personalities,” she said.

“There’s a few that give you the evil eye when you don’t feed them on time — each bird has a different personality.”

Using the same strategy ‘men have done for years’

When Shikira’s interest in chickens began the Rockhampton family owned 15 backyard layers, but that has since increased more than tenfold as the hobby turned into her business.

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While she has kept most of the chickens she has bred so far to improve bloodlines, she planned to sell some chicks in coming months.

“My little crew started to grow a bit bigger from there but it was only six years ago that I decided I can show these.”

Shikira said there was no new-age approach to breeding chickens and she used the same approach “men have done for years”, and decided which birds would breed by looking at their physical characteristics and temperaments.

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She owns a variety of chickens and breeds them to exhibit at agricultural shows.

In 2019 the teenager bred 80 Australorps, 15 Bantams, 30 Japanese Bantams, Rhode Island Reds and Transylvanian Naked Neck chickens.

“Some of your birds don’t actually make it to the show.

“Some of your best ones just stay as your breeding birds to improve upon the stock that you take the following year.”

She is proudly gathering a collection of ribbons, trophies and prizes from poultry shows between Central Queensland and Brisbane.

Last year, she won 17 places in the poultry section at the Rockhampton Agricultural Show, eight prizes at The Royal Queensland Show and was invited to compete at nationals this year.

But with shows across the country cancelled due to COVID-19, Shikira planned to make the most of her time off.

“It’s a disappointment that I can’t go to see where I have to go to get to the next step with my birds but it gives me this year to concentrate on breeding and get them that little bit better.”

A ‘natural ability’

David Morley, the president of the Australorp Club of Australia, has mentored Shikira for more than a year.

“She is a standout, she’s very positive but also has her feet on the ground,” Morley said.

“She listens, takes notice of what you say and she puts things into practice as well which is great.”

The pair speak at least weekly but Morley said the keen teenager does not need too much advice.

“She just has that natural ability that’s hard to explain but once you see it you know it,” he said.

“I really expect her to win major awards in three or four year’s time.

“She’s got that ability to pick things other people don’t see.”

Inspiring the next generation

Morley said through Shikira’s role as junior vice president of the Australorp Club of Australia, the teen was leading the next generation of Australorp breeders.

He said she was also bridging the gap between child and adult members, the majority of whom were aged over 40.

“It’s really important to bring juniors through,” he said.

Rockhampton Regional councillor and Rockhampton Agricultural Show committee member Ellen Smith said that intergenerational connection was vital.

“Young people are our future because they’re the ones that are going to be running shows in 10, 20, 30 years,” Smith said.

She said getting young people involved in agricultural shows was crucial to the tradition’s longevity.

“In some country areas that’s difficult because there’s dwindling populations but in a town like Rockhampton we have plenty of young people, we just have to get them interested,” she said.

– ABC / Meg Bolton