Revisiting our Feathery Friends

When we arrived at Cristo Viene Girls' Home on Monday, some of the chicas were proudly showing off their freshly collected eggs while others plucked and prepared the rooster they'd sacrificed for our special lunch.

After picking up our aviary expert, Dr. Juan Carlos, my two students ready to get involved in VetRed at a new level, some Newcastle and Bronchitis vaccines, replacement vitamins, and a couple tools, we were ready to spend the morning with the Cristo Viene girls and their feathery friends. It's still summer vacation here technically, but chickens are no respecters of university schedules, and these were due for some vaccines.

Heavy rain gave us a chance to test out the curtains we’d made firsthand and fix any leaks, plus add a tarp curtain to the screen door. We decided the chickens had reached a more than ideal plumpness so we modified their daily feed quantity and taught the girls how to do it themselves in the future.

We fixed up their nests, refreshed and disinfected their bedding, planned to add to some roosts, answered all the girls’ questions, harvested 26 eggs from under the ladies, and to top it all off shared a great lunch the home had prepared just for our visit; a rooster from the coop who had been giving some of the hens a hard time, yummy!

It was really great to get to see the project in action; providing eggs, providing meat, and providing a skill for the kids who live in the home. This is really what VetRed’s all about: serving the poor through our God-given veterinary skills, reaching out to vets like Juan Carlos, training the students while loving them toward Christ, and getting out of the office and the classroom sometimes to get our hands dirty!

Gabriela and Raissa (pictured above right) were excited to see the chicken coop project they'd heard so much about last semester, but never had the chance to visit. And they were thrilled to vaccinate chickens for the first time in their veterinary careers. I love how serving meets the needs of so many more than just those being "served," and I can't wait to plug these two sweet girls into this year's VetRed group as we study the video series H20.