Miller sisters know its almost ‘showtime’

miller 4 H story Elgin Review Elgin Nebraska
Kinley and Gemma Miller showing off two of their chickens. E-R photo/SReestman
miller 4 H story Elgin Review Elgin Nebraska
Kinley and Gemma Miller showing off two of their chickens. E-R photo/SReestman

By Skylar Reestman

Elgin Review intern

One area of the Antelope County Fair has been growing tremendously over the past couple of years. Small animals such as rabbits, cats, dogs, and poultry have become a popular entry for many kids, including Gemma and Kinley Miller.
Gemma and Kinley Miller are part of the Cedar Creek 4H Club and started showing chickens 4 years ago. “We got our first chicken at the Bull-a-Rama and hen we went over to the fair just to see what chicken showing was and each of us did one in open class.” Kinley, 10, said. After showing their first chicken, Anne Meis gave the girls two bantam chickens. “That’s right, years later and we still remember who got us in this vicious cycle.” Beth Miller said.
Kinley, Gemma, and their family have now grown their chicken family to around 70 chickens of all different breeds. And the girls have even come up with names for all the chickens as well. And taking care of the chickens requires a lot of time and work. “We do chores in the morning and night.” Kinley said. Beth added saying “It’s a group effort to be honest. Like, everybody sort of sometimes you know works harder at it than others and then you know, somebody else is doing it more often.”
The girls then explained the process of preparing their chickens for the fair and showing them. “So first to get the chicks and then you have to tame them and spend a lot of time with them and caring for them.” Kinley said. “On show day, you take them to the fair, let them settle in a bit, and 10-15 minutes later you start washing them, then blow dry, and make sure they don’t poop on themselves. And you have to study your speech a lot with them and pose them and make sure they aren’t messing around.” Kinley said. For the full story turn to this weeks edition of the Elgin Review.