Wendy’s feathered friendships.

WENDY Edwards has ruffled more than a few feathers in her time but always with the best intentions. The hobby farmer from Goschen has been preparing chickens for country shows for more than a decade.

Born in Bendigo, her parents were from the Swan Hill – Ultima region and had a keen desire to return.

Her father was a bus driver, travelling the Bendigo to Swan Hill route and running a fruit and vegetable shop while her mother had left Swan Hill to study nursing in Bendigo.

After the pair met, they moved back to Swan Hill where they tried their hand at herringbone dairy farming.

“Dad was new to dairy farming and started with around 50 head of cattle but eventually built that up to 300,” Wendy remembers.

“It was old fashioned dairy farming then, we milked twice a day.

“I always loved being around the animals, I was a real outdoors kid and always bonded with all the different types of animals we had.”

While Wendy has gained some local notoriety for her work with chickens, her first love was horses. As a child, farm life allowed her the freedom to ride and show horses.

At 19 she commenced a career with Safeway in Swan Hill (now Woolworths) and spent 15 years with the company eventually working her way up to produce manager. She married her husband and the pair settled on a 10 acre property in Goschen raising two children, Tammie and Thomas.

It was actually Thomas who sparked their interest in chicken showing.

“We were at the Swan Hill show and Thomas took a liking to the chickens,” she said.

“He was around 10-years-old and determined to get involved with showing them.

“With the help of Shirley Swan he began to raise and show silkies.

For more on this story grab a copy of Wednesday’s Guardian (April 12, 2017)