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1st Place: Gideon Washburne, Indiana

2nd Place: Anna Durand, Missouri

3rd Place: Aidan Crislip, Arizona

Runners Up:

Brook Sikora, New York
Ivy Stoller, Michigan

Honorable Mention:

Addyson Cianciotto, Kentucky
Gabriella Cianciotto, Kentucky
Aurora Coffey, Washington
Aubrina Melville, Oregon
Katelyn Williams, Oregon

1st Place: Gideon Washburne, Indiana

Gertrude's Poultry Submarine

I was pecking in the dirt when I heard a lot of quacking. Being the C.I.C, I decided to investigate. Honky the Pekin drake was quacking so much he was going hoarse.

What's wrong?" I asked him.

"One of my wife's beeee-autiful eggs fell in the pond," he said sadly.

"When?"

"This morning."

"I have an idea to get your egg out, but I need your help," I said.

"How?"

"You'll see." With that I hopped away to the coop, and squeezed through a little hole into the storage spot on the other side of the coop. I found just what I needed. A bucket with two holes just big enough for my legs to fit through, clear tape, PVC pipe, balloons, and twine. Then I put my goodies together and brought my new contraption to the pond. Honky rushed over to me.

"What's the idea?" he demanded.

"I will get in this bucket, and you will shut the lid. See the hole in the lid? No, you don't, because I taped it with clear tape. The bucket will be on its side; the taped lid is the window. The two little holes are where my legs go, taped so no water can go through. The pipe on top has a string in it. The balloons are full of air. You hold the string. See this pipe? When I pull on the sting, put the end of a blown-up balloon over it and squeeze it. That's your job." As I explained to Honky, I got in the bucket and got ready to go.

"OK....Gertrude, you look like a monster!" he added.

I waddled to the pier, as best I could, and disappeared over the top..... And sank like a rock to the bottom. "When an egg falls in water, if it's fresh, it sinks..... The nest is over there, so it's probably not far from the nest," I thought. I pulled the string. Some more air...Good. I kept going. "I wonder what that white thing is?" I thought.

Then it hit me; Pekin ducks lay white eggs! So that must be the egg! Wait a minute! Snapping turtles like them for breakfast! There's one now! I half ran, half swam to the egg. Very roughly I slammed the submarine into the turtle! Go away! My egg!

"Oh, chicken feet for dessert!" The turtle said. I panicked! Making my claw go as long as possible, I charged its nose with my foot but lost balance, and the submarine fell on top of it.

"Not worth it," the turtle mumbled. It swam away. Very gently I took the egg in one foot, and hopped up the bank. Hinky, Honky's wife, stood on the bank and opened the lid. Honky took the egg and put in the nest. The bucket lid came off. Hinky stood beaming on the bank.

"Gertrude, you're a doll!" she exclaimed.

2nd Place: Anna Durand, Missouri

Solving One Problem

Mrs. Roberts was a calm and normal lady who lived on a farm. Because her chicken Gertrude McCluck could read books, many odd things happened. For example, Gertrude could soar with her home-made glider like an eagle in the blue sky. Mrs. Roberts kept a close eye on Gertrude, who simply ignored her owner. After reading a book on driving the chicken recently learned to drive a tractor. Certainly Mrs. Roberts would have problems if Gertrude got on the highway. She was not calm now.

"Stop driving! Be a normal chicken!" Mrs. Roberts wailed as she closed the gate. Without stopping Gertrude triumphantly ran over the gate like it was a speed bump. She kept going as if there were no gate and now she was on the paved street. Madly Mrs. Roberts jumped into her car and honked the horn because she needed to stop Gertrude who was heading for the highway.

Mrs. Roberts cleverly thought of a new plan. She hustled to a book store where she bought several picture books about inventions. Near the turn off to the highway, Mrs. Roberts waved the books in front of Gertrude, who was fascinated by such books. Instantly the chicken began to follow Mrs. Roberts home. They made it back safely.

By solving one problem, however, Mrs. Roberts created another because chickens that can read get many odd ideas.

3rd Place: Aidan Crislip, Arizona

The Case of the Grass-Stealing Goats

Hi! Gertrude McCluck here. I'm Chicken-in-Charge of the Gerney Acres Farm. The C.I.C. has a big responsibility. I am in charge of protecting this farm, and I must say that I am pretty good at it. On this farm, I'm kept busy tracking down my suspects and cracking cases, but today was different. There was nothing going on today until our neighbor goats started chomping on our grass, but something seemed fishy.

I decided to take my thoughts over to my trusty agent Skittles. He may look like a nice house dog, but he is one of the greatest animal agents in the world. When I met him, he was chasing his tail. Hoping that this wasn't a complete waste of my time, I went in. "Skittles, I need your help," I said. No answer. I asked again, "Skittles, please help me." Still no answer. Unfortunately, I had to yell now, "Skittles!" That got his attention.

"What is it? Are you going to throw the ball?" he asked hopefully.

"No, no. It's never time for that," I told him. "Have you seen anything suspicious lately?"

"No, other than the goats eating our grass."

I could see we weren't getting anywhere. "Anything strange about them?" I asked.

"Well no, but I was busy." We drifted off track a little. I turned around to think. "Skittles, you'll have to continue la-." Too late. He started chasing his tail again. Frustrated, I stomped off to talk to Hermes.

Hermes is another one of my spies, but he is always distracted by grass. I found the horse in the barn, well, eating grass.

"Gertrude! You should try his grass. They have put something in it."

"Hermes, have you seen anything different today?"

"Let me think here. The grass is long."

Ugh! An even worse start than with Skittles. "Anything else?" I asked.

"The grass is really long," he said.

"Hermes! Please think." Then it clicked. I put the new file into my bird brain. "Thanks, Hermes!" I said.

"For what?"

I didn't hear him. I had just cracked another case wide open. All I needed now was
proof.

I went back to my coop, pacing back and forth. I had no idea what to do next. The goats had almost eaten all of our grass, and I needed to know why before they finished.

Then the door opened, and out came our caretaker, Julie.

"Julie," said a voice from the inside the house. Another case to solve. I'll do that later.

"Yes, Dad," she yelled. Never mind. Only one case to solve.

"Are the goats done eating the grass?"

"Almost. It looks very nice."

"Alright. Tell me when they're done."

Ah-ha! They are supposed to cut the grass! Why didn't that cross my mind? I felt much better to have that case solved. I guess I'll have to spread the word to my fellow agents. So, this is Gertrude McCluck, C.I.C., signing off.

Runners Up

Brooke Sikora, New York

The Mystery of the Missing Painting

It was a sunny afternoon when Gertrude McCluck found out what had happened. The best museum in Chicken Land got robbed! There was supposed to be 280 paintings but there was one missing, the Chicken Lisa! When Gertrude McCluck found out that a painting was stolen, she put down her book and started on the case. She went down to the museum and asked the boss some questions. He had said that it was in the middle of the night and he was working late when the alarm went off. When he came out of his office, the glass door was smashed. So he went back into his office and called the police. When the police arrived, he told them that a very famous painting was stolen. At the time he had no idea which one it was, but the police soon figured out which painting it was and told the boss that it was the most famous painting known as the Chicken Lisa. Chicken Van Gogh was still there, but it was moved to make it look like it was the one stolen.

So Gertrude McCluck continued to look for suspects. So far she had 3 suspects that had committed other crimes in the area. They all ran in the same group and were triplets, all brothers. Their names were Eggy, Bossman and Buck. But they fought over who should really be the boss, so they went their separate ways. They even got married and bought new homes. Gertrude McCluck did find another suspect, who went by the name of Terrance. He was a pirate chicken and was the baddest chicken in town. After reading his file, Gertrude McCluck found out he had been stealing things from different countries and he kept changing his name. (she found out later his real name was Homer)

As Gertrude McCluck was looking closely for clues, she saw something where the painting used to be, claw marks. She collected some samples and she took them back to her lab. She studied them and then she thought of something. She decided to get the birth records of all the suspects. So she went down to the hospital and got the records and went back to her lab as fast as she could. When she got back to the lab she got busy trying to match up claw prints. Gertrude McCluck had her proof, she figured out right away who was guilty. She called the police and told them to arrest Homer (aka Terrance) the pirate chicken. They called her back an hour later to report the arrest had been made and the painting of Chicken Lisa was back in the museum safe and sound!!

Ivy Stoller, Michigan

Gertrude McCluck and the Problem of the Selfish Cocks

Ivy Stoller is showing Licorice

One July day, experienced Gertrude McCluck lazily pulled grubs out of the yard. Suddenly, she looked up to see Flossy, her friend from the neighbor's coop, limping painstakingly towards her. "What's wrong?" Gertrude exclaimed.

Flossy declared, "All the hens in my coop are hurting worse than me."

Gertrude skillfully inspected Flossy's feet. After a thorough examination she reported, "You have Bumblefoot." She expertly cleaned her friend's feet by soaking them in a bowl of sun-warmed rainwater. Next, she ran to the barn where a jar of Vaseline was kept by the farmer. She rubbed it on Flossy's feet. She told her to keep her feet clean and only to walk on soft bedding and grass.

"Will you come and help the other hens?" Flossy asked.

"Of course I will," stated Gertrude. "I'll start off immediately"

By the time Gertrude arrived at Flossy's coop, it was late evening. Gertrude quietly followed the limping, sore-footed, hens into the coop. She hopped on to the lowest roost. As Gertrude drifted off to sleep, she was suddenly startled by a loud ruckus as 25 proud young cocks strutted in and hopped on the roost with Gertrude. "Get off our roost old lady," one sneered.

"Go up with the other old, flea-ridden hens," retorted another. Gertrude stood her ground and stayed on the lower roost.

The next morning, Gertrude watched the other hens jumping heavily off the high roosts and painfully limping to the feed trough. The roosts were too high! She now knew what caused the epidemic of Bumblefoot. "Why do you hens roost way up there? Stay on the bottom roost. Jumping down from there is what causes the sores on your feet."

"The cocks call us names and push us off," the hens moaned. "But, next week, they'll be gone! They're 11 week old roasting birds. We can't wait until there heads are lopped off."

"You can not wait a week with Bumblefoot. We have to come up with an idea to get you hens on the lower roost tonight," Gertrude proclaimed." Here is my idea. Each of you catch 3 moths and let them go in the coop. They will fly to the top. Tell the cocks there are juicy, fat insects up top, and they will go flapping up to get them. Then you hens snatch the bottom roost and all will be well."

That night, the plan worked perfectly. In the morning, the hens hopped lightly to the ground while the haughty, proud, selfish and snooty cocks jumped heavily off the high roosts. Gertrude taught the hens how to clean each others feet every day, just as she had cleaned Flossy's.

Late one night, about a week later, the cocks were stealthily removed from the coop. The pointed hackle feathers near the chopping block told the story. The harmful epidemic of Bumblefoot caused by the selfish cocks ran its course and the coop returned to normal, thanks to the efforts of responsible Gertrude McCluck.

Honorable Mentions

Addyson Cianciotto, Kentucky

The Mystery of the Missing Chicks

Addyson Cianciotto & new Orpington chick.

One pleasant day Gertrude McCluck was scratching in the pasture at Gerny Acres when suddenly a strange noise came from the coop! Gertrude ran to the coop passing Duke Strutsmore who appeared oblivious to the earsplitting squawking. Upon her arrival, Gertrude found Rose positioned with her beak hanging open, staring wild-eyed at her empty nesting box. "What's wrong, Rose, why all the squawking?" asked Gertrude. "My lil baby chicks are missing," wailed Rose. "Oh where could they be?" About that time Gabby walked in with her notebook asking, "What's all the commotion? Do you need my help?" Rose began squawking louder and between sobs she replied, "Yes, I certainly need your help in finding my baby chicks, they're all missing!"

"Gertrude and I would be glad to help, come on Gertrude, let's get started investigating. I'll look for clues and write them down in my notebook" said Gabby.

Skittles sauntered in after overhearing the conversation and said, "I saw some chicks scurrying past the bunny den headed towards the pond just a few minutes ago." "Thanks for your help, Skittles, we'll head out to the pond right now!" said Gertrude while Gabby scribbled these observations in her notebook.

As they headed toward the pond Eggatha deviously walked past them and Gertrude inquired, "What are you up to now Eggatha?" Eggatha pretended not to hear and quickened her steps down the path. Gertrude immediately became suspicious, but continued toward the pond with Gabby. Once they arrived, they found Hermes sipping the cool pond water. "What are you ladies doing?" asked Hermes. "We are trying to find Rose's chicks. Have you seen them?" inquired Gabby.

"Nope, but it seems to me that perhaps you should check with Eggatha. She was down here a bit ago acting quite peculiar."

"Thanks for the tip, Hermes, we're hot on Eggatha's trail! Let's go, Gabby" responded Gertrude excitedly.

The two investigators began running quickly toward the coop when they unexpectedly heard peeping coming from the garden! Gabby and Gertrude swiftly changed their direction and stumbled upon Eggatha sneaking away from the garden leaving a brown bag full of peeping chicks behind. "Eggatha!" yelled Gertrude, "What are you doing with Rose's chicks?" "Well, uh...I wanted baby chicks of my own, so I took them. I wasn't going to hurt them. Honest." Murmured Eggatha. "Eggatha," scolded Gertrude, "Do you realize how upset you've made Rose?" "The whole hen house is in an up roar!" stated Gabby. "Well, I certainly didn't mean to hurt Rose or cause so much trouble, I'll take them back and apologize to Rose" replied Eggatha.

Once Eggatha arrived back at the coop, Rose met her at the door upon hearing the incessant peeping of her lil babies. "I'm sorry, Rose, I promise to never take your baby chicks again" said Eggatha apologetically. "I forgive you, Eggatha, but perhaps you can "chick sit" for me the next time I need to go fetch some food" smiled Rose. "Another Gerny Acres mystery solved" said Gertrude happily.

Gabriella Cianciotto, Kentucky

Gertrude and the Silkie Chickens

Gabriella Cianciotto & new Orpington chick.

On a sunny, but uneventful afternoon at Gerny Acres the animals were calmly attending to their tasks. Ester, the bunny, was munching thoughtfully on fresh veggies from the garden. Cleocatra was keeping Hermes company in the pasture while Duke Strutsmore paraded back and forth in front of the chicken coop hoping to catch the eye of one of the lovely hens.

Gertrude strolled out of the hen house just in time to see the milkman driving up the driveway to deliver the farmer's weekly jugs of milk.

"Good afternoon, Gertrude," said milkman John, "How are you doing this fine day?" Gertrude smiled and said, "I'm just swell, thanks for asking!" Milkman John proceeded to the front porch to give the milk to the farmer. After a brief chit chat, Milkman John jumped into his truck and slowly drove down the driveway.

All of a sudden, the shed doors flew wide open and out ran a flock of silkie chickens! They were running as fast as their little legs could go, squawking and making an awful noise while headed straight toward Milkman John's truck! The milkman must have noticed them out of his review mirror because he stopped to stare at the mind-boggling sight. Who had ever heard of a flock of silkies serving as farm protectors? Certainly this job was reserved for Skittles, the family dog. However, Milkman John paused a tad bit too long and before he knew it, the silkies had taken up residence under his truck!

Laughing hysterically the silkies were patting each other on the back and congratulating one another for a job well done. "We got him!" said the head rooster Sir Fluffy Pants. "We sure did and I think I ran quicker than I did when we caught the mailman! I know I shaved a few seconds off my time from the day we captured ‘ol Mrs. Clara Bell, the framer's wife" retorted Splash Girl happily.

"Now ya'll just wait a dog-gone minute here," grumbled Skittles. "Keeping the farm safe is my job not yours." Gertrude wandered over to the ruckus and put her foot down as Chicken In Charge saying, "Silkies come out from under Milkman John's truck right this instant so he can be on his way." Splash Girl and Sir Fluffy Pants sheepishly led the flock of silkies out from beneath the milkman's truck. Gertrude explained, "A silkie is known for its friendly temperament, broody qualities, and exceptional beauty. They are NOT the defender or guardian of the farm. Please return to the chicken coop and prepare yourselves for your poultry show and leave the farm protecting to Skittles." Splash Girl clucked and said, "I am feeling a bit broody, so I think I'll go sit on my nest." Sir Fluffy Pants promised Gertrude there would be no more car chasing silkies at Gerny Acres; while the farm animals returned to their tasks after a rousing spectacle which they secretly hoped to see again real soon.

Aurora Coffey, Washington

The Silkie Mystery

All the young hens in the chicken coop were fussy because the National Chicken Beauty Pageant was starting the next day. Clarisse and Victoria, the two Polish sisters and a few others including Persia, a black bearded Silkie pullet and Sparrow, a Belgian Bearded D'Uccle, were getting ready to go the local hen house to get their feathers and nails done. Clarisse said, "With my queenly manners and beautiful golden laced feathers, I'll surely be in the winning category". Victoria replied, "Oh, and my gorgeous blue feathers and glamorous white crest aren't good enough to win?' Sparrow triumphantly said, "Girls, just quiet it down in here a little bit. We need to get moving or we'll miss our appointment".

The four hens walked past the park and went inside the beauty salon. Speckles, the head hen at the beauty salon, greeted them with a very cheerful, "Hi ladies! Come and take a seat." Sparrow flew up and down shouting, "I can't wait; I am so excited!" and flew over to her spot. The rest of the hens followed her to their roosting spots.

The hens started to pick out colors and styles to get their nails done. Clarisse picked a red polish that was similar to her feathers. Victoria chose a dark green polish with glitter. Sparrow chose fluorescent orange that would set off her mille fleur coloring. Persia couldn't decide between a sparkly pink and a shimmering purple that she liked very much. Persia asked, "Victoria, do you think I should choose the pink or the purple?". Victoria advised her to choose the purple. "Purple will set off your black feathers nicely", she said. In the end, Persia finally chose the purple polish. She said, "I think the judges will like my purple and black combination, don't you think?".

The hens started to get their nails painted. One of the older hens that was working on Persia's feet seemed very startled. She said, "Dear, you seem to have an extra toe! Is something wrong? We must call the doctor at once!". Speckles ran over to Persia's roost and shouted, " I've got it! I know a special Chicken in Charge that can help us with this problem. Her name is Gertrude McCluck; I'll go call her now.". A few minutes later, Gertrude showed up. Gertrude pulled out her handy dandy magnifying glass and examined Persia's feet. "Wait", said Gertrude, "there is nothing wrong with this chicken. She is perfectly OK with her five toes". How did Gertrude know that that Persia was in good health?

Answer: Silkie chickens are an ornamental breed with five toes. Persia had the correct number of toes for a Silkie.

Aubrina Melville, Oregon

Gertrude McCluck's Summer Diary

Aubrey Melvile & Yellow

June 1, 2011

Dear Diary,
I had to help Miss Clucky, the Rhode Island Red, with her leg mite problem. I ran to my medicine shelf and got some mineral oil, tea tree oil and some warm bubbly water. I put warm water in a tub and mixed the oils in a different tub. Then Miss Clucky got in the tub of warm, bubbly water to wash and soak her feet. It felt very good after being in the cold coop. She dried off, then got in the tub of oil. Her feet were done. Miss Clucky did the treatment for the rest of the week and then she was better.

July 3rd & 4th, 2011

Dear Diary,
I went to Big Mama's house. She was a Black Australorp and as big as a rooster. She had been sitting on three eggs for two weeks. She didn't know they were fake. Sally and I were going to put three baby chicks under her that night. That night Sally and I put the baby chicks under Big Mama and took out the fake eggs while she slept.

In the morning, Big Mama was very happy. She thought she had hatched her eggs! We did not tell her what we had done the night before.

At 9:00 p.m. on the 4th of July all the chickens roosted at the top of the hill and watched the fireworks. Sally and I fell asleep in the tree with the rest of our chicken friends. I can't believe we fell asleep! But, we had been up all night the night before with Big Mama's chicks.

July 23, 2011

Dear Diary,
Today I had to help Miss Speckles with her molt problem. I heard Miss Speckles scream. I ran to see what was the matter. When I got there I thought I saw a porcupine! But, it was Miss Speckles. I asked, "What is wrong?" She said, "I got up and looked in the mirror. I saw that I looked like a porcupine!" I said, "Hmmm. Oh! You are molting. Your porcupine looking quills will grow into beautiful new feathers!" Miss Speckles was very, very relieved.

August 10 & 11, 2011

Dear Diary,
This week all of the chickens wanted some new food. They all were angry and cranky. Some began to say that if they did not get some new food soon they would leave the farm! I had to think quickly or we would lose some friends.

First, I thought I should mix our food. That did not work. Then I thought that I should use some corn. That did not work either. Finally, I thought we should use some vegetables. That solved the problem! They all loved the rotten carrots best. Everyone was finally happy after all that grumbling.

August 30, 2011

Dear Diary,
This was the best summer I have ever had. As soon as next summer comes, I will write again to you.

Love, Gertrude McCluck

Katelyn Williams, Oregon

Missing Chicken Mystery

Katelynn & Chatty Cathy

Katelyn woke up and ran down the stairs of Grandma's house and found her in the kitchen making breakfast of bacon and fried eggs. Not those boring white eggs that grow in the grocery store. Grandma's eggs are tan to a deep brown and when Grandma breaks them into the pan, the yolks are smiley and yellow.

After breakfast it was Katelyn's job to feed the chickens and collect their eggs. She went and scooped a big can of cracked corn and pellets. The hens were all around her jumping and hopping in the way chickens do. Then she went over and poured the grain into the feeder. She had names for each of them but her favorite one was ‘Gertrude McCluck' a pretty gold Buff Orpington.

While they were eating she noticed that Gertrude was missing. Katelyn's little brother Parker wanted to help look for her. Parker said that he had seen her by the barn before breakfast. So Katelyn and Parker went over to the barn and they saw "Lola", a Rhode Island Red, pecking bugs. Just then Katelyn saw a chicken tail disappearing around a tree. She couldn't tell whether it was Gertrude or not. She walked over to the tree and looked behind it. All she saw was another chicken named "Mia" eating a piece of dried bread. Suddenly she heard cackling in the hay shed so she walked over to look. She and Parker climbed up on the hay stack and they found a nice warm just laid egg - but no Gertrude. Katelyn thought she heard something jump off the back of the hay stack so she and Parker climbed down and there was a gold feather and chicken tracks in the dust that lead over to the horse trailer where some of the hens liked to rest during the afternoon. This had to be Gertrude. Parker got on one side and Katelyn on the other side, when they looked under there was no Gertrude. Just a couple of round spots in the dirt like chickens make.

Grandma was calling from the house. She wanted Katelyn to put the dogs in the kennel So, Katelyn called the dogs and walked over to the kennel by the barn. Menorah, the big black dog, went in, sat and looked out while Reno, the little white dog went over to the dog house and started to go in. Suddenly he whined and came backing out, and stared at the dog house. Katelyn went in and got down on her knees and looked in, surprised to see "Gertrude McCluck" sitting on a nest with three brown eggs. Katelyn jumped up and told Parker "let's go tell Grandma that the dogs can't use the kennel until Gertrude hatches her eggs in 21 days.

On their way up to the house Katelyn and Parker collected the other eggs from the nest boxes, and went in to tell Grandma that they solved the Missing "Gertrude McCluck" Mystery.